Tallulah Bankhead – It's a Big Gay World Out There

HOLLYWOOD: WERE HATTIE MCDANIEL AND TALLULAH BANKHEAD REALLY AN ITEM?RYAN MURPHY’S REVISNIST NETFLIX SERI LEANS ON AN OLD GOLN AGE MOR. BUT IS TE?BY YOHANA DTAMAY 1, 2020LEFT, OM GETTY IMAG; RIGHT, OM THE EVERETT COLLECTN.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETHIS POST NTAS SPOILERS FOR HOLLYWOOD.THE SECRET LIV OF HOLLYWOOD’S CLOSETED MOVIE STARS SERV AS THE MA ENGE OF HOLLYWOOD, RYAN MURPHY’S SPLASHY REIMAGG OF CEMA’S GOLN AGE. THE NETFLIX MISERI TAK HEAVY SPIRATN OM THE LIFE OF STTY BOWERS, THE LATE HOLLYWOOD PIMP WHO WORKED AT A GAS STATN THAT DOUBLED AS A SEX WORK OPERATN. REPORTEDLY, BOWERS SET UP QUEER TRYSTS FOR EVERYONE OM KATHARE HEPBURN TO CARY GRANT. WHILE THOSE TWO STARS DON’T GET THE -PTH TREATMENT HOLLYWOOD, THE SERI DO TAKE A LOOK AT THE MORED AFFAIR BETWEEN HATTIE MCDANIEL (PLAYED BY QUEEN LATIFAH) AND TALLULAH BANKHEAD (PAGET BREWSTER), PORTRAYG THE PAIR AS LOVERS EPISO FIVE.IN THE EPISO, THE DUO ARE ZIED UP AT MCDANIEL’S HOE, CHATTG AMIABLY ABOUT THEIR ALL-NIGHT FLG WH ONE OF BOWERS’S EMPLOYE. THE SHOW TREATS THE RELATNSHIP AS A FACT, PRENTG MCDANIEL AND BANKHEAD AS AN TABLISHED UPLE. IN REAL LIFE, MORS PERSISTED FOR YEARS ABOUT THE PAIR—BUT ’S HARD TO P DOWN WHEN AND WHERE THOSE MBLGS FIRST BEGAN.LIKE MANY STARS WHO MAY HAVE BEEN CLOSETED THAT ERA, NEHER WOMAN EVER NFIRMED THE WHISPERS, THOUGH THE MCDANIEL–BANKHEAD AFFAIR HAS BEEN REPEATED NONFICTN BOOKS LIKE THE GIRLS: SAPPHO GO TO HOLLYWOOD AND THE SEWG CIRCLE, A NTTED ACUNT OF LBIAN AND BISEXUAL WOMEN HOLLYWOOD. IN 2000, THERE WAS EVEN A MIL ABOUT THE PAIR, TLED TALLULAH AND HATTIE: DEAD AT THE PEARLY GAT CAFE. THE AFFAIR, SEEMS, HAS BEE AN ACCEPTED PART OF EACH ACTOR’S RPECTIVE TSELTOWN LORE.BEYOND THE AFFAIR, THOUGH, BOTH WOMEN HAD ACTIVE ROMANTIC LIV. MCDANIEL, THE GONE WH THE WD STAR WHO MA HISTORY AS THE FIRST BLACK ACTOR TO W AN AMY AWARD, MARRIED FOUR TIM OVER THE URSE OF HER REER. SHE HAD TWO BRIEF MARRIAG EARLY ON HER REER, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER NOT, LONG BEFORE STARRG GONE WH THE WD.IN 1941, SHE MARRIED LOS ANGEL REAL TATE AGENT JAM LLOYD CRAWFORD; FOUR YEARS LATER, THEY GOT DIVORCED. MCDANIELS MARRIED A FOURTH, AND FAL, TIME 1949, TO TERR RATOR LARRY WILLIAMS; THEY DIVORCED THE FOLLOWG YEAR. MCDANIEL NEVER HAD CHILDREN, ENTSTG HER LEGACY TO HER SISTER ETTA, WHOSE CHILDREN MATA TO THIS DAY, PER THR.BANKHEAD, MEANWHILE, VELOPED A REPUTATN OVER THE URSE OF HER REER AS A SEXUAL PROVOTR, OFTEN REMEMBERED MORE FOR HER LARGER-THAN-LIFE PERSONALY THAN HER ONSCREEN PURSUS. “I WAS OBSSED WH TALLULAH BANKHEAD, BEE SHE WAS SO BALLSY AND OUT THERE, AND ALSO FELT NEVER SEEN AND NEVER APPRECIATED,” MURPHY TOLD VANY FAIR. “A BIG BROADWAY ACTRS, ME TO HOLLYWOOD, DIDN’T HAVE THE SUCCS THAT SHE WANTED.”STILL, BANKHEAD WAS WELL KNOWN A-LIST HOLLYWOOD CIRCL. “WE ALL ADORED HER,” JOAN CRAWFORD ONCE SAID, ACRDG TO THE NEW YORKER. “WE WERE FASCATED BY HER, BUT WE WERE SRED TO ATH OF HER TOO…. SHE HAD SUCH THORY, AS IF SHE LED THE EARTH, AS IF SHE WAS THE FIRST WOMAN ON THE MOON.”AS THE NEW YORKER NOT, BANKHEAD CLAIMED TO HAVE SLEPT WH 500 PEOPLE, AND WAS MORED TO HAVE HAD AFFAIRS WH A SLEW OF STARS—CLUDG ACTOR EVA LE GALLIENNE AND ACTOR JOHN EMERY, WHOM SHE MARRIED 1937, THEN DIVORCED FOUR YEARS LATER. DURG THEIR MARRIAGE, SHE REPORTEDLY VELOPED A HAB FOR SNEAKG GUTS TO THEIR BEDROOM WHILE EMERY SLEPT, THEN PULLG BACK THE VERS ON HIM. “DID YOU EVER SEE A PRICK AS BIG AS THAT BEFORE?” SHE WOULD SAY, ACRDG TO THE NEW YORKER. SOON SHE SANG A DIFFERENT TUNE: “WELL, DARLG, THE WEAPON MAY BE OF ADMIRABLE PROPORTNS, BUT THE SHOT IS SCRIBABLY WEAK.”BANKHEAD ALSO DIDN’T MD TALKG ABOUT HER OWN SEXUAL INTY. “I’M A LBIAN,” SHE ONCE SAID BY WAY OF TRODUCTN TO SOMEONE AT A PARTY, PER THE NEW YORKER. “WHAT DO YOU DO?” BUT SHE ALSO LATER JOKED THAT SHE “ULD NEVER BEE A LBIAN, BEE THEY HAVE NO SENSE OF HUMOR!”FOR MURPHY, EXPLORG THE LIV OF CLOSETED STARS WAS SENTIAL TO HOLLYWOOD, EVEN THOUGH FEW STARS OF THE ERA WERE NDID ABOUT THEIR SEXUALY.“IT ALWAYS [MATTERED] TO ME…WHERE ARE THE GAY PEOPLE?” HE SAID. “WHY ARE NO GAY PEOPLE OUT AND BEG ABLE TO BE SEEN AND BE REWARD? IT’S JT A VERY EMOTNAL THG TO BE NSTANTLY OTHER AND TO NSTANTLY NOT GET THAT BRASS RG. BUT IF YOU DO AND OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE LIKE YOU SEE , IS A PATH FORWARD TO THEM. THEY FEEL THAT THEY N DO SOMETHG, THAT THEY ALSO HAVE A WAY FORWARD…MAYBE THEY N BE SEEN FOR EVERYTHG THAT THEY ARE, NOT JT BY THEIR SEXUALY.”ADDNAL REPORTG BY JULIE MILLER.MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— BEHOLD DUNE: AN EXCLIVE LOOK AT TIMOTHéE CHALAMET, ZENDAYA, OSR ISAAC, AND MORE— HOW TO WATCH EVERY MARVEL MOVIE ORR— DAVID SIMON ON THE WIRE AND HIS EQUALLY PISSED-OFF NEW SHOW, THE PLOT AGAST AMERI— BEYOND TIGER KG: 8 TE-CRIME DOCUMENTARI THAT SPARKED A SEND LOOK FROM THE LAW— DOWNTON ABBEY’S JULIAN FELLOW ON HIS NEW SERI AND THE BETY OF A SCHEMG WOMAN— ALL THE NEW 2020 MOVI STREAMG EARLY BEE OF CORONAVIS— FROM THE ARCHIVE: THE NOTOR RIVALRY OF HEDDA HOPPER AND LOUELLA PARSONS, HOLLYWOOD’S DUELG GOSSIP COLUMNISTSMOST POPULARTHE ELVIS PRLEY WE DIDN’T SEE ELVISBY KATEY RICHRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE: THE 6 BIGGT CHANG FROM BOOK TO MOVIEBY SAVANNAH WALSHLOOKG FOR MORE? SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY HOLLYWOOD NEWSLETTER AND NEVER MISS A STORY.16 BETIFUL MOVI THAT CELEBRATE THE GLORY OF NATURE1 / 16CHEVRONCHEVRONFROM 20TH CENTURY FOX/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK.THE SOUND OF MICTHOUGH MANY SCEN THIS 1965 MIL WERE SHOT A STUD, THOSE MAJTIC EXTERRS OF JULIE ANDREWS TWIRLG ABOUT AND SGG “THE SOUND OF MIC” SELF WERE FILMED ON LOTN SALZBURG, ATRIA—JT ONE OF MANY MOMENTS THAT MAKE THE FILM A VIRTUAL BREATH OF H, MOUNTA AIR.YOHANA DTA
CELLA VIL IS WICKED—BUT TALLULAH BANKHEAD WAS EVEN WILRBLASTED HOLLYWOOD FOR “MORAL TURPU,” TALLULAH BANKHEAD NEVER BEME QUE AS FAMO AS GRETA GARBO, MARLENE DIETRICH, OR JOAN CRAWFORD. YET BANKHEAD’S ALTER EGO MAY OUTLAST THEM ALL.BY ROSEMARY COUNTERMAY 25, 2021BY IRVG LIPPMAN/JOHN KOBAL FOUNDATN/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVECELLA VIL WAS ABOUT TO E TO THE BIG SCREEN. WALT DISNEY LOVED DODIE SMH’S 1956 NOVEL THE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS, SOPG UP FILM RIGHTS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. BUT HIS STUD FACED A NUNDM: HOW SHOULD THEY DRAW S VILLA—EQUAL PARTS CEL AND EVIL, OBVLY, BUT ALSO MEAN, , LOUD, GREEDY, SELFISH, HYSTERIL, AND DOMEERG? WHO ULD POSSIBLY SPIRE AND EMBODY A WOMAN SO ILLY AWFUL THAT SHE ACTUALLY MURRS PUPPI?DISNEY ANIMATOR MARC DAVIS LOOKED TO REAL-LIFE “BAD” WOMEN, AND THOUGH HE ADMTED THE LOS ANGEL TIM THAT HE HAD “SEVERAL PARTIAL MOLS MD WHEN I DREW CELLA,” JT ONE EARNED A PRTED NAME-DROP: “CLUDG TALLULAH.” THIS WAS THEATER LEGEND TALLULAH BANKHEAD, WHOSE NAME SAT ATOP WILL HAYS’S FAMO DOOM BOOK, A BOUND VOLUME FOR STUDS LISTG PERFORMERS “UNSUABLE FOR THE PUBLIC.” DAVIS’S SATIRIL ANIMATN CLEVERLY PALIZED ON HER BIG PERSONA—AND BIGGER REPUTATN—AS THE BADST, BOLST, WILST WOMAN OF THE ACTG WORLD.ONCE YOU SEE , YOU WILL NEVER UNSEE TALLULAH BANKHEAD AS CELLA, AND VICE VERSA: THEY’RE BOTH SKELETALLY TH AND NSTANTLY CHA-SMOKG, THE CULPR FOR THEIR EP, RASPY VOIC. CELLA RECKLSLY SPEEDS AROUND TOWN HER LOUD, MONSTRO R, JT AS BANKHEAD TAPULTED HER BENTLEY AROUND LONDON. EVEN DOORS, BOTH STUMBLE ABOUT BREAKG GLASS AND KNOCKG PICTUR OFF WALLS. EACH HAS A SIGNATURE OVER-THE-TOP CKLE.UNLIKE CELLA, BANKHEAD WASN’T BORN BAD—BUT PRETTY CLOSE. THE DGHTER OF A PROMENT POLIL FAY TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY ALABAMA, TALLULAH WAS A BAD-TEMPERED BABY TURNED FIANT CHILD. SHE WROTE THAT A SERI OF THROAT AND CHT FECTNS—WHOOPG UGH, MEASL, PNMONIA, THE MUMPS—LEFT HER WH THE FAMO VOICE THAT WOULD BEE HER TRAMARK. IN CHILDHOOD, AS SHE BEME CREASGLY TOUGH-SOUNDG, SHE “TOOK TO BULLYG HER SISTER AND MOST OF THE RT OF HER CLASS,” WROTE BGRAPHER DAVID BRET. THOUGH HER FAY WASN’T EVEN CATHOLIC, THE UNNTROLLABLE BANKHEAD WAS SENT AWAY TO NVENTS, WHERE SHE WAS TWICE EXPELLED: ONCE FOR THROWG K AT THE MOTHER SUPERR AND AGA, AT AGE 12, FOR MAKG ROMANTIC ADVANC TOWARDS A NUN.AT 15, PERHAPS DUE TO WHAT BRET LLS HER “MANIC NARCISSISM,” BANKHEAD SUBMTED HER PHOTO TO PICTURE PLAY MAGAZE AND WON A SMALL PART A MOVIE, AS WELL AS A TRIP TO NEW YORK. WH HER LAX AUNT LOUISE AS CHAPERONE, BANKHEAD TOOK A ROOM AT THE THEN UNREMARKABLE ALGONQU HOTEL. FOR PERMISSN TO PURSUE ACTG THE CY, SHE PROMISED HER FATHER—OR “DADDY” AS SHE LLED HIM WELL TO ADULTHOOD, AND ALL THROUGH HER OWN 1952 TELL-ALL TOBGRAPHY—SHE’D ABSTA OM MEN AND ALHOL. LUCKILY THERE WAS A LOOPHOLE: “HE DIDN’T SAY ANYTHG ABOUT WOMEN AND E.”BY FLE, AROUND THE SAME TIME BANKHEAD MOVED , THE NOW FAMO FAC OF THE ALGONQU ROUND TABLE CHOSE THE HOTEL FOR THEIR DAILY MEETGS. BANKHEAD SOON MET JOHN AND ETHEL BARRYMORE, DOROTHY PARKER, AND ZELDA FZGERALD. SHE KEPT HER PROMISE TO HER FATHER, MOSTLY, REMAG A SELF-SCRIBED “TECHNIL VIRG” UNTIL 20. THE SE LASTED UNTIL 1923, WHEN BANKHEAD LEFT NEW YORK FOR THE LONDON STAGE.THE PLAY WAS GERALD DU MRIER’S THE DANCERS, AND THE 50-YEAR-OLD PHILANRER’S PASS AT BANKHEAD WAS SWIFTLY REBUFFED. (BRET HTS SHE WAS MORE TERTED HIS DGHTER, DAPHNE.) REALLY SHE REJECTED HIS ADVANC FOR THE SAME REASON SHE HAD JOHN BARRYMORE’S: BANKHEAD MUCH PREFERRED TO BE THE SCER RATHER THAN THE SCED. AND LONDON, EE OM THE WATCHFUL EYE OF “DADDY,” BANKHEAD’S AMPLE SCTNS SECURED A REPUTATN SHE ED TO HER ADVANTAGE. TO EXPLA THE WEIGHT SHE’D GAED OM “CHOLATE KE AND BIG BANANAS,” NOT BRET, BANKHEAD ALSO SPREAD A MOR THAT SHE WAS ROUNR OM AN ABORTED PREGNANCY, SAYG WAS BY NO MEANS HER FIRST.BANKHEAD HAD A SIGNATURE PARTY TRICK SHE PULLED AT ALL HOURS, AT HOME AND WORK AND EVERYWHERE ELSE. “NUDY WAS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WEAPON HER ARSENAL OF SHOCK TACTICS,” WR JOEL LOBENTHAL TALLULAH! NAKED RTWHEELS, MISSG UNRPANTS, AND STRIPPG—SHE DID THEM ALL FOR FUN. WILD ANTICS MA BANKHEAD A SENSATN AND OF HERSELF, EVEN WHEN HER PLAYS GOT LACKLTER REVIEWS. SHE QUICKLY BEME THE TOAST OF LONDON AND WAS TERMED TO ENJOY EVERY MUTE.BANKHEAD’S WILD, OPEN, SHAMELS SEXPAS WH MEN AND WOMEN MA HER AN STANT QUEER IN, EXPLAS LOBENTHAL, NOTG HER “VISUAL ADOPTN BY SOME OF THE MOST PROMENT GAY WOMEN LONDON.” BANKHEAD NEVER INTIFIED AS BISEXUAL OR ANY OTHER LABEL, NOR DID MOST ANYONE WHO RAN HER CIRCL. THE NOTCH ON BANKHEAD’S BEDPOST WERE MORED TO ADD UP TO AT LEAST 500, MAYBE EVEN 5,000.MOST POPULARTHE ELVIS PRLEY WE DIDN’T SEE ELVISBY KATEY RICHRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE: THE 6 BIGGT CHANG FROM BOOK TO MOVIEBY SAVANNAH WALSHBANKHEAD MIGHT HAVE NTUED AS SUCH FELY, UNTIL NEWS ARRIVED THAT HER FATHER, BY THEN SPEAKER OF THE HOE, WAS ILL WHOUT MUCH TIME LEFT. BANKHEAD RETURNED TO AMERI TO STAR FILMS, CLUDG MAKE ME A STAR AS HERSELF AND DEVIL AND THE DEEP “TO FUCK THAT DIVE GARY COOPER.” FAMO, BRAZEN MENTS LIKE THE, CLUDG A PUBLIC ADMISSN THAT SHE MIGHT “LAY MY EY ON A MAN AND HAVE AN AFFAIRE WH HIM THE NEXT HOUR”—THEY’RE QUOTED BY BOTH LOBENTHAL AND BRET—ARE WHAT UGHT HAYS’S JUDGMENTAL EYE AND SECURED HER SPOT THE DOOM BOOK.BANKHEAD DIDN’T RE ABOUT HAYS’S OPNS—SHE PUBLICLY LLED HIM “A LTLE PRICK”—BUT SHE RED A LOT ABOUT “DADDY’S,” WHO HOPED SHE’D MARRY AND HAVE CHILDREN. HER FATHER DIDN’T KNOW , BUT THE LATTER WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOLLOWG A 1933 EMERGENCY HYSTERECTOMY AFTER GONORRHOEA HAD RENRED HER FERTILE. LOBENTHAL REUNTS THE NEAR-FATAL OPERATN, NE WEEKS HOSPAL AND HER WEIGHT PLUMMETG TO 75 POUNDS, AND BANKHEAD BARKG AT DOCTORS ON HER WAY ON THE DOOR: “DON’T THK THIS HAS TGHT ME A LSON!”MARRIAGE, HOWEVER, WAS RELUCTANTLY DOABLE. IN AUGT 1937, AT HER FATHER’S HOME, BANKHEAD MARRIED ACTOR JOHN EMERY, A MAN SHE SCRIBED AS “SO-SO.” “THE MARRIAGE, OF URSE, WAS DOOMED OM THE START,” WR BRET, A SENTIMENT TO WHICH BANKHEAD WOULD AGREE: “AFTER TWENTY YEARS OF UNBRIDLED EEDOM, OF ACTG ON WHIM, I ULDN’T DISCIPLE MYSELF TO THE GREE NECSARY FOR A SATISFACTORY UNN,” SHE WROTE. ON ONE SUCH WHIM, SHE VED THE PRS ON THEIR HONEYMOON AND TOOK TO “SCRIBG WHAT HAD HAPPENED DURG THE PREV NIGHT THE MUTT ANATOMIL TAILS,” BRET WR. AND NOT A GOOD WAY. “WELL, DARLG,” SHE TOLD REPORTERS, “THE WEAPON MAY BE ADMIRABLE PROPORTNS, BUT THE SHOT IS SCRIBABLY WEAK.”FROM THE ARCHIVE: TALLULAH BANKHEAD’S RETURNARROWBANKHEAD’S FATHER WAS STILL ALIVE WHEN HER MARRIAGE IMPLOD. SHE KEPT THAT SECRET UNTIL HIS ATH, AND BANKHEAD HEAD TO RENO FOR A DIVORCE NOT LONG AFTER. THOUGH STILL MOSTLY BANNED OM MOVI, SHE SUBSEQUENTLY FOUND MUCH SUCCS ON BROADWAY AND BEYOND PLAYS LIKE THE LTLE FOX, THE SK OF OUR TEETH, AND PRIVATE LIV. IN ALED HCHCK’S 1944 FILM LIFEBOAT, BANKHEAD FALLY FOUND CRIL AND MERCIAL SUCCS, BUT DIDN’T CHANGE HER. BRET QUOT BANKHEAD’S STAR AND ON-SET LOVER JOHN HODIAK, WHO NOTED THROUGHOUT THE SHOOT WHERE SHE ASCEND A LADR TO BOARD THE BOAT: “TALLULAH NEVER ONCE HAD ANY UNRWEAR ON.” (FUN FACT: A BLK-AND-YOU’LL-MISS- SCENE OM LIFEBOAT POPS UP AS AN EASTER EGG DISNEY’S UPG CELLA.)JT AS SHE REACHED HER HEIGHT OF FAME 1950, DOCTORS WARNED BANKHEAD THAT HER LIFTYLE—UP TO TWO BOTTL OF BOURBON AND MORE THAN A HUNDRED CIGARETT A DAY—WAS SLOWLY KILLG HER. SHE MERELY PROMISED. “SHE ADD GGER ALE TO THE BOURBON AND SUBSTUTED HER UAL BRAND OF CIGARETT FOR 150 RK-TIPPED ON,” WR BRET. SHE STILL DABBLED OPIAT AND BARBURAT WHEN AVAILABLE BUT PREFERRED E, WHICH SHE APPARENTLY NSIRED MEDICAL. IN HER TOBGRAPHY, THOUGH SHE RARELY FOLLOWED HER OWN ADVICE, BANKHEAD OFFERS THIS LE ON MORATN: “NEVER PRACTICE TWO VIC AT ONCE.”MOST POPULARTHE ELVIS PRLEY WE DIDN’T SEE ELVISBY KATEY RICHRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE: THE 6 BIGGT CHANG FROM BOOK TO MOVIEBY SAVANNAH WALSHAS HER HEALTH TERRATED, WR BRET, BANKHEAD MISSED THE OPPORTUNY TO PERFORM INIC ROL WRTEN FOR HER—NAMELY BLANCHE DUBOIS THE FILM A STREETR NAMED DIRE AND MARGO CHANNG ALL ABOUT EVE, A STAGE ROLE BANKHEAD CREATED BUT GIVEN TO BETTE DAVIS FOR FILM; BANKHEAD DUBBED “ALL ABOUT ME” AND NEVER FAVE “THAT HAG” DAVIS FOR THE RT OF HER YEARS.IT WAS THIS VERSN OF TALLULAH BANKHEAD THAT MARC DAVIS BORROWED TO BEE CELLA: BTER, HOSTILE, BELLIGERENT, LOUD, OBNOX, ATTENTN-HOGGG AND PUBLICY-OBSSED. IF BANKHEAD RENTED THE PICTN, SHE VERY UNCHARACTERISTILLY DIDN’T SAY ANYTHG ABOUT (AT LEAST PUBLICLY). MORE LIKELY, SHE SECRETLY LOVED BEG CELLA AND WOULD BE THRILLED TO KNOW THAT THE INIC VILLA SHE SPIRED IS G BACK AGA TO THE BIG SCREEN THAT ONCE WOULDN’T GIVE BANKHEAD THE TIME OF DAY. “I DON’T RE WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ME AFTER I’M AD,” BANKHEAD OFTEN REMARKED, “SO LONG AS THEY SAY SOMETHG!”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— A FIRST LOOK AT LEONARDO DICAPR KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON— 15 SUMMER MOVI WORTH RETURNG TO THEATERS FOR— WHY EVAN PETERS NEED A HUG AFTER HIS BIG MARE OF EASTTOWN SCENE— SHADOW AND BONE CREATORS BREAK DOWN THOSE BIG BOOK CHANG— THE PARTICULAR BRAVERY OF ELLT PAGE’S OPRAH INTERVIEW— INSI THE COLLAPSE OF THE GOLN GLOB— WATCH JT THEROUX BREAK DOWN HIS CAREER— FOR THE LOVE OF REAL HOEWIV: AN OBSSN THAT NEVER QUS— FROM THE ARCHIVE: THE SKY’S THE LIM FOR LEONARDO DICAPR— NOT A SUBSCRIBER? JO VANY FAIR TO RECEIVE FULL ACCS TO AND THE PLETE ONLE ARCHIVE NOW.ROSEMARY COUNTER
TALLULAH: DNK, GAY AND FABULO

HOLLYWOOD: WERE HATTIE MCDANIEL AND TALLULAH BANKHEAD REALLY AN ITEM?RYAN MURPHY’S REVISNIST NETFLIX SERI LEANS ON AN OLD GOLN AGE MOR. BUT IS TE?BY YOHANA DTAMAY 1, 2020LEFT, OM GETTY IMAG; RIGHT, OM THE EVERETT COLLECTN.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETHIS POST NTAS SPOILERS FOR HOLLYWOOD.THE SECRET LIV OF HOLLYWOOD’S CLOSETED MOVIE STARS SERV AS THE MA ENGE OF HOLLYWOOD, RYAN MURPHY’S SPLASHY REIMAGG OF CEMA’S GOLN AGE. THE NETFLIX MISERI TAK HEAVY SPIRATN OM THE LIFE OF STTY BOWERS, THE LATE HOLLYWOOD PIMP WHO WORKED AT A GAS STATN THAT DOUBLED AS A SEX WORK OPERATN. REPORTEDLY, BOWERS SET UP QUEER TRYSTS FOR EVERYONE OM KATHARE HEPBURN TO CARY GRANT. WHILE THOSE TWO STARS DON’T GET THE -PTH TREATMENT HOLLYWOOD, THE SERI DO TAKE A LOOK AT THE MORED AFFAIR BETWEEN HATTIE MCDANIEL (PLAYED BY QUEEN LATIFAH) AND TALLULAH BANKHEAD (PAGET BREWSTER), PORTRAYG THE PAIR AS LOVERS EPISO FIVE.IN THE EPISO, THE DUO ARE ZIED UP AT MCDANIEL’S HOE, CHATTG AMIABLY ABOUT THEIR ALL-NIGHT FLG WH ONE OF BOWERS’S EMPLOYE. THE SHOW TREATS THE RELATNSHIP AS A FACT, PRENTG MCDANIEL AND BANKHEAD AS AN TABLISHED UPLE. IN REAL LIFE, MORS PERSISTED FOR YEARS ABOUT THE PAIR—BUT ’S HARD TO P DOWN WHEN AND WHERE THOSE MBLGS FIRST BEGAN.LIKE MANY STARS WHO MAY HAVE BEEN CLOSETED THAT ERA, NEHER WOMAN EVER NFIRMED THE WHISPERS, THOUGH THE MCDANIEL–BANKHEAD AFFAIR HAS BEEN REPEATED NONFICTN BOOKS LIKE THE GIRLS: SAPPHO GO TO HOLLYWOOD AND THE SEWG CIRCLE, A NTTED ACUNT OF LBIAN AND BISEXUAL WOMEN HOLLYWOOD. IN 2000, THERE WAS EVEN A MIL ABOUT THE PAIR, TLED TALLULAH AND HATTIE: DEAD AT THE PEARLY GAT CAFE. THE AFFAIR, SEEMS, HAS BEE AN ACCEPTED PART OF EACH ACTOR’S RPECTIVE TSELTOWN LORE.BEYOND THE AFFAIR, THOUGH, BOTH WOMEN HAD ACTIVE ROMANTIC LIV. MCDANIEL, THE GONE WH THE WD STAR WHO MA HISTORY AS THE FIRST BLACK ACTOR TO W AN AMY AWARD, MARRIED FOUR TIM OVER THE URSE OF HER REER. SHE HAD TWO BRIEF MARRIAG EARLY ON HER REER, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER NOT, LONG BEFORE STARRG GONE WH THE WD.IN 1941, SHE MARRIED LOS ANGEL REAL TATE AGENT JAM LLOYD CRAWFORD; FOUR YEARS LATER, THEY GOT DIVORCED. MCDANIELS MARRIED A FOURTH, AND FAL, TIME 1949, TO TERR RATOR LARRY WILLIAMS; THEY DIVORCED THE FOLLOWG YEAR. MCDANIEL NEVER HAD CHILDREN, ENTSTG HER LEGACY TO HER SISTER ETTA, WHOSE CHILDREN MATA TO THIS DAY, PER THR.BANKHEAD, MEANWHILE, VELOPED A REPUTATN OVER THE URSE OF HER REER AS A SEXUAL PROVOTR, OFTEN REMEMBERED MORE FOR HER LARGER-THAN-LIFE PERSONALY THAN HER ONSCREEN PURSUS. “I WAS OBSSED WH TALLULAH BANKHEAD, BEE SHE WAS SO BALLSY AND OUT THERE, AND ALSO FELT NEVER SEEN AND NEVER APPRECIATED,” MURPHY TOLD VANY FAIR. “A BIG BROADWAY ACTRS, ME TO HOLLYWOOD, DIDN’T HAVE THE SUCCS THAT SHE WANTED.”STILL, BANKHEAD WAS WELL KNOWN A-LIST HOLLYWOOD CIRCL. “WE ALL ADORED HER,” JOAN CRAWFORD ONCE SAID, ACRDG TO THE NEW YORKER. “WE WERE FASCATED BY HER, BUT WE WERE SRED TO ATH OF HER TOO…. SHE HAD SUCH THORY, AS IF SHE LED THE EARTH, AS IF SHE WAS THE FIRST WOMAN ON THE MOON.”AS THE NEW YORKER NOT, BANKHEAD CLAIMED TO HAVE SLEPT WH 500 PEOPLE, AND WAS MORED TO HAVE HAD AFFAIRS WH A SLEW OF STARS—CLUDG ACTOR EVA LE GALLIENNE AND ACTOR JOHN EMERY, WHOM SHE MARRIED 1937, THEN DIVORCED FOUR YEARS LATER. DURG THEIR MARRIAGE, SHE REPORTEDLY VELOPED A HAB FOR SNEAKG GUTS TO THEIR BEDROOM WHILE EMERY SLEPT, THEN PULLG BACK THE VERS ON HIM. “DID YOU EVER SEE A PRICK AS BIG AS THAT BEFORE?” SHE WOULD SAY, ACRDG TO THE NEW YORKER. SOON SHE SANG A DIFFERENT TUNE: “WELL, DARLG, THE WEAPON MAY BE OF ADMIRABLE PROPORTNS, BUT THE SHOT IS SCRIBABLY WEAK.”BANKHEAD ALSO DIDN’T MD TALKG ABOUT HER OWN SEXUAL INTY. “I’M A LBIAN,” SHE ONCE SAID BY WAY OF TRODUCTN TO SOMEONE AT A PARTY, PER THE NEW YORKER. “WHAT DO YOU DO?” BUT SHE ALSO LATER JOKED THAT SHE “ULD NEVER BEE A LBIAN, BEE THEY HAVE NO SENSE OF HUMOR!”FOR MURPHY, EXPLORG THE LIV OF CLOSETED STARS WAS SENTIAL TO HOLLYWOOD, EVEN THOUGH FEW STARS OF THE ERA WERE NDID ABOUT THEIR SEXUALY.“IT ALWAYS [MATTERED] TO ME…WHERE ARE THE GAY PEOPLE?” HE SAID. “WHY ARE NO GAY PEOPLE OUT AND BEG ABLE TO BE SEEN AND BE REWARD? IT’S JT A VERY EMOTNAL THG TO BE NSTANTLY OTHER AND TO NSTANTLY NOT GET THAT BRASS RG. BUT IF YOU DO AND OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE LIKE YOU SEE , IS A PATH FORWARD TO THEM. THEY FEEL THAT THEY N DO SOMETHG, THAT THEY ALSO HAVE A WAY FORWARD…MAYBE THEY N BE SEEN FOR EVERYTHG THAT THEY ARE, NOT JT BY THEIR SEXUALY.”ADDNAL REPORTG BY JULIE MILLER.MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— BEHOLD DUNE: AN EXCLIVE LOOK AT TIMOTHéE CHALAMET, ZENDAYA, OSR ISAAC, AND MORE— HOW TO WATCH EVERY MARVEL MOVIE ORR— DAVID SIMON ON THE WIRE AND HIS EQUALLY PISSED-OFF NEW SHOW, THE PLOT AGAST AMERI— BEYOND TIGER KG: 8 TE-CRIME DOCUMENTARI THAT SPARKED A SEND LOOK FROM THE LAW— DOWNTON ABBEY’S JULIAN FELLOW ON HIS NEW SERI AND THE BETY OF A SCHEMG WOMAN— ALL THE NEW 2020 MOVI STREAMG EARLY BEE OF CORONAVIS— FROM THE ARCHIVE: THE NOTOR RIVALRY OF HEDDA HOPPER AND LOUELLA PARSONS, HOLLYWOOD’S DUELG GOSSIP COLUMNISTSMOST POPULARTHE ELVIS PRLEY WE DIDN’T SEE ELVISBY KATEY RICHRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE: THE 6 BIGGT CHANG FROM BOOK TO MOVIEBY SAVANNAH WALSHLOOKG FOR MORE? SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY HOLLYWOOD NEWSLETTER AND NEVER MISS A STORY.16 BETIFUL MOVI THAT CELEBRATE THE GLORY OF NATURE1 / 16CHEVRONCHEVRONFROM 20TH CENTURY FOX/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK.THE SOUND OF MICTHOUGH MANY SCEN THIS 1965 MIL WERE SHOT A STUD, THOSE MAJTIC EXTERRS OF JULIE ANDREWS TWIRLG ABOUT AND SGG “THE SOUND OF MIC” SELF WERE FILMED ON LOTN SALZBURG, ATRIA—JT ONE OF MANY MOMENTS THAT MAKE THE FILM A VIRTUAL BREATH OF H, MOUNTA AIR.YOHANA DTA

Carol loved the gays, and they helped make her a legend. * tallulah bankhead gay *

Edgar Hoover for may have been a closeted homosexual, but the queen of pnage uldn't rist a glamoro diva, even if she was an outspoken liberal, and he apparently did her biddg sce Holiday, a repeat offenr, was released. “It always [mattered] to me…where are the gay people? “Why are no gay people out and beg able to be seen and be reward?

Bankhead’s wild, open, shamels sexpas wh men and women ma her an stant queer in, explas Lobenthal, notg her “visual adoptn by some of the most proment gay women London. Tallulah: Dnk, Gay and FabuloWhen actrs Tallulah Bankhead first arrived at the Algonqu Hotel she’d noted the tough, abrasive style of New York nversatn.

Tony wners, om left, gay actor Sir Alec Guns, Sandy Dennis, Carol Channg, and Bert Lahr pose wh their Antoette Perry medallns at the 18th Annual Tony Awards ceremony at the New York Hilton New York Cy, May 24, 1964. Gay playwright Thornton Wilr, left, lls on Carol Channg her drsg room followg the performance of Hello, Dolly! Gay poser and lyricist (Hello, Dolly!

CELLA VIL IS WICKED—BUT TALLULAH BANKHEAD WAS EVEN WILRBLASTED HOLLYWOOD FOR “MORAL TURPU,” TALLULAH BANKHEAD NEVER BEME QUE AS FAMO AS GRETA GARBO, MARLENE DIETRICH, OR JOAN CRAWFORD. YET BANKHEAD’S ALTER EGO MAY OUTLAST THEM ALL.BY ROSEMARY COUNTERMAY 25, 2021BY IRVG LIPPMAN/JOHN KOBAL FOUNDATN/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVECELLA VIL WAS ABOUT TO E TO THE BIG SCREEN. WALT DISNEY LOVED DODIE SMH’S 1956 NOVEL THE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS, SOPG UP FILM RIGHTS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. BUT HIS STUD FACED A NUNDM: HOW SHOULD THEY DRAW S VILLA—EQUAL PARTS CEL AND EVIL, OBVLY, BUT ALSO MEAN, , LOUD, GREEDY, SELFISH, HYSTERIL, AND DOMEERG? WHO ULD POSSIBLY SPIRE AND EMBODY A WOMAN SO ILLY AWFUL THAT SHE ACTUALLY MURRS PUPPI?DISNEY ANIMATOR MARC DAVIS LOOKED TO REAL-LIFE “BAD” WOMEN, AND THOUGH HE ADMTED THE LOS ANGEL TIM THAT HE HAD “SEVERAL PARTIAL MOLS MD WHEN I DREW CELLA,” JT ONE EARNED A PRTED NAME-DROP: “CLUDG TALLULAH.” THIS WAS THEATER LEGEND TALLULAH BANKHEAD, WHOSE NAME SAT ATOP WILL HAYS’S FAMO DOOM BOOK, A BOUND VOLUME FOR STUDS LISTG PERFORMERS “UNSUABLE FOR THE PUBLIC.” DAVIS’S SATIRIL ANIMATN CLEVERLY PALIZED ON HER BIG PERSONA—AND BIGGER REPUTATN—AS THE BADST, BOLST, WILST WOMAN OF THE ACTG WORLD.ONCE YOU SEE , YOU WILL NEVER UNSEE TALLULAH BANKHEAD AS CELLA, AND VICE VERSA: THEY’RE BOTH SKELETALLY TH AND NSTANTLY CHA-SMOKG, THE CULPR FOR THEIR EP, RASPY VOIC. CELLA RECKLSLY SPEEDS AROUND TOWN HER LOUD, MONSTRO R, JT AS BANKHEAD TAPULTED HER BENTLEY AROUND LONDON. EVEN DOORS, BOTH STUMBLE ABOUT BREAKG GLASS AND KNOCKG PICTUR OFF WALLS. EACH HAS A SIGNATURE OVER-THE-TOP CKLE.UNLIKE CELLA, BANKHEAD WASN’T BORN BAD—BUT PRETTY CLOSE. THE DGHTER OF A PROMENT POLIL FAY TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY ALABAMA, TALLULAH WAS A BAD-TEMPERED BABY TURNED FIANT CHILD. SHE WROTE THAT A SERI OF THROAT AND CHT FECTNS—WHOOPG UGH, MEASL, PNMONIA, THE MUMPS—LEFT HER WH THE FAMO VOICE THAT WOULD BEE HER TRAMARK. IN CHILDHOOD, AS SHE BEME CREASGLY TOUGH-SOUNDG, SHE “TOOK TO BULLYG HER SISTER AND MOST OF THE RT OF HER CLASS,” WROTE BGRAPHER DAVID BRET. THOUGH HER FAY WASN’T EVEN CATHOLIC, THE UNNTROLLABLE BANKHEAD WAS SENT AWAY TO NVENTS, WHERE SHE WAS TWICE EXPELLED: ONCE FOR THROWG K AT THE MOTHER SUPERR AND AGA, AT AGE 12, FOR MAKG ROMANTIC ADVANC TOWARDS A NUN.AT 15, PERHAPS DUE TO WHAT BRET LLS HER “MANIC NARCISSISM,” BANKHEAD SUBMTED HER PHOTO TO PICTURE PLAY MAGAZE AND WON A SMALL PART A MOVIE, AS WELL AS A TRIP TO NEW YORK. WH HER LAX AUNT LOUISE AS CHAPERONE, BANKHEAD TOOK A ROOM AT THE THEN UNREMARKABLE ALGONQU HOTEL. FOR PERMISSN TO PURSUE ACTG THE CY, SHE PROMISED HER FATHER—OR “DADDY” AS SHE LLED HIM WELL TO ADULTHOOD, AND ALL THROUGH HER OWN 1952 TELL-ALL TOBGRAPHY—SHE’D ABSTA OM MEN AND ALHOL. LUCKILY THERE WAS A LOOPHOLE: “HE DIDN’T SAY ANYTHG ABOUT WOMEN AND E.”BY FLE, AROUND THE SAME TIME BANKHEAD MOVED , THE NOW FAMO FAC OF THE ALGONQU ROUND TABLE CHOSE THE HOTEL FOR THEIR DAILY MEETGS. BANKHEAD SOON MET JOHN AND ETHEL BARRYMORE, DOROTHY PARKER, AND ZELDA FZGERALD. SHE KEPT HER PROMISE TO HER FATHER, MOSTLY, REMAG A SELF-SCRIBED “TECHNIL VIRG” UNTIL 20. THE SE LASTED UNTIL 1923, WHEN BANKHEAD LEFT NEW YORK FOR THE LONDON STAGE.THE PLAY WAS GERALD DU MRIER’S THE DANCERS, AND THE 50-YEAR-OLD PHILANRER’S PASS AT BANKHEAD WAS SWIFTLY REBUFFED. (BRET HTS SHE WAS MORE TERTED HIS DGHTER, DAPHNE.) REALLY SHE REJECTED HIS ADVANC FOR THE SAME REASON SHE HAD JOHN BARRYMORE’S: BANKHEAD MUCH PREFERRED TO BE THE SCER RATHER THAN THE SCED. AND LONDON, EE OM THE WATCHFUL EYE OF “DADDY,” BANKHEAD’S AMPLE SCTNS SECURED A REPUTATN SHE ED TO HER ADVANTAGE. TO EXPLA THE WEIGHT SHE’D GAED OM “CHOLATE KE AND BIG BANANAS,” NOT BRET, BANKHEAD ALSO SPREAD A MOR THAT SHE WAS ROUNR OM AN ABORTED PREGNANCY, SAYG WAS BY NO MEANS HER FIRST.BANKHEAD HAD A SIGNATURE PARTY TRICK SHE PULLED AT ALL HOURS, AT HOME AND WORK AND EVERYWHERE ELSE. “NUDY WAS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WEAPON HER ARSENAL OF SHOCK TACTICS,” WR JOEL LOBENTHAL TALLULAH! NAKED RTWHEELS, MISSG UNRPANTS, AND STRIPPG—SHE DID THEM ALL FOR FUN. WILD ANTICS MA BANKHEAD A SENSATN AND OF HERSELF, EVEN WHEN HER PLAYS GOT LACKLTER REVIEWS. SHE QUICKLY BEME THE TOAST OF LONDON AND WAS TERMED TO ENJOY EVERY MUTE.BANKHEAD’S WILD, OPEN, SHAMELS SEXPAS WH MEN AND WOMEN MA HER AN STANT QUEER IN, EXPLAS LOBENTHAL, NOTG HER “VISUAL ADOPTN BY SOME OF THE MOST PROMENT GAY WOMEN LONDON.” BANKHEAD NEVER INTIFIED AS BISEXUAL OR ANY OTHER LABEL, NOR DID MOST ANYONE WHO RAN HER CIRCL. THE NOTCH ON BANKHEAD’S BEDPOST WERE MORED TO ADD UP TO AT LEAST 500, MAYBE EVEN 5,000.MOST POPULARTHE ELVIS PRLEY WE DIDN’T SEE ELVISBY KATEY RICHRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE: THE 6 BIGGT CHANG FROM BOOK TO MOVIEBY SAVANNAH WALSHBANKHEAD MIGHT HAVE NTUED AS SUCH FELY, UNTIL NEWS ARRIVED THAT HER FATHER, BY THEN SPEAKER OF THE HOE, WAS ILL WHOUT MUCH TIME LEFT. BANKHEAD RETURNED TO AMERI TO STAR FILMS, CLUDG MAKE ME A STAR AS HERSELF AND DEVIL AND THE DEEP “TO FUCK THAT DIVE GARY COOPER.” FAMO, BRAZEN MENTS LIKE THE, CLUDG A PUBLIC ADMISSN THAT SHE MIGHT “LAY MY EY ON A MAN AND HAVE AN AFFAIRE WH HIM THE NEXT HOUR”—THEY’RE QUOTED BY BOTH LOBENTHAL AND BRET—ARE WHAT UGHT HAYS’S JUDGMENTAL EYE AND SECURED HER SPOT THE DOOM BOOK.BANKHEAD DIDN’T RE ABOUT HAYS’S OPNS—SHE PUBLICLY LLED HIM “A LTLE PRICK”—BUT SHE RED A LOT ABOUT “DADDY’S,” WHO HOPED SHE’D MARRY AND HAVE CHILDREN. HER FATHER DIDN’T KNOW , BUT THE LATTER WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOLLOWG A 1933 EMERGENCY HYSTERECTOMY AFTER GONORRHOEA HAD RENRED HER FERTILE. LOBENTHAL REUNTS THE NEAR-FATAL OPERATN, NE WEEKS HOSPAL AND HER WEIGHT PLUMMETG TO 75 POUNDS, AND BANKHEAD BARKG AT DOCTORS ON HER WAY ON THE DOOR: “DON’T THK THIS HAS TGHT ME A LSON!”MARRIAGE, HOWEVER, WAS RELUCTANTLY DOABLE. IN AUGT 1937, AT HER FATHER’S HOME, BANKHEAD MARRIED ACTOR JOHN EMERY, A MAN SHE SCRIBED AS “SO-SO.” “THE MARRIAGE, OF URSE, WAS DOOMED OM THE START,” WR BRET, A SENTIMENT TO WHICH BANKHEAD WOULD AGREE: “AFTER TWENTY YEARS OF UNBRIDLED EEDOM, OF ACTG ON WHIM, I ULDN’T DISCIPLE MYSELF TO THE GREE NECSARY FOR A SATISFACTORY UNN,” SHE WROTE. ON ONE SUCH WHIM, SHE VED THE PRS ON THEIR HONEYMOON AND TOOK TO “SCRIBG WHAT HAD HAPPENED DURG THE PREV NIGHT THE MUTT ANATOMIL TAILS,” BRET WR. AND NOT A GOOD WAY. “WELL, DARLG,” SHE TOLD REPORTERS, “THE WEAPON MAY BE ADMIRABLE PROPORTNS, BUT THE SHOT IS SCRIBABLY WEAK.”FROM THE ARCHIVE: TALLULAH BANKHEAD’S RETURNARROWBANKHEAD’S FATHER WAS STILL ALIVE WHEN HER MARRIAGE IMPLOD. SHE KEPT THAT SECRET UNTIL HIS ATH, AND BANKHEAD HEAD TO RENO FOR A DIVORCE NOT LONG AFTER. THOUGH STILL MOSTLY BANNED OM MOVI, SHE SUBSEQUENTLY FOUND MUCH SUCCS ON BROADWAY AND BEYOND PLAYS LIKE THE LTLE FOX, THE SK OF OUR TEETH, AND PRIVATE LIV. IN ALED HCHCK’S 1944 FILM LIFEBOAT, BANKHEAD FALLY FOUND CRIL AND MERCIAL SUCCS, BUT DIDN’T CHANGE HER. BRET QUOT BANKHEAD’S STAR AND ON-SET LOVER JOHN HODIAK, WHO NOTED THROUGHOUT THE SHOOT WHERE SHE ASCEND A LADR TO BOARD THE BOAT: “TALLULAH NEVER ONCE HAD ANY UNRWEAR ON.” (FUN FACT: A BLK-AND-YOU’LL-MISS- SCENE OM LIFEBOAT POPS UP AS AN EASTER EGG DISNEY’S UPG CELLA.)JT AS SHE REACHED HER HEIGHT OF FAME 1950, DOCTORS WARNED BANKHEAD THAT HER LIFTYLE—UP TO TWO BOTTL OF BOURBON AND MORE THAN A HUNDRED CIGARETT A DAY—WAS SLOWLY KILLG HER. SHE MERELY PROMISED. “SHE ADD GGER ALE TO THE BOURBON AND SUBSTUTED HER UAL BRAND OF CIGARETT FOR 150 RK-TIPPED ON,” WR BRET. SHE STILL DABBLED OPIAT AND BARBURAT WHEN AVAILABLE BUT PREFERRED E, WHICH SHE APPARENTLY NSIRED MEDICAL. IN HER TOBGRAPHY, THOUGH SHE RARELY FOLLOWED HER OWN ADVICE, BANKHEAD OFFERS THIS LE ON MORATN: “NEVER PRACTICE TWO VIC AT ONCE.”MOST POPULARTHE ELVIS PRLEY WE DIDN’T SEE ELVISBY KATEY RICHRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE: THE 6 BIGGT CHANG FROM BOOK TO MOVIEBY SAVANNAH WALSHAS HER HEALTH TERRATED, WR BRET, BANKHEAD MISSED THE OPPORTUNY TO PERFORM INIC ROL WRTEN FOR HER—NAMELY BLANCHE DUBOIS THE FILM A STREETR NAMED DIRE AND MARGO CHANNG ALL ABOUT EVE, A STAGE ROLE BANKHEAD CREATED BUT GIVEN TO BETTE DAVIS FOR FILM; BANKHEAD DUBBED “ALL ABOUT ME” AND NEVER FAVE “THAT HAG” DAVIS FOR THE RT OF HER YEARS.IT WAS THIS VERSN OF TALLULAH BANKHEAD THAT MARC DAVIS BORROWED TO BEE CELLA: BTER, HOSTILE, BELLIGERENT, LOUD, OBNOX, ATTENTN-HOGGG AND PUBLICY-OBSSED. IF BANKHEAD RENTED THE PICTN, SHE VERY UNCHARACTERISTILLY DIDN’T SAY ANYTHG ABOUT (AT LEAST PUBLICLY). MORE LIKELY, SHE SECRETLY LOVED BEG CELLA AND WOULD BE THRILLED TO KNOW THAT THE INIC VILLA SHE SPIRED IS G BACK AGA TO THE BIG SCREEN THAT ONCE WOULDN’T GIVE BANKHEAD THE TIME OF DAY. “I DON’T RE WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ME AFTER I’M AD,” BANKHEAD OFTEN REMARKED, “SO LONG AS THEY SAY SOMETHG!”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— A FIRST LOOK AT LEONARDO DICAPR KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON— 15 SUMMER MOVI WORTH RETURNG TO THEATERS FOR— WHY EVAN PETERS NEED A HUG AFTER HIS BIG MARE OF EASTTOWN SCENE— SHADOW AND BONE CREATORS BREAK DOWN THOSE BIG BOOK CHANG— THE PARTICULAR BRAVERY OF ELLT PAGE’S OPRAH INTERVIEW— INSI THE COLLAPSE OF THE GOLN GLOB— WATCH JT THEROUX BREAK DOWN HIS CAREER— FOR THE LOVE OF REAL HOEWIV: AN OBSSN THAT NEVER QUS— FROM THE ARCHIVE: THE SKY’S THE LIM FOR LEONARDO DICAPR— NOT A SUBSCRIBER? JO VANY FAIR TO RECEIVE FULL ACCS TO AND THE PLETE ONLE ARCHIVE NOW.ROSEMARY COUNTER

* tallulah bankhead gay *

Carol Channg and gay actor Robert Morse clown durg a rehearsal of Sugar Babi New York, July 18, 1977, for the road pany productn which will open Dallas on Augt 11 at the Dallas State Fair. Dancg and playg her way through a Gay Twenti number, Carol rehears a scene for Thoroughly Morn Millie, filmed Hollywood, Nov. Gay Shakpearean actor Sir John Gielgud, left, jos Carol a tap dance durg tapg of a variety program New York Cy July 1970.

At the Ziegfeld Theater New York, chats wh one of her guts, gay ballet superstar Rudolph Nureyev, May 1974. ” She actually wasn’t exclively gay, as she had as many male as female liaisons.

TALLULAH: DNK, GAY AND FABULO

When asked by a reporter if she thought Clift was gay (as was already mored even then), she allegedly replied “Gee, I dunno. Undnted, Bankhead openly embraced a new generatn of gay men who adored her as a mp in. Sce the bulk of her reer was on stage, Bankhead’s name isn’t as immediately regnizable to younger generatns as her ntemporary gay ins Davis, Crawford, and Garland, all who left major film legaci.

The actrs’ rponse to allegatns of homosexualy was “I uld never bee a lbian, bee they have no sense of humor! Acrdg to two A-list bgraphers, the late star was gay. Their claims were emed reliable bee one of the bgraphers was certified by one of Clift's 'Red River star was then tagged a gay in.

Today Gay History: Tallulah Bankhead, Hoover’s Favore Diva

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Today Gay History: Tallulah Bankhead, Hoover’s Favore Diva

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TALLULAH: DNK, GAY AND FABULO

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