Tallulah Bankhead ~ The Wild Bisexual

Tallulah Bankhead was a popular actress who became known for her many love affairs with men and women

She was born Tallulah Brockman Bankhead on January 31, 1902 in Huntsville, Alabama. Tragically just three weeks after she was born her mother died from blood poisoning. Her father, William Bankhead, was active in Democratic politics and served in the Alabama legislature. Tallulah and her sister were sent to a convent school in New York City. She suffered from chronic bronchitis which gave her a husky sounding voice. In 1917 she won a contest in Picture Play magazine and was given a small role in the film Who Loved Him Best. At the age of sixteen made her New York stage debut in The Squab Farm. Then she appeared in the plays Nice People and The Exciters. Tallulah, who was bisexual, enjoyed affairs with actress Estelle Winwood and writer Eva Le Gallienne. While living in New York she began drinking and experimenting with drugs like cocaine. Unhappy with the way her career was going she decided to move to London, England in 1922. She starred in numerous hit plays including The Dancers, The Gold Diggers, and They Knew What They Wanted. Tallulah quickly became one of London's most popular stage stars. In 1931 she went to Hollywood to star in George Cukor's Tarnished Ladies. Then she had leading roles in the pre-code dramas Thunder Down Below and The Cheat. While filming Devil And The Deep in 1932 she had a passionate affair with Gary Cooper. Later she would claim that Cooper had given her gonorrhea. During the 1930s she starred on Broadway in Dark Victory, The Circle, and The Little Foxes which was her favorite role.

She became known for her wild partying, her uninhibited personality, and her habit of calling everyone "Dah-ling". Her many lovers included Lilyan Tashman, Errol Flynn, Patsy Kelly, Johnny Weismuller, Ona Munson, and George Raft. Tallulah never wanted children and had at least four abortions. On August 31, 1937 she married actor John Emery. They divorced four years later. She auditioned to be Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind and was devastated when the part went to Vivien Leigh. Alfred Hitchcock gave her a supporting role in his 1944 drama Lifeboat. The movie was a hit and her performance got rave reviews. Unfortunately by this time she was struggling with alcoholism and an addiction to pills. As she grew older she also began suffering from bouts of depression. Her 1952 autobiography became a best-seller and she starred in her own Las Vegas cabaret show. Tallulah also made appearances on the The Martha Raye Show and The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. In 1961 she received her only Tony nomination for her performance in Midgie Purvis. She had been a heavy smoker most of her life and was diagnosed with emphysema in the early 1960s. Her final acting role was in a 1967 episode of Batman. Sadly on December 12, 1968 she died from pneumonia at the age of sixty-six. She was buried at Saint Paul's Kent Churchyard in Chestertown, Maryland. Tallulah once said "If I had to live my life again I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner."

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