1899 - 1991
As The Duke of Reichstadt in L'Aiglon, New York 1933, aged 34
EVA LE GALLIENNE was born in London in 1899 the daughter of Julie and Richard le Gallienne. He was known as The "leader of the English decadents," a minor poet of the Oscar Wilde School though fiercely heterosexual; she was Danish, tough, a survivor, leaving her husband for good before their child was born. Taken to New York by her mother when she was 18, Eva was a golden girl; she had curly fair hair and bright blue eyes. She was a gifted actress and early in her life chose the Art of the Theatre above the Show Business of Broadway for her career, championing always the subsidised Repertory Theatre as a vehicle for Drama over the long run of a solitary play. She directed and produced. Only at the end of her long life did she appear in a few films. Always a lesbian she never married and her life in the Theatre did not hinder her love affairs, she was serially monogamous and frequently lived with her partners all of whom were also involved with drama and The Arts. Early lovers were Mercedes de Acosta and, briefly, Alla Nazimova .
In 1979 aged 80 Eva went to Hollywood to make a film "Resurrection." She wrote in her diary.....
"I just looked out of the window onto Sunset Boulevard and the ceaseless flow of traffic. It is 10 at night. The tremendous stretch of this quiet road - so unreal. In my thoughts, as I look across the road, I see Alla's house as it was in 1921. Then, it was the last house in Hollywood. Beyond it wild country. Her lovely garden filled with orange lemon and grapefruit. The bougainvillea - the aviary with splendid birds. All enclosed - all very private - and so quiet. Another life, another world. I'm so glad to have known it. I pity the young people who only know the world as it is now. It's well worth being 80 to have known that other one......what a wonderful life I have had ! How grateful I am for it."
