µBankhead, Tallulah Brockman1903╨1968actorBorn in Huntsville, Alabama, on January 31, 1903, Tallulah Bankhead was the daughter of William B. Bankhead, congressman and speaker of the House in 1936╨1940. 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 ╥Algonquin set╙╤a group that included Alexander Woollcott, Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, and Harpo and Groucho Marx╤and 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 plays╤including Michael Arlen╒s The Green Hat in 1925, Fallen Angels also in 1925, Sidney Howard╒s They Knew What They Wanted in 1926, Her Cardboard Lover in 1928, and The Lady of the Camelias in 1930╤and becoming a celebrity╒s 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 Hellman╒s The Little Foxes and gave a performance as Regina that won the year╒s top acting award from the New York Drama Critics╒ Circle. She won the award again three years later for her performance in Thornton Wilder╒s The Skin of Our Teeth and in 1944 took the New York Film Critics╒ highest award for her role in Alfred Hitchcock╒s 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 Barry╒s Foolish Notion, 1945, Noel Coward╒s Private Lives, 1948, Dear Charles, 1954, a 1956 revival of Tennessee William╒s 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 1950╨1952 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 Doesn╒t Stop Here Anymore, 1964, and in 1965 she was in the motion picture Die! Die! My Darling. Tallulah╤her last name was entirely superfluous╤died in New York City on December 12, 1968. «styl ` H ! ¬ 5¬ & 5¬ - !I Ç !I è !I !I !I !I !I + !I 7 !I Ö !I ▐ º !I ≡ 5¬ ± !I ! !I , !I û !I ú !I ¡ !I ║ !I ┘ !I ≤ !I ² !I !I !I 6 !I ƒ !I ¡ !I ╡ !I ╗ !I ├ !I ┘ !I σ !I ε !I f !I j !I ┤ !I ▐ ├ !I ╞ !I ╓ !I Ü !I » !I !I !I 5¬ !I , !I : !I P !I ] !I e !I q !I ƒ !I ╡ !I ╖ !I ╛ !I ╩ !I ╫ !I !I !I * !I A !I c 5¬ d !I ╪ !I ≥ !I
