ìPARAäPAR@`ÿÿÿÿÿÿ ôTEXT` æBankhead, Tallulah Brockman 1903Ð1968 actor Born in Huntsville, Alabama, on January 31, 1903, Tallulah Bankhead was the daughter of William B. Bankhead, congressman and speaker of the House in 1936Ð1940. She was educated in convent schools and at fifteen, having won a movie-magazine beauty contest, went to New York to become an actress. She made her first Broadway appearance in Squab Farm in 1918. During the next four years she played a number of roles, none particularly memorable, in such productions as Foot-Loose, 1920, Nice People, 1921, and The Exciters, 1922, while becoming a member of the ÒAlgonquin setÓÑa group that included Alexander Woollcott, Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, and Harpo and Groucho MarxÑand a figure about town. In 1923 she starred in the London production of The Dancers. She remained in London for eight years, appearing in more than a dozen playsÑincluding Michael ArlenÕs The Green Hat in 1925, Fallen Angels also in 1925, Sidney HowardÕs They Knew What They Wanted in 1926, Her Cardboard Lover in 1928, and The Lady of the Camelias in 1930Ñand becoming a celebrityÕs celebrity. Between 1931 and 1933 she made several movies, including Tarnished Lady, 1931, My Sin, 1931, The Devil and the Deep, 1932, and Faithless, 1932, and then returned to Broadway in a series of productions that, with the possible exception of a 1935 revival of Rain, failed to engage her unique talents. Finally, in 1939, she appeared in Lillian HellmanÕs The Little Foxes and gave a performance as Regina that won the yearÕs top acting award from the New York Drama CriticsÕ Circle. She won the award again three years later for her performance in Thornton WilderÕs The Skin of Our Teeth and in 1944 took the New York Film CriticsÕ highest award for her role in Alfred HitchcockÕs Lifeboat. Such successes established her as a star whose name could underwrite any production; her deep voice, lush beauty, and mysterious manner, to say nothing of her singular name, fascinated millions. She continued to play on Broadway in, among other productions, Philip BarryÕs Foolish Notion, 1945, Noel CowardÕs Private Lives, 1948, Dear Charles, 1954, a 1956 revival of Tennessee WilliamÕs Streetcar Named Desire, Eugenia, 1957, and Midgie Purvis, 1961, while appearing occasionally in movies, notably A Royal Scandal, 1945, and Main Street to Broadway, 1953, and later on television. In 1950Ð1952 she conducted a combined variety and talk program on radio. In 1952 she published the frank and witty Tallulah, My Autobiography. Her last Broadway appearance was in The Milk Train DoesnÕt Stop Here Anymore, 1964, and in 1965 she was in the motion picture Die! Die! My Darling. TallulahÑher last name was entirely superfluousÑdied in New York City on December 12, 1968. ®styl`H!5ª5ª&5ª-!I€!IŠ!I!I !I!I!I+!I7!I™!IÞ§!Ið 5ªñ!I!!I,!I–!I£!I­!Iº!IÙ!Ió!Iý!I!I!I6!IŸ!I­!Iµ!I»!IÃ!IÙ!Iå!Iî!If!Ij!I´!IÞÃ!IÆ!IÖ!Iš!I¯!I !I!I 5ª!I,!I:!IP!I]!Ie!Iq!IŸ!Iµ!I·!I¾!IÊ!I×!I !I !I *!I A!I c 5ª d!I Ø!I ò!I !I A!I s!I ‡!I.link`HYPR™§HYPR´Ã