Tallulah Bankhead

Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an American actress born on January 31, 1902, in Huntsville, Alabama, and died on December 12, 1968. Born into the prominent Bankhead and Brockman political families of Alabama, she was the daughter of William Brockman Bankhead, who served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1936 until his death in 1940, the niece of Senator John H. Bankhead II, and the granddaughter of Senator John H. Bankhead. Her mother, Adelaide Eugenia Sledge, died of sepsis on February 23, 1902, three weeks after Bankhead's birth, leaving her and her older sister Eugenia to be raised primarily by their paternal grandmother at the family estate called Sunset in Jasper, Alabama. Bankhead was named after her paternal grandmother, who had herself been named after Tallulah Falls, Georgia.

Bankhead's childhood was marked by a persistent drive for attention. As a young child she taught herself to cartwheel, memorized poems and plays, and entertained classmates with imitations of schoolteachers. Her husky voice, which she described as "mezzo-basso," resulted from chronic bronchitis stemming from childhood illness. In 1912, she and her sister were enrolled in the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattanville, New York, and following their father's remarriage in 1915, they attended a series of schools as his political career drew him to Washington. Among her childhood friends was Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, who later married novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Bankhead's path to New York began when she submitted her photograph to a contest run by Picture Play magazine, which awarded twelve winners a trip to New York and a film role. Having forgotten to include her name or address, she discovered her win while browsing the magazine at a local drugstore, and her father wrote to the publication with a duplicate photograph. She arrived in New York and received $75 for three weeks of work on Who Loved Him Best, a minor part that nonetheless confirmed her desire to build a career in the city. She moved into the Algonquin Hotel, where she became part of the circle known as the Algonquin Round Table and was dubbed one of the "Four Riders of the Algonquin" alongside Estelle Winwood, Eva Le Gallienne, and Blyth Daly. At the hotel she befriended Winwood and met Ethel Barrymore, who suggested she change her name to Barbara, an idea Bankhead declined. Vanity Fair later noted she was the only actress on both sides of the Atlantic recognized by her first name alone.

After appearances in the silent films When Men Betray and Thirty a Week in 1918 and The Trap in 1919, Bankhead made her stage debut in The Squab Farm at the Bijou Theatre in New York. She went on to appear in a series of stage productions including 39 East, Footloose, Nice People, Everyday, Danger, Her Temporary Husband, and The Exciters, all between 1919 and 1922. Her Broadway career spanned from 1918 to 1964 and encompassed productions including the drama Clash by Night, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Eagle Has Two Heads, Foolish Notion, and Private Lives. Her work on Broadway earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play in 1961.

Beyond the stage, Bankhead appeared in several films, among them Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat in 1944, for which she received award recognition. She also pursued careers in radio and television, and across all mediums accumulated nearly 300 film, stage, television, and radio roles during her lifetime. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1972 and the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1981.

Bankhead was candid about her personal life, speaking openly about her use of alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes, reportedly smoking 120 cigarettes a day. She had relationships with both men and women throughout her life. She supported liberal causes including the civil rights movement, aided foster children, and helped families escape the Spanish Civil War and World War II.