Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an American actress whose career, husky voice, sharp wit, and uninhibited personality made her one of the most recognizable performers of the 20th century.
Born in Huntsville, Alabama, to a prominent political family, Tallulah decided as a teenager that she wanted to become an actress. At 15, she won a screen test competition sponsored by Picture Play magazine and then moved to New York, where she began to appear in films and on Broadway. By 1923 she had moved to London, where she established herself as a stage actress. She returned to the United States in 1931 and began working in Hollywood, but the movies never achieved the same status of fame that she had on stage. She appeared in several Paramount films before returning to Broadway, where she originated the role of Regina Giddens in The Little Foxes, and played Sabrina in The Skin of Our Teeth, which earned her the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award. Tallulah also developed a successful career in radio and became a frequent television guest later in her life. Her best-known film role came in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Lifeboat in 1944, where she played journalist Connie Porter.
Off stage, Tallulah became almost as famous for her unconventional life as for her acting. She was open about her relationships with men and women at a time when the public discussion of same-sex relationships was heavily restricted. Her rumored female partners include singer Billie Holiday and fellow actress Marlene Dietrich, while actress Patsy Kelly did confirm that she had a sexual relationship with Tallulah.
Although Tallulah never publicly identified herself using the term bisexual, she referred to herself as “ambisextrous”. She was also quoted as saying:
I’ve tried several varieties of sex: going down on a woman gives me a stiff neck, going down on a man gives me lockjaw, and conventional sex gives me claustrophobia.
Tallulah’s sexual openness was a part of a broader refusal of conformity. She cultivated a public persona that was very open and discussed subjects that were considered scandalous for the time, and delighted in shocking audiences and journalists. Her autobiography, Tallulah: My Autobiography, published in 1952, offered her own version of the life that she had turned into a spectacle.
Although her private life has often overshadowed her professional accomplishments, she remained a stage actress throughout her career. She continued performing on Broadway and touring productions, while also appearing on radio, television, and film. Her final screen appearances included Die! Die! My Darling!, The Daydreamer, and a memorable appearance as the Black Widow in the Batman series. She died in New York in 1968 at the age of 66.