became a Broadway star in several plays including Arthur Richman's Not So Long Ago (1920) and Ferenc Molnár's Liliom (1921) for the Theatre Guild. Le Gallienne became a naturalized United States citizen in 1927. Le Gallienne consciously devoted herself to the "art of the theatre" as opposed to the "show business of Broadway", and was a pioneer in the emerging American Repertory Theater. She ran the Civic Repertory Theatre Company for 10 years (1926–1936), backed by the financial support of one of her lovers, Alice DeLamar, a wealthy Colorado gold mine heiress, producing 37 plays during that time. She managed Broadway's 1100-seat Civic Repertory Theatre (more popularly known as The 14th Street Theatre) at 107 West 14th Street from 1926–32, which was home to her company whose actors included herself, J. Edward Bromberg, Paul Leyssac, Florida Friebus, and Leona Roberts. As head of the Civic Repertory Theatre, she rejected the admission of Bette Davis, whose attitude she described as "insincere" and "frivolous". The Civic Rep disbanded at the height of the Depression in 1934, having mounted 34 productions. Le Gallienne was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1986. Le Gallienne never hid her lesbianism inside the acting community, but reportedly was never comfortable with her sexuality, struggling privately with it. She reportedly briefly considered arranging for a "front" marriage with actor Basil Rathbone. During the early days of her career she often was in the company of witty, libertine actresses Tallulah Bankhead, Estelle Winwood and Blyth Daly, with the four being dubbed "The Four Horsemen of the Algonquin", referring to the Algonquin Round Table. In 1918, while in Hollywood, she began an affair with the actress Alla Nazimova, who was at her height of fame, and who at that time wielded much power in the acting community. The affair ended reportedly due to Nazimova's jealousy. Nonetheless, Nazimova liked Le Gallienne very much, and assisted in her being introduced to many influential people of the day. It was Nazimova who coined the phrase "sewing circles", to describe the intricate and secret lesbian relationships lived by many actresses of the day. Le Gallienne also was involved for some time with actresses Tallulah Bankhead, Beatrice Lillie and Laurette Taylor during that time. In 1920, she became involved with poet, novelist and playwright Mercedes de Acosta, about whom she was passionate for several years. She and de Acosta began their romance shortly after