Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1934
Born	Tallulah Brockman Bankhead January 31, 1902(1902-01-31) Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
Died	December 12, 1968 (aged 66) New York, New York, U.S.
Awards won Other Awards New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress 1944 Lifeboat

Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress, talk-show host and bon vivant.^[1] Image File history File links TallulahBankhead. ... Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Huntsville, Alabama (top center), near the Tennessee border, is north of Birmingham and northeast of Decatur, across the Tennessee River flowing northwest. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... This article is about the state. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... New York Film Critics Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. ... Lifeboat is a 1944 World War II war film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story written by John Steinbeck. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ...

Biography

Early life and family

Bankhead was born in Huntsville, Alabama to William Brockman Bankhead and Adelaide Eugenia Sledge, and was named after her maternal grandmother.^[2] She has been described as "an extremely homely child", overweight and with a deep, husky voice resulting from chronic bronchitis.^[2] Huntsville, Alabama (top center), near the Tennessee border, is north of Birmingham and northeast of Decatur, across the Tennessee River flowing northwest. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... William Brockman Bankhead (April 12, 1874 - September 15, 1940) was an American politician from Alabama. ...

Bankhead came from a powerful Democratic political family in the South in general and Alabama in particular. Her father was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1936-1940 (in the 74th, 75th, and 76th Congresses), immediately preceding Sam Rayburn. She was the niece of Senator John H. Bankhead II, and granddaughter of Senator John H. Bankhead. Bankhead herself was a Democrat, albeit one of a more liberal stripe than the rest of her family. Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      Further information: Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties The Democratic... During its history the United States has seen many families who have repeatedly produced notable politicians from their ranks, and these historic U.S. political families have had a significant impact on politics in the United States. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer—or speaker—of the United States House of Representatives. ... Type Bicameral Speaker of the House of Representatives House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Steny Hoyer, (D) since January 4, 2007 House Minority Leader John Boehner, (R) since January 4, 2007 Members 435 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political groups Democratic Party Republican Party... 74th Congress (1935-1937) Congressional Profile Total Membership: 435 Representatives, 2 Delegates, 3 Resident Commissioners Party Divisions: 322 Democrats, 103 Republicans, 7 Progressives, 3 Farmer-Labor Leadership & Officers Speaker of the House: Joseph W. Byrns (D-Tennessee) Died June 4, 1936. ... Senators Alva Blanchard Adams (D-CO) Charles Oscar Andrews (D-FL) Henry Fountain Ashurst (D-AZ) Warren Robinson Austin (R-VT) Nathan Lynn Bachman (D-TN) Josiah William Bailey (D-NC) John Hollis Bankhead (D-AL) William Warren Barbour (R-NJ) Alben William Barkley (D-KY) Alexander Grant Barry (R... Senators Democratic majority with 74 to 30 republicans. ... For the current professional American football player, see Sam Rayburn (football player). ... Type Upper House President of the Senate Richard B. Cheney, R since January 20, 2001 President pro tempore Robert C. Byrd, D since January 4, 2007 Members 100 Political groups Democratic Party Republican Party Last elections November 7, 2006 Meeting place Senate Chamber United States Capitol Washington, DC United States... John Hollis Bankhead, II (July 8, 1872 - June 12, 1946) was a U.S. senator from the state of Alabama. ... John Hollis Bankhead (September 13, 1842–March 1, 1920) was a U.S. senator from the state of Alabama. ... Modern liberalism in the United States is a form of liberalism that began in the United States in the last years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century. ...

Her family sent her to various schools in an attempt to keep her out of trouble, which included a year at a Catholic convent school (although her father was a Methodist and her mother, who died at her birth, was an Episcopalian). For other uses, see Methodism (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Episcopal Church in the United States. ...

Early career

At 15, Bankhead won a movie-magazine beauty contest and convinced her family to let her move to New York. She quickly won bit parts, first appearing in a non-speaking role in The Squab Farm. During these early New York years, she became a peripheral member of the Algonquin Round Table and known as a hard-partying girl-about-town. During this time she experimented with cocaine and marijuana, but did not consume alcohol to any great degree. She became known for her wit, although as screenwriter Anita Loos, another minor Roundtable member, said: "She was so pretty that we thought she must be stupid." She became known for saying almost anything, whether true or not. Once, while in attendance at a party, a guest made a comment about rape, and Bankhead replied "I was raped in our driveway when I was eleven. You know darling, it was a terrible experience because we had all that gravel".^[3] This article is about the state. ... The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers, critics, actors and wits that met from 1919 until about 1929, though its legacy endured long afterward. ... Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. ... Cannabis, also known as marijuana[1] or ganja (Hindi: गांजा),[2] is a psychoactive product of the plant Cannabis sativa. ... Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an acclaimed American screenwriter, playwright and author. ...

In 1923, she made her debut on the London stage, where she was to appear in over a dozen plays in the next eight years, most famously, The Dancers. Her fame as an actress was ensured in 1924 when she played the waitress Amy in Sidney Howard's They Knew What They Wanted. The show won the 1925 Pulitzer Prize. She was famous not only as an actress but also for her many affairs, infectious personality and witticisms like "There is less to this than meets the eye" and "I'm as pure as the driven slush." She was brash, brazen, and apt to say anything. This trait made her widely popular. She was known for her promiscuous behavior, and had the reputation of being sexually available to anyone she found attractive, famous or not. Her longest known affair during this period in her life was with an Italian businessman named Anthony de Bosdari, which lasted just over one year.^[4] By the end of the decade, she was one of the West End's — and England's — best-known and most notorious celebrities.^[5] This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Sidney Coe Howard, born June 26, 1891 in Oakland, California, United States – died August 23, 1939 in Tyringham, Massachusetts, was a playwright and screenwriter who became the first person to win both a Pulitzer Prize and an Academy Award. ... They Knew What They Wanted is a 1940 film with Carole Lombard, Charles Laughton, William Gargan, Harry Carey, and Karl Malden (in his film debut). ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ... Promiscuity is the practice of making relatively unselective, casual and indiscriminate choices. ... The interior of Covent Garden Market in the West End The West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the citys major tourist attractions, businesses, and administrative headquarters. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

While in London, Bankhead also bought herself a Bentley, which she loved to drive. She wasn't very competent with directions, however, and constantly found herself lost in the London streets. She would telephone a taxi-cab and pay the driver to drive to her destination while she followed behind in her car. The press loved this.^[4] This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Bentleys winged B badge and hood ornament 1929 Blower Bentley from the Ralph Lauren collection. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Promiscuity came naturally to Bankhead, and she went to bed with anyone who was interested. She professed to having a ravenous appetite for sex, but not for a particular type. "I've tried several varieties of sex. The conventional position makes me claustrophobic. And the others give me either stiff neck or lockjaw," she said. Once, at a party, one of her friends brought along a young man who boldly told Bankhead that he wanted to make love to her that night. She didn't bat an eye and said, "And so you shall, you wonderful old-fashioned boy."^[4] Claustrophobia is an anxiety disorder that involves the fear of enclosed or confined spaces. ... Technically known as trismus (Greek τρισμος, trismos, a grinding), lockjaw is a pathological condition in which the mouth is locked shut by contractions of the jaw muscles. ...

Mid career

She returned to the US in 1931 to be Paramount Pictures' "next Marlene Dietrich", but Hollywood success eluded her in her first four films of the 30s. Critics agree that her acting was flat, that she was unable to dominate the camera, and that she was generally outclassed by Dietrich, Carole Lombard, and others. She rented a home at 1712 Stanley Street, in Hollywood, and began hosting parties that were said to "have no boundaries."^[6] On September 9, 1932, she was featured on the cover of Film Weekly.^[7] Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... Marlene Dietrich IPA: ; (December 27, 1901 – May 6, 1992) was a German-born American actress, singer, and entertainer. ... ... Carole Lombard (October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress. ... ... is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Bankhead's first film was Tarnished Lady (1931), directed by George Cukor, and Cukor and Bankhead became fast friends. Bankhead behaved herself on the set and filming went smoothly, but she found film-making to be very boring and didn't have the patience for it. She didn't like Hollywood either. When she met producer Irving Thalberg, she asked him, "How do you get laid in this dreadful place?"^[8] George Dewey Cukor (July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director. ... Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. ...

Bankhead herself was not very interested in making films. The opportunity to make $50,000 per film, however, was too good to pass up. She later said, "The only reason I went to Hollywood was to fuck that divine Gary Cooper."^[8] ... Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American film actor of English heritage. ...

One of Bankhead's most notorious events was an interview that she gave to Motion Picture magazine in 1932. She was obviously letting off steam from her frustrated attempt at a movie career and she ranted wildly about the state of her life and her views on love, marriage, and children:

"I'm serious about love. I'm damned serious about it now.... I haven't had an affair for six months. Six months! Too long.... If there's anything the matter with me now, it's not Hollywood or Hollywood's state of mind.... The matter with me is, I WANT A MAN! ... Six months is a long, long while. I WANT A MAN!"^{[citation needed]}

Alleged lesbianism, sexual exploits

Hollywood was becoming increasingly conservative, partly as a result of past scandals, and partly because Will H. Hays and others had formed the infamous Production Code. The code dictated not only what the studios could show in their films, but how actors had to conduct themselves off-screen. As predicted, the interview created quite a commotion. Will Hays was furious. Time ran a story about it, and, back home, Bankhead's father and family were really rather perturbed. Bankhead immediately telegraphed her father, vowing never to speak with a magazine reporter again.^[8] ... Cover of Time Magazine (September 13, 1926) William Harrison Hays (November 5, 1879–March 7, 1954) was the namesake of the Hays Code, chairman of Republican National Committee and U.S. Postmaster General. ... The Production Code (also known as the Hays Code) was a set of industry guidelines governing the production of American motion pictures. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ...

However, following the release of the Kinsey Reports, she was once quoted as stating; Alfred Charles Kinsey (June 23, 1894 – August 25, 1956), was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology who in 1947 founded the Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University, now called the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. ...

"I found no surprises in the Kinsey Report. The good doctor's clinical notes were old hat to me..I've had many momentary love affairs. A lot of these impromptu romances have been climaxed in a fashion not generally condoned. I go into them impulsively. I scorn any notion of their permanence. I forget the fever associated with them when a new interest presents itself."^[9]

Thus, comments such as that quoted above and many other actions in her life led to her reputation, of which she never made excuses. She was outspoken and uninhibited. By the standards of the interwar years, Bankhead was quite openly bisexual,^[10] but she successfully avoided scandal related to her affairs, regardless of the gender of her lovers. She was known to have stripped off her clothes on several occasions while attending parties, which shocked people in attendance, but nonetheless she remained magnetic to those who knew her well. Her personality, it was said, made her almost irresistible as a friend, or a lover. In human sexuality, bisexuality describes a man or woman having a sexual orientation to persons of either or both sexes (a man or woman who sexually likes both sexes; people who are sexually and/or romantically attracted to both males and females). ... Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ...

Rumors about her sex life have lingered for years, and she was linked romantically with many notable female personalities of the day, including Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Eva Le Gallienne, Laurette Taylor, Hattie McDaniel, and Alla Nazimova, as well as writer Mercedes de Acosta, and singer Billie Holiday.^[11][12] Greta redirects here. ... For other persons named Joan Crawford, see Joan Crawford (disambiguation). ... Marlene Dietrich IPA: ; (December 27, 1901 – May 6, 1992) was a German-born American actress, singer, and entertainer. ... Eva Le Gallienne Eva Le Gallienne (January 11, 1899 – June 3, 1991) was a well-known actress, producer, and director, during the first half of the 20th century. ... Theater legend, born Helen Loretta Cooney (although other birth names have been tossed about) in New York on April 1, 1884, whose major roles include her unforgettable performances in the eponymous Peg o My Heart and as deluded Southern matriarch Amanda Wingfield in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams... Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1895 – October 26, 1952) was an African American actress. ... Alla Nazimova, born Mariam Edez Adelaida Leventon (May 22, 1879 – July 14, 1945) was an American theater and film actress, scriptwriter, and producer. ... Mercedes de Acosta (March 1, 1893 - May 9, 1968) was an American poet, playwright, costume designer, and socialite best known for her lesbian affairs with Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Alla Nazimova, Eva Le Gallienne ([1]), Isadora Duncan, Katharine Cornell, Maude Adams, Ona Munson (Belle Watling in the movie Gone With... Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), born Eleanora Fagan and later nicknamed Lady Day (see Jazz royalty regarding similar nicknames), was an American jazz singer, a seminal influence on jazz and pop singers, and generally regarded as one of the greatest female jazz vocalists. ...

She was reportedly extremely excited when she was first able to meet the elusive Garbo, but whether they were sexually involved has never been determined beyond a doubt. The two women played tennis together often, and were said to have enjoyed one another's company, but Garbo was extremely protective of her private life and secretive about her lovers. Bankhead was married to actor John Emery from 1937 to 1941. For other uses, see Tennis (disambiguation). ... John Emery (May 20, 1905 - November 16, 1964) was an American film and television actor. ...

Actress Patsy Kelly made a claim to author Boze Hadleigh, which he included in his 1996 book about lesbianism in Hollywood's early years, that she had a long lesbian affair with Bankhead.^[4][8] John Gruen's Menotti: A Biography notes an incident in which Jane Bowles chased Bankhead around Capricorn, Gian Carlo Menotti and Samuel Barber's Mount Kisco estate, insisting that Bankhead needed to play the lesbian character Inès in Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit (which Paul Bowles had recently translated), but Bankhead locked herself in the bathroom and kept insisting "That lesbian! I wouldn't know a thing about it." Patsy Kelly was an American film comedienne, who was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 12, 1910. ... Boze Hadleigh (born May 15, 1954) is an American journalist, interviewer and writer of celebrity gossip and entertainment sometimes including homosexuals of Hollywood. ... Jane Bowles, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1951 Jane Bowles, born Jane Auer (February 22, 1917 – May 4, 1973), was an American writer and playwright. ... Gian Carlo Menotti, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1944 Gian Carlo Menotti (July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-born American composer and librettist who wrote the classic Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular taste. ... Samuel Barber, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1944 Samuel Osborne Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer of classical music ranging from orchestral, to opera, choral, and piano music. ... Mount Kisco is both a village and a town located in Westchester County, New York. ... Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (June 21, 1905 – April 15, 1980), normally known simply as Jean-Paul Sartre (pronounced: ), was a French existentialist philosopher and pioneer, dramatist and screenwriter, novelist and critic. ... For other uses, see No Exit (disambiguation). ... Paul Frederic Bowles (December 30, 1910 - November 18, 1999), was an American composer, author, and traveler. ...

In 1932, she expressed some interest in spirituality, but did not outwardly pursue it, except for a time when she met with the Indian mystic, Meher Baba.^[13] Meher Baba (Persian: مهر بابا Devanāgarī: महर बाबा ), (February 25, 1894, Merwan Sheriar Irani – January 31, 1969), was an Indian spiritual teacher who said he was the Avatar. ...

In 1933, Bankhead nearly died following a five-hour emergency hysterectomy for an advanced case of gonorrhea, which she claimed she contracted either from George Raft or Gary Cooper.^[14] Only 70 pounds when she left the hospital, she stoically said to her doctor, "Don't think this has taught me a lesson!" This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The clap redirects here. ... Raft in They Drive by Night George Raft (September 26, 1895 - November 24, 1980) was an American film actor most closely identified with his portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. ... Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American film actor of English heritage. ...

Hollywood, Broadway and politics

In 1934, after recuperating in Alabama, she returned to England. After only a short stay, she was called back to New York to play in Dark Victory. She continued to play in various performances over the next few years, mostly mediocre. Nevertheless, David O. Selznick called her the "first choice among established stars" to play Scarlett O'Hara. However, moviegoers answering a poll thought otherwise.^[15] David O. Selznick David Oliver Selznick (May 10, 1902–June 22, 1965), was one of the icon Hollywood producers of the Golden Age. ... Scarlett OHara (full name Katie Scarlett OHara Hamilton Kennedy Butler) of French-Irish ancestry is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchells 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name. ...

Her screen test for Gone with the Wind put her out of the running for good. Selznick decided that she was too old (at 34) for Scarlett's antebellum scenes. Unable to capture Hollywood, Bankhead returned to her most-loved acting medium, the stage. Gone with the Wind is a 1939 film adapted from Margaret Mitchells 1936 novel of the same name. ...

Returning to Broadway, Bankhead's career stalled in unmemorable plays until she played the cold and ruthless Regina Giddens in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes (1939). Her portrayal won her the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Performance, but Bankhead and Hellman feuded over the Soviet Union's invasion of Finland. Bankhead (a staunch anti-Communist) was said to want a portion of one performance's proceeds to go to Finnish relief, while Hellman (an equally staunch Stalinist) objected strenuously, and the two women didn't speak for the next quarter of a century.^[16] For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ... Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was a successful American playwright, linked throughout her life with many left-wing causes. ... </gallery> Image:Example. ... The New York Drama Critics Circle is comprised of nineteen drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines, and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. ... Stalinism is a brand of political theory, and the political and economic system implemented by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. ...

More success and the same award followed her 1942 performance in Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth, in which Bankhead played Sabina, the housekeeper and temptress, opposite Fredric March and Florence Eldridge (Mr. and Mrs. Antrobus, and also husband and wife offstage). During the run of the play, some media accused Bankhead of a running feud with the play's director, Elia Kazan. Kazan confirmed the story in his autobiography, and he stated that Bankhead was one of the few people in his life that he ever actually detested. Image:Thorntonwilderteeth. ... The Skin of Our Teeth is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama-winning play by Thornton Wilder. ... Fredric March (August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Florence Eldridge (September 5, 1901 - August 1, 1988) was an American film actress. ... Elia Kazan, (Greek: Ηλίας Καζάν, IPA: ), (September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was a Greek-American film and theatre director, film and theatrical producer, screenwriter, novelist and cofounder of the influential Actors Studio in New York in 1947. ...

Lobbycard from Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944)

In 1944, Alfred Hitchcock cast her as the cynical journalist, Constance Porter, in Lifeboat. The performance is widely acknowledged as her best on film, and won her the New York Film Critics Circle Award. Almost childlike in her immodesty, a beaming Tallulah accepted her trophy and exclaimed, "Dahlings, I was wonderful!" Image File history File linksMetadata Lifeboat2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Lifeboat2. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 â€“ April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 â€“ April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... Lifeboat is a 1944 World War II war film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story written by John Steinbeck. ... New York Film Critics Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. ...

After World War II, Bankhead appeared in a revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives, taking it on tour and then to Broadway for the better part of two years. The play's run made Bankhead a fortune. From that time, Bankhead could command 10% of the gross and was billed larger than any other actor in the cast, although she usually granted equal billing to Estelle Winwood, a frequent co-star, and Bankhead's "best friend" from the 1920s until Bankhead's death in 1968.^[16] Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Noël Peirce Coward (December 16, 1899 – March 26, 1973) was an Academy Award winning English actor, playwright, and composer of popular music. ... Private Lives is a play written by Noel Coward in 1930. ... Estelle Winwood (January 24, 1883 – June 20, 1984) was a English stage and film actress who in moved to America mid-career and became celebrated for her longevity. ...

Bankhead circulated widely in the celebrity crowd of her day, and was a party favorite for outlandish stunts such as underwearless cartwheels in a skirt or entering a soirée stark naked. She is also said to have been so engrossed in conversation with Eleanor Roosevelt that she dropped her drawers and used the toilet while the first lady was still talking.^[16] Anna Eleanor Roosevelt known as Eleanor (IPA: ; October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was an American political leader who used her influence as an active First Lady from 1933 to 1945 to promote the New Deal policies of her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as taking a prominent...

Like her family, Bankhead was a Democrat, but broke with most Southerners by campaigning for Harry Truman's reelection in 1948. While viewing the Inauguration parade, she booed the South Carolina float which carried then-Governor Strom Thurmond, who had recently run against Truman on the Dixiecrat ticket, splitting the Democratic vote. Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      Further information: Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties The Democratic... For the victim of Mt. ... Official language(s) English Capital Columbia Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Columbia Area  Ranked 40th  - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 260 miles (420 km)  - % water 6  - Latitude 32° 2′ N to 35° 13′ N  - Longitude 78° 32′ W to 83... James Strom Thurmond (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who served as governor of South Carolina and as a United States Senator representing that state. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Late career

Though Tallulah Bankhead's career slowed in the mid-1950s, she never faded from the public eye. Although she had become a heavy drinker and consumer of sleeping pills (she was a life-long insomniac), Bankhead continued to perform in the 1950s and 1960s on Broadway, in the occasional film, as a highly-popular radio show host, and in the new medium of television. Her appearance as herself on The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show in 1957 is a cult favorite, as is her role as the "Black Widow" on the 1960s campy television show Batman, which turned out to be her final screen appearance. The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour was a 1957-60 CBS television situation comedy. ... This article is about the 1960s television series. ...

In 1950, in an effort to cut into the rating leads of The Jack Benny Program and The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show which had jumped from NBC radio to CBS radio the previous season, NBC spent millions over the two seasons of The Big Show starring "the glamorous, unpredictable" Tallulah Bankhead as its host, in which she acted not only as mistress of ceremonies but also performed monologues and songs. Despite Meredith Willson's Orchestra and Chorus and top guest stars from Broadway, Hollywood and radio--including Fred Allen, Fanny Brice, Groucho Marx, Ethel Merman, Gracie Fields, Vera Lynn, Jimmy Durante, Martin & Lewis, George Jessel, Judy Garland, Ethel Barrymore, Gloria Swanson, José Ferrer and Judy Holliday, The Big Show, which earned rave reviews, failed to do more than dent Jack Benny's and Edgar Bergen's ratings. The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, was a radio-TV comedy series which ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century comedy. ... Sam Bermans caricature of Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen for 1947 NBC promotion book Edgar John Bergen (February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist. ... This article is about the television network. ... This article is about the broadcast network. ... When The Big Show premiered November 5, 1950, this ad, showing NBCs full evening schedule, ran in Sunday newspapers across the country. ... Robert Meredith Willson (18 May 1902 – 15 June 1984) was an American composer and playwright, best known as the writer of The Music Man. ... He has eyes like Venetian blinds and a tongue like an adder — radio/television critic John Crosby about humourist Fred Allen, portrayed here by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. ... Early Ziegfeld Follies portrait of Fanny Brice Fanny Brice (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951) was a popular and influential American comedian, singer, theatre and film actress and entertainer, remembered best for her many stage, radio and film appearances and her recordings. ... Groucho redirects here. ... Ethel Merman (January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was a Tony Award- and Grammy Award-winning American star of stage and film musicals, well known for her powerful voice, often hailed by critics as The Grande Dame of the Broadway stage. // Merman was born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann in her maternal... Dame Gracie Fields, DBE (January 9, 1898–September 27, 1979), born Grace Stansfield, was an English/Italian singer and comedienne who became one of the greatest stars of both cinema and music hall. ... Dame Vera Lynn DBE (born 20 March 1917) is a retired British singer whose career flourished during World War II, when she was nicknamed The Forces Sweetheart. She is best known for the popular songs Well Meet Again and The White Cliffs of Dover. Lynn is one of the... “Inka Dinka Doo” redirects here. ... Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti, June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an Italian-American singer, film actor, and comedian. ... For other persons named Jerry Lewis, see Jerry Lewis (disambiguation). ... George Jessel (April 3, 1898–May 23, 1981) was a U.S. actor, singer, songwriter, and movie producer. ... Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 - June 22, 1969) was an Academy Award-nominated American film actress and singer, best known for her role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939). ... Ethel Barrymore (August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an Academy Award-winning American actress and a member of the famous Barrymore family. ... Gloria Swanson (March 27, 1899 - April 4, 1983), was an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-winning American Hollywood actress. ... José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1909 – January 26, 1992), was an Academy Award-winning Puerto Rican actor and film director, born in the Santurce district of San Juan, Puerto Rico. ... Judy Holliday (June 21, 1921–June 7, 1965) was an Academy- and Tony Award-winning American actress. ...

Bankhead, who proved a masterful comedienne and intriguing personality, however, was not blamed for the failure of The Big Show--television's growth was hurting all radio ratings at the time, so the next season NBC installed her as one of a half dozen rotating hosts of NBC's The All Star Revue on Saturday nights. Although critics, pros and the sophisticated set loved her, and Tallulah's monologues became classics, she was not among the hosts renewed for the following season.

Bankhead's most popular television appearance and the one that is still seen widely today was her December 3, 1957 appearance on The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Hour. Bankhead played herself in the episode titled "The Celebrity Next Door". The part was originally slated for Bette Davis, but she had to bow out after cracking her vertebra. is the 337th day of the year (338th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... For the singer, see Betty Davis, for the meteorologist, see Betty Davis (meteorologist). ...

Lucille Ball was a fan of Bankhead's and did a good impression of her. By the time the episode was filmed, however, both Ball and Arnaz were at their wit's end over Bankhead's behavior during rehearsal: she refused to listen to the director and she did not like to rehearse. It took her three hours to "wake up" once she arrived on the set and everyone thought she was drunk most of the time. Ball and Arnaz apparently didn't know about Tallulah's antipathy toward rehearsing or her incredible ability to memorize a script. The actual taping of the episode went off without a hitch, and Bankhead impressed everyone with her line readings and professionalism".^[17] Lucille Ball later said that she was conned by Bankhead who purposely made her think she would screw up to throw her off kilter. Desi Arnaz said that Bankhead walked all over him and Ball, and they hadn't known this was typical behavior for Tallulah. Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an iconic American comedian, actress and star of the landmark sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, and Heres Lucy. ... Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an iconic American comedian, actress and star of the landmark sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, and Heres Lucy. ... Desi Arnaz (born Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III) (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban musician, actor, comedian and television producer. ...

Bankhead also appeared as Blanche DuBois in a revival of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire (1956), but reviews were poor. She received a Tony Award nomination for her performance of a bizarre 50-year-old mother in Mary Chase's Midgie Purvis (1961). Her last theatrical appearance was in another Williams play, The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1963). Although she received good notices for her last performances, her career as one of the greats of the American stage was coming to an end. Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois in the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), with Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski Blanche DuBois is the principal character in Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire. ... Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), better known by the nickname Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright of the twentieth century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. ... A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. ... What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York. ... Mary Coyle Chase (1907 - 1981) wrote Harvey, the smash stage show and motion picture. ... Was adapted into the 1968 film, Boom, with the help of Gore Vidal - starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Noel Coward. ...

Her last motion picture was a British horror film Fanatic (1965) co-starring Stefanie Powers, which was released in the U.S. as Die! Die! My Darling!. “Horror Movie” redirects here. ... Stefanie Powers with Robert Wagner Stefanie Powers (born Stefania Zofia Federkiewicz[1] on November 2, 1942) is an American stage and film actress and singer. ... Tallulah Bankhead as the Fanatic Fanatic (US: Die! Die! My Darling!) is a 1965 British thriller directed by Silvio Narizzano for Hammer Films. ...

Her last appearance on screen came in March 1967 as the villainous Black Widow in the Batman TV series. This article is about the 1960s television series. ...

According to author Brendan Gill, when Bankhead entered the hospital for an illness, an article was headed "Tallulah Hospitalized, Hospital Tallulahized." This headline was a testament to Bankhead's large, charismatic personality (which inspired much of the "personality" of the character Cruella De Vil in Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians).^[18] Brendan Gill (October 4, 1914 – December 27, 1997) wrote for The New Yorker for more than 60 years. ... Not to be confused with Cruella de Ville, a short-lived 1980s progressive-rock band. ... Disney may refer to: The Walt Disney Company and its divisions, including Walt Disney Pictures. ... This article is about the 1961 film. ...

Bankhead had no children, but was the godmother of Brook and Brockman Seawell, children of her lifelong friend and actress Eugenia Rawls and Rawls's husband, Donald Seawell. She was known for her kindness to animals and children.

An avid baseball fan, Bankhead was a fan of the New York Giants. She once said that, throughout history, there have only been two geniuses, "Willie Shakespeare and Willie Mays." Major league affiliations National League (1883–present) West Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers NY, NY, 3, 4, 11, 24, 27, 30, 36, 42, 44 Name San Francisco Giants (1958–present) New York Giants (1885–1957) New York Gothams (1883–1885) Other nicknames Jints, Gigantes, G-Men Ballpark AT... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Willie Howard Mays, Jr. ...

Bankhead was also a fan of the soap opera, The Edge of Night. It has been said that after watching a female character agonize over a man, Bankhead contacted the producers of the show and said, "Why doesn't she just shoot the bastard?" The Edge of Night was a long-running American television soap opera. ...

On May 14, 1968, Bankhead was a guest on The Tonight Show with Joe Garagiola as the guest host, along with John Lennon and Paul McCartney. They were in New York to announce the formation of their new company Apple Records. Bankhead, reportedly a bit inebriated, told Lennon and McCartney that she would love to learn how to meditate, as they had in India with the Maharishi in February 1968. Around that time, fans were shocked to see Bankhead on the cover of The National Enquirer. The tabloid informed its readers that the actress was aware that she had only months to live. "There's nothing you, or I, or anybody can do about it," she was quoted. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Joseph Henry Garagiola, Sr. ... John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ... Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, entrepreneur, painter, record producer, film producer and animal-rights activist. ... This article is about the state. ... Apple Records logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple. ... For the technology tabloid website, see The Inquirer. ...

Death

Tallulah Bankhead died in St. Luke's Hospital in New York City of double pneumonia arising from influenza, complicated by emphysema, at the age of 66 on December 12, 1968, and is buried in Saint Paul's Churchyard, Chestertown, Maryland.^[1] St. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... This article is about human pneumonia. ... FLU redirects here. ... is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... High Street in Chestertown Chestertown is a town located in Kent County, Maryland. ...

Her last words: Codeine... bourbon.^[19]

MI5 investigation of Eton school scandal

Recently declassified papers thrust Bankhead in the limelight of public scandal posthumously^[20]. She had been investigated by MI5 amid rumors she was corrupting pupils at Eton. The documents alleged that she seduced up to half a dozen public schoolboys into taking part in "indecent and unnatural" acts. This rumor had sent shockwaves through the 1920s British establishment. MI-5 redirects here. ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (privately funded and independent) for boys, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, north of Windsor Castle, and...

The documents compiled by the British Aliens and Immigration Department allege that the investigation was scuttled by a determined cover-up by Eton's headmaster, Dr C.A. Alington. The allegations were based purely on gossip and word of mouth, and lacked credible evidence. It appears that they were assembled by MI5 at the urgings of a Home Office minister.

The dossier, assembled when she was 32, contains allegations that while in Britain the actress:

• performed indecent acts with under-age boys from Eton College
• was a lesbian who was also promiscuous with men
• was thrown out of her home by her father because of immoral conduct
• moved in a social circle which was a center of vice.

The report that a group of Eton boys took part in a sex session with her at an hotel in Berkshire was discreetly investigated by police and the headmaster was interviewed. However, nothing was discovered except that a couple of boys had been dismissed for breaking school rules on riding in a car.

However, the investigator known only as FHM wrote: "The headmaster is obviously not prepared to assist HO (Home Office) by revealing what he knows of her exploits with some of the boys, i.e., he wants to do everything possible to keep Eton out of the scandal." The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ...

References

The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... St. ...

Further reading

• Lobenthal, Joel (2004). Tallulah!: The Life and Times of a Leading Lady. Regan Books. ISBN 0-06-039435-8. 
• McLellan, Diana (2001). The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-28320-2.  (review)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Tallulah Bankhead

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Tallulah Bankhead

• Tallulah Bankhead at the Internet Movie Database
• Tallulah Bankhead at the Internet Broadway Database
• Tallulah Bankhead - A Passionate Life
• "Dah-ling: The strange case of Tallulah Bankhead" by Robert Gottlieb, The New Yorker, May 16, 2005
• Verbal Turpitude, Time Magazine, Aug. 22, 1932
• The Religious Affiliation of Tallulah Bankhead
• Gay Great - Tallulah Bankhead
• Tallulah Bankhead at Find A Grave