Tallulah Bankhead

Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress.Obituary Variety, December 18, 1968.

Always known as just "Tallula", she was one of the most famous actresses of her time. She was born into a wealthy and influential Alabama family. Her father was a leading 'Southern Democrat', and in the 1930s became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. She was a childhood friend of Zelda Fitzgerald, the wife of novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Tallula was an actress from the beginning to the end of her life. She acted in nearly 300 film, stage, television, and radio roles. Her personal life was wild. She struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction. She was infamous for her sex life, which included both men and women. 

Tallulah  was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1972, and the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1981. 

In her 1932 movie Devil and the Deep there were three major co-stars, with Tallulah  getting top billing over Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, and Cary Grant. David O. Selznick, producer of Gone with the Wind (1939) called her the "first choice among established stars" to play Scarlett O'Hara.Haskell, Molly 2009. Frankly, My Dear: Gone with the Wind Revisited. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11752-3 According to a memo from Selznick, November 11, 1936: Bankhead is first choice among established stars – and many votes coming in for her. Although her screen test for the role in black-and-white was superb, she photographed poorly in Technicolor. Selznick also thought that at age 36, she was too old to play Scarlett, who is 16 at the beginning of the film. The role eventually went to Vivien Leigh.Lambert, Gavin 1976. GWTW: The Making of Gone With the Wind. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 5-530-86392-2

Also notable was her performance in the Alfred Hitchcock film Lifeboat (1943–1944). It was her best on film and won her the New York Film Critics Circle award. 

Onstage, Tallula appeared in a revival of Noël Coward's Private Lives, taking it on tour and then to Broadway for the better part of two years. The play's run made her a fortune. On her death, she was worth $2 million, a vast sum in those days.

 Year Award Nominated work Result1928Ten Most Remarkable Women In London –1939Variety Award for Best Actress of the YearThe Little Foxes1942New York Drama Critics Award for Best Actress in a ProductionThe Skin of Our Teeth1942Variety Award for Best Actress of the YearThe Skin of Our Teeth1944New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressLifeboat1950Radio's Woman of the YearThe Big Show1960Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6141 Hollywood Blvd Motion pictures1961Tony Award for Best Actress in a PlayMidgie Purvis1972American Theater Hall of Fame Lifetime achievement

References

Category:1902 births
Category:1968 deaths
Category:Deaths from pneumonia
Category:American movie actors
Category:American television actors
Category:American stage actors
Category:American radio actors
Category:Actors from Huntsville, Alabama
Category:People from Jasper, Alabama