Spoiler : Tallulah Bankhead admitted in her autobiography that her radio debut was in England to raise money for a new ward at a children's hospital, circa 1922. I looked up all the children's hospitals in the 1920s in England and then contacted the ones still in operation and asked for their records/historical/library. Then I sent a request of what I was looking for. Two said they kept no records that far back, one was uncertain. Two months later, one of them just dropped me a line. She went through the minutes of the meeting, one for every monthly meeting held by the board, and discovered the hospital she works for was the one. Bankhead agreed to appear according to one meeting and the month after the EXACT date and time when she was on the radio. BINGO!! (And it turns out the money raised from that broadcast did raise enough money to pay for the new ward.)

Spoiler : Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968). In her autobiography, Bankhead claimed that her "first performance" was witnessed by none other than the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur. Her Aunt Marie gave the famous brothers a party at her home near Montgomery, Alabama, in which the guests were asked to entertain. "I won the prize for the top performance, with an imitation of my kindergarten teacher", Bankhead wrote. "The judges? Orville and Wilbur Wright." In 1918, she made her stage debut at the Bijou Theatre in New York. In 1923, she made her debut on the London stage at Wyndham's Theatre. In London, she was to appear in over a dozen plays over the next eight years, most famously, The Dancers. Her fame as an actress was ensured in 1924 when she played Amy in Sidney Howard's They Knew What They Wanted. Bankhead's first film was Tarnished Lady (1931), directed by George Cukor, and the pair became fast friends. Her 1932 movie Devil and the Deep is notable for the presence of three major co-stars, with Bankhead receiving top billing over Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, and Cary Grant, and remains the only film with both Cooper and Grant as the film's leading men. In 1933, Bankhead nearly died following a five-hour emergency hysterectomy due to venereal disease. Bankhead weighed only 70 pounds when she left the hospital, and stoically said to her doctor, "Don't think this has taught me a lesson!" David O. Selznick, producer of Gone with the Wind (1939) called her the "first choice among established stars" to play Scarlett O'Hara. Although her screen test for the role in black-and-white was superb, she photographed poorly in Technicolor. Selznick also reportedly believed that at age 36, she was too old to play Scarlett, who is 16 at the beginning of the film. In 1944, Alfred Hitchcock cast her as cynical journalist Constance Porter in her most successful film, both critically and commercially, Lifeboat. Her performance was acknowledged as her best on film and won her the New York Film Critics Circle Award. A beaming Bankhead accepted her New York trophy and exclaimed, "Dahlings, I was wonderful!" Though Bankhead's career slowed in the mid-1950s, she never faded from the public eye. Although she had become a heavy smoker (reportedly 150 cigarettes/day), heavy drinker, and consumer of sleeping pills (she was a lifelong insomniac), Bankhead continued to perform in the 1950s and 1960s on Broadway, in the occasional film, as a highly popular radio show host, and in the new medium of television. Tallulah Bankhead died at age 66 from pleural pneumonia, complicated by emphysema, malnutrition, and possibly a strain of the Hong Kong flu which was running worldwide at that time. She is buried at Saint Pauls Kent Churchyard in Chestertown, MD.

Spoiler : In the pre-Code film The Cheat, Tallulah Bankhead plays a compulsive gambler who, due to her extensive debts, is branded on her chest by the sadistic man to whom she owes a bundle. You can see the mark near her left shoulder. Interestingly, it’s kanji—i.e. Chinese logographic characters used as part of the Japanese alphabet—and it says “I possess.” Well, her cruel creditor doesn’t possess her gun, and we have a feeling he’ll be sorry he doesn’t. The photo is from 1931.

Spoiler : Bankhead, Tallulah (birth name was Tallulah Brockman Bankhead) Born in Huntsville, Alabama 1/31/1902; died 12/12/1968 of influenza that developed into pneumonia complicated by emphysema in New York City. Married and divorced to actor John Emery (1937-1941); then remained single afterwards. Bankhead began her career when she went to New York at age fifteen after winning a beauty contest. Mostly noted for her film work. Guest star on radio programs including Lux Radio Theater (Let Us Be Gay) for NBC-BLUE (12/2/1934); Streamlinied Shakespeare for NBC-BLUE (1937); three times on The Screen Director's Playhouse for NBC (1950-1951); Theatre Guild On The Air for NBC (1952). Host of radio's last large variety show, The Big Show on NBC (1950-1952).

Spoiler : Guest host for All Star Revue on NBC-TV (1951-1953). Guest villian (the Black Widow) on Batman for ABC-TV in 1967.

Spoiler : I went to Washington College in Chestertown, MD, in the early 1960s. One of the girls from town that we knew used to stay with Tallulah's sister, Eugenia, when she was in town. She had a house there. One night she took several of us out there. Eugenia not only looked a lot like Tallulah, she also spoke just like her. She was very cordial and allowed us to hang around and have a few drinks. Was a fun and interesting night that I never forgot.

Spoiler : During filming of "Lifeboat," several crew members noted that Tallulah Bankhead was not wearing underwear. When advised of this situation, Sir Alfred Hitchcock observed, "I don't know if this is a matter for the costume department, make-up, or hairdressing."

Spoiler : Tallulah Bankhead's best friend was the British Actress Estelle Winwood. Once on Merv Griffith's show he had as guests, Estelle Winwood, William Demerest and Pat O'Brien. When discussing Winwood's friendship with Tallulah. Estelle Winwood said that so may lies had been told about Tallulah Bankhead she wished she was not so old and unable to write a book about all those lies and clear them up. The interview can be seen on Youtube.

Spoiler : She was beautiful and talented. I would hate to get on her bad side. I read she threw a lot of ashtrays

Spoiler : Always found her name sophisticated and regal but, as others indicated, that was certainly not reflected in her notorious off-screen behavior.

Spoiler : Seductive, whiskey-voiced, one-of-a-kind American leading lady Tallulah Bankhead, the daughter of the Speaker of the House of Representatives William Brockman Bankhead, began her stage career at age 15 after being educated in a convent. She did more stage work plus two silent films, then went to London in 1923 where she became a celebrity while performing brilliantly in a string of plays.

Spoiler : Bankhead returned to the United States in 1931, but Hollywood success eluded her in her first four films of the 1930s. She rented a home in Hollywood and began hosting parties that were said to "have no boundaries". Bankhead's first film was Tarnished Lady (1931), directed by George Cukor and the pair became fast friends. Bankhead behaved herself on the set and filming went smoothly, but she found film-making to be very boring and did not have the patience for it. She did not like Hollywood, either; when she met producer Irving Thalberg, she asked him, "How do you get laid in this dreadful place?" Thalberg retorted, "I'm sure you'll have no problem. Ask anyone."

Spoiler : In 1944, Alfred Hitchcock cast her as cynical journalist Constance Porter in her most successful film, both critically and commercially, Lifeboat. Her superbly multifaceted performance was acknowledged as her best on film and won her the New York Film Critics Circle award. A beaming Bankhead accepted her New York trophy and exclaimed, "Dahlings, I was wonderful!"

Spoiler : In her personal life, Bankhead struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction, and was infamous for her uninhibited sex life. Bankhead was capable of great kindness and generosity to those in need, supporting disadvantaged foster children and helping several families escape the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Bankhead was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1972.

Spoiler : From all I’ve heard about her, Tallulah was an original and lived her life to the fullest! Beautiful and brilliant lady!

Spoiler : What on earth made these beautiful old stars think that cigarettes were a sexy prop .... boggles the mind.