This pass Sunday was the anniversary of the death of one of our Patron Saints here at the Casa du Borghese, the over the top, colorful, flamboyant and fabulousness of professional drinker and actress Tallulah Bankhead.A true camp icon. Here she is in one of her last screen appearances as the Black Widow in the Batman series, of which I faintly recall. A friend of hers urged her to take the part with the words "you should do it Tallulah, it will be so camp." Tallulah in her booming voice, replied, "Don't talk to me about camp daaaahling, I invented it!"
And you know what? She probably did.
I ADORE her. Did you know that Valerie Harper was such a fan she commissioned and toured in a play where she played Tallulah? As for the lady herself, poor dear. Such a beauty. Such an innovator. A shame that booze won out in the end and then that whole terrible mishap with her maid. It all rendered her fairly unemployable... which robbed us of her great voice. Where would Sally Kellerman be without her?
ReplyDeleteI saw Valerie in this. I was so psyched to love it, but I left at the intermission. It was awful.
DeleteHer vocal impression of Tallulah was bad AND you couldn't understand her. It was all bad.
As I sat there, all I wished was that Charles Pierce was alive and starring in this show.
Never saw it...but Norma is right...Charles did a downright great impression. Sometimes it just takes a queen.
DeleteOh, my heavens! Such an icon. If you like Tallulah, you'll love this! Jx
ReplyDelete"I'll have another."
DeleteColorful would be a rather understated description.
ReplyDeleteShe was something else.
ReplyDeleteA lot of Bankhead's stage roles were given to Bette Davis when made into movies, and Davis says, of meeting Tallulah:
“When I first met Tallulah Bankhead, she said, ‘So you’re the woman who does all of my parts on the screen! And I do them so much better.'"
And Davis replied:
“I agree with you, Miss Bankhead."
I think Davis was even afraid of Tallulah and her rants and tirades.
DeleteI think you're right! Bette wasn't scared of much but Tallulah??? Yes.
DeleteEven her name -- Tallulah -- is a diva's name!
ReplyDeletefor some reason, im think she and you would have gotten on thick as thieves.
ReplyDeleteSo fabulous.
ReplyDeleteSo fierce.
So ahead of her time. She did not fit any mold then and doesn't fit any mold today.
XOXO
Oh she's fabulous!
ReplyDeleteA true Icon of the Silver Screen. There weren't that many of them.
ReplyDeleteMs Bankhead may be over the top in that clip but the "dynamic" duo are well under par - their batteries needed recharging; or perhaps they were never charged up in the first place?
ReplyDeleteI suspect anyone next to Ms.Bankhead would need a full charge before spending time with her...like three shots of whiskey dear.
DeleteI read where she was at Florence Foster Jenkins' Carnegie Hall debut, and had to be dragged out of the theatre for laughing so loud.
ReplyDeleteTallulah's spot on "I Love Lucy" is a classic! I would like to see her movie "Life Boat" again.
I love her! And I love that clip!
ReplyDeleteI've always loved Tallulah - she was a delicious original. And she was absolutely hilarious on that old "Lucy-Desi" comedy hour show (I think it can still be found on YouTube somewhere).
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with that clip Jon, I'll have to go down the rabbit hole and look for it.
DeleteI've only seen 2 of her movies (both on TCM), "Lifeboat" and "Die! Die! My Darling". The latter was a terrible, third-rate horror film, but Tallulah's performance in the former was top notch. Her eyes were luminous, even in a black and white film! And her distinctive raspy drawl is unforgettable too.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I recently got thrown off Twitter for calling someone a cunt, or something like that. Though I can't say I thought of it, my handle was terrific- I was Tallulah Bunkbed.
ReplyDeleteAs demure as you are Norma, I find it hard to believe you called someone a cunt. Was it Marjorie Taylor Green by chance? She got me bump from Instagram once.
DeleteAnd excellent!!! You have your drag name!
Of course! Meghan McCain, Megan Kelly, MTG, Ingraham, all of them!
DeleteAh, I had forgotten about her Batman appearance!
ReplyDelete