A Woman to Know: Alla Nazimova
The actor should be an instrument played upon by the character he depicts. — Alla Nazimova
(image via Wikimedia Commons)
In the early 1920s, Alla's sprawling mansion on Sunset Boulevard (known as "Garden of Alla" to those in-the-know) enraptured Hollywood gossip columns. When the beloved silent actress wasn't stealing scenes in big-screen renditions of Ibsen and Chekhov classics, she was hosting elaborate parties -- always attended by "close female friends." Soon enough, Alla's "sewing circles" (yes, she originated the code-speak) spun at the center of the Hollywood rumor mill. People whispered her marriage was a sham (the couple ultimately divorced), her finances were in ruin (she later had to convert the "Garden" into a hotel to make ends meet) and her "close friends" were actually clandestine lesbian lovers (later Allah seriously said, yeah, duh).
Add to your library list:
Nazimova: A Biography (Gavin Lambert)
The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era (David W. Menefee)
The Garden on Sunset (Martin Tunbull)
Read more:
Sappho gores to Hollywood (The New York Times)
It Happened on Sunset (Vanity Fair)
The rise and fall of the actress Alla Nazimova (Lesbian News)
Sunset Boulevard (The New York Times)
Watch more:
Alla Nazimova (Women Film Pioneers Project)
Long thought lost, costumes of silent film star found in trunk (KPCC)
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