Hollywood Bohemians: Transgressive Sexuality and the Selling of the Movieland Dream

Between 1917 and 1941, Hollywood studios, gossip columnists and novelists featured an unprecedented number of homosexuals, cross-dressers, and adulterers in their depictions of the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle.

Actress Greta Garbo defined herself as the ultimate serial bachelorette. Screenwriter Mercedes De Acosta engaged in numerous lesbian relationships with the Hollywood elite. And countless homosexual designers brazenly picked up men in the hottest Hollywood nightclubs. Hollywood’s image grew as a place of sexual abandon.

This book demonstrates how studios and the media used images of these sexually adventurous characters to promote the industry and appeal to the prurient interests of their audiences.

Brett L. Abrams is an archivist with the National Archives and Records Administration, and author of Capital Sporting Grounds: A History of Stadium and Ballpark Construction in Washington, D.C., (McFarland, 2009).