Personal Life
Lilyan Tashman was the tenth and youngest child of Brooklyn, New York clothing manufacturer Maurice Tashman and his wife Rose. She freelanced as a fashion and artist's model while attending Girl's High School in Brooklyn and eventually entered vaudeville. In 1914, she married fellow-vaudevillian Al Lee, but the two separated in 1920 and divorced in 1921.
Tashman was a lesbian and had numerous backstage same-sex liaisons as a New York City chorine and actress. In Hollywood, she was known to initiate sex in rest rooms with women of all ages, and, if repulsed, would forge ahead with a promise of complete silence on the matter and assurances that such sexual activity was common and very pleasureable. In 1928, Tashman was introduced to Greta Garbo and began a relationship with her the same day. The two became inseparable companions. Tashman was a fiercely jealous person however and had frequent altercations with her lovers. By November 1932, Garbo's patience had worn thin and she ended the relationship, leaving Tashman devastated.
On September 21, 1925, Tashman married openly gay actor and longtime friend Edmund Lowe, presumably to present a heterosexual façade to the world. The two became the darlings of Hollywood reporters and were touted in fan magazines as having "the ideal marriage". Tashman was described by reporter Gladys Hall as "the most gleaming, glittering, moderne, hard-surfaced, and distingué woman in all of Hollywood". The couple entertained lavishly at "Lilowe", their Beverly Hills home, and weekly parties became full-blown orgies with A-list celebrities seeking invitations. Her wardrobe cost $1,000,000 and women around the world clamored for copies of her hats, gowns, and jewelry. Servants were ordered to serve her cats high tea and for Easter brunch she had her dining room painted dark blue to provide a contrast to her blonde hair. She once painted her Malibu home red and white, asked her guests to wear red and white, and even dyed the toilet paper red and white.
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