Tallulah Bankhead - Unlikely Bat-Villain

 

"Nobody can be exactly like me.  Even I have trouble doing it."

Tallulah Bankhead was born in Huntsville, Alabama on January 31, 1902.  Her mother died in childbirth, something Tallulah would never forgive herself for.  Her father, a democratic politician, would later serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives during the 1930s.

Like many aspects of her life, Tallulah took an unconventional route to fame and stardom.  At 15 years old, she submitted her photo to Picture Play magazine, in response to a contest seeking new starlets.  She forgot to include her name and address however, and only learned she had won some months later, when the magazine published her photo and asked for the public's help to identify her.  She set off for New York to begin her career, but before leaving, she was warned by her father to avoid alcohol and men.  As a bisexual, she'd later famously quip "he didn't say anything about women and cocaine."

Tallulah made a name for herself on the Broadway stage as well as in films and television.  Over the course of her career, she amassed more than 300 credits, including an Academy Award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's 1944 film Lifeboat.  Her last credited role is the one that this blogger knows best - that of arch villain Black Widow on the 1960s Adam West Batman TV series.

By this time, she was already feeling the effects that a lifetime of drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes were having on her health.  By the end of 1968, she was being treated for pleural double pneumonia, which ultimately took her life on December 12th.  She was just 66 years old.  Reportedly, her final words were a request for bourbon and codeine.

Tallulah Bankhead was laid to rest on the grounds of St. Paul's Church in Chestertown, Maryland, near the Eastern Shore.  While she never personally lived in that community, it was the home of her sister Evelyn, who saw to her final arrangements.  When Evelyn herself passed away in 1979, she was laid to rest next to her sister.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about Tallulah Bankhead, take a voyage to Amazon.  Its all in books.
  
  
• Tallulah was named after her paternal grandmother, who was herself named after the community of Tallulah Falls, Georgia.
  
  
• An advocate of civil rights. Tallulah was the first Caucasian woman to appear on the cover of Ebony magazine.
  
  
• Tennessee Williams wrote a number of characters for Tallulah in his plays, the most famous being Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire.
  
  
• Tallulah is referred to in the 1958 Blossom Dearie song "Give Him the Ooh-La-La."  Take a listen on YouTube.