Introduction
Noël Coward (1899 –1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise". Garbo and Coward met during the years on several occasions. He was also a friend of George Schlee ( Garbo’s friend/partner) and often visited his parties. He attended Schlee’s funeral in 1964.
In 2007, extracts from Noel Coward's letters have been made public for the first time. Several are from actor-friends such Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Tallulah Bankhead.
Garbo’s letter to Coward
Garbo, in a letter of 1936, teasingly asked him to marry her ... he wrote back saying he almost accepted – even though he was “completely immune to any female charm”.
Garbo was introduced to the multihyphenate entertainer at a party hosted by the Wachtmeisters. Later, the pair were seen walking around Djurgården. Although rumors of a “blossoming romance” between England 's gay blade and the solitary diva from Sweden quickly circulated in the international press, a source close to the actress labeled them “pure fabrication.”
What was really happening, Coward's friend and biographer Cole Lesley agreed, was that Noël Coward could not be coerced into meeting a friend at an obscure location wearing dark glasses and a turned-up collar. He wanted to see and be seen.
So he wheedled and coaxed and bullied Garbo until she agreed to more public meetings, including a party given by Gösta Ekman attended by Stockholm 's fashionable elite, and a private New Year's Eve party thrown by Prince Wilhelm.
Regarding the possibility of a romance tryst, however, Lesley was never completely sure whether the rumors were true or whether Greta and Noël simply found it more interesting to continue the charade. “I do know that they exchanged affectionate telegrams and telephone calls for some time after, calling each other ‘My little bridegroom' and ‘My little bride,' and that she had said she ‘wished the newspapers was right.'”
Source: Karen Swenson – A life Apart
