Fights and feuds of Hollywood
We all know what it’s like to work with someone we don’t like, but add in professional rivalry and the creative temperament, and those witty – and wicked – insults can start to fly…
“Joan always cries a lot. Her tearducts must be very close to her bladder” “Poor Bette! She looks like she’s never had a happy day… or night, in her life”
Celebrities now snipe at each other on social media, but in Hollywood’s heyday, star clashes could be drawn out over months or even years.
The subject of a recent BBCTV series Feud (starring Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon) one of the most famous and long-lasting quarrels was between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, sparked by love rivalry and competition for roles at Warner Bros. On hearing that Joan had cried watching a film about a woman with a brain tumour, Bette said: “Joan always cries a lot. Her tear ducts must be very close to her bladder.” Other memorable one-liners from Bette, when told that the studios wanted Joan to work on Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte too: “I wouldn't piss on her if she were on fire,” and “She's slept with every male star at MGM – except Lassie.”
And the abuse wasn’t just verbal. While filming 1962’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Joan needed stitches after Bette ‘accidentally’ kicked her in the head. Later, Joan weighted herself down for the scene where Bette pulls her across the floor, causing Bette back pain. The warring words continued until Joan died, when Bette stated: “You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good… Joan Crawford is dead – good!” Bette Davis also clashed with Tallulah Bankhead (right), who said: “Don't think I don't know who's been spreading gossip about me. After all the nice things I've said about that hag. When I get hold of her, I'll tear out every hair of her moustache!” and “Bette and I are very good friends. There’s nothing I wouldn’t say to her face – both of them.”
‘SISTERS, SISTERS…’
For sisters Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine (left), long-standing sibling rivalry added tension. At the age of nine Olivia made a Will, stating: “I bequeath all my beauty to my younger sister Joan, since she has none.” In 1942 both were nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. Joan won, and despite Olivia winning her own Oscars in 1947 and 1950, relations remained sour, although they celebrated Christmas together in 1962. However, in 1979, Olivia commented on Joan’s autobiography: “I have not read it, but I think I have become a monomania with her. It is painful to think that her own life is incomplete to such a degree that it's still so keyed to me.”
Romantic rivalry caused the rift between Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor (below, left). Liz married Debbie's husband, Eddie Fisher, just hours after he divorced Debbie. Liz said: “I'm not taking anything away from Debbie because she never really had it.” But when the women worked together on 2001 film These Old Broads, Liz told Debbie, “I owe you a lot.” Debbie said, “I got a lump in my throat when she said that." Later Liz left jewellery to Debbie in her Will.
But it wasn’t just women who badmouthed each other… Marilyn Monroe never forgave Laurence Olivier for telling her to “try and be sexy” on The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). He was frustrated by her poor timekeeping and bad memory for lines.
Frank Sinatra and Shelley Winters traded insults while working on 1952 film Meet Danny Wilson. He called her “a bowlegged bitch of a Brooklyn blonde”, and she called him “a skinny, no-talent stupid Hoboken b ****** .”
When director Henri-Georges Clouzot gave Brigitte Bardot some pills for an overdose scene in the 1960 film The Truth (La Verité), he told her they were painkillers. They were, in fact, sleeping pills, and she had to have her stomach pumped. He shook her by the shoulders, saying: “I don't need amateurs in my films – I want an actress.” She slapped him, shouting: “And I need a director, not a psychopath!”
On Hello, Dolly! (1969) Walter Matthau told Barbra Streisand she had “no more talent than a butterfly's fart”. She gave him a bar of soap for his “sewer-mouth”. Walter and fellow star Michael Crawford went to the races, where Walter refused to bet on a horse called Hello Dolly. Michael did, and it won! Walter wouldn’t speak to him off-script after that…
On 1974 film Chinatown Faye Dunaway asked director Roman Polanski what her motivation was. “Just say the damn words, your salary is your motivation!” he snapped. On the same film, Roman smashed Jack Nicholson’s portable TV with a mop, frustrated by Jack’s tardiness because he was watching basketball.
Endless comparison of their mean and moody acting style riled Marlon Brando and James Dean. James said: “I have my own personal rebellion. I don’t have to rely on Brando’s.” Having watched James in East of Eden (1957), Marlon commented: “I have a great respect for his talent. However, in East of Eden, Mr Dean appears to be wearing my last year's wardrobe and using my last year's talent”.