r any good.She began her career by entering a photograph contest for Picture Play magazine in 1918, the prize of which was a small role in a movie and seventy-five dollars. As it turns out, Tallulah was so ecstatic in entering the contest that she forgot to provide her name and address. The picture ran in the next month's issue and was captioned "Who is she?". Eventually, things were cleared up by Tallulah's prominent father, William Bankhead, future speaker of the house. Shortly thereafter, Tallulah left her home in Alabama to travel to New York city.
Tallulah was an actress through and through, although she only found minor success on the stage and screen until her break out role in Little Foxes in 1939. Despite the tumult of her career, she managed a glowing social repertoire that included the likes of Greta Garbo, The Marx Brothers, and even Gary Cooper. Known for her charm and her ability to vocalize her boisterous thoughts in immortal quotes; Tallulah left a mark on the society of both Hollywood and London, something the color of Bourbon and just as potent.
"I'm as pure as the driven slush."
"I'll come and make love to you at five o'clock. If I'm late, start without me."
"I can read Shakespeare and the Bible. I can shoot dice. That's what I call a liberal education."
These are just a few of Tallulah's brash witticisms. As you can clearly witness, she had quite the mouth, and apparently she knew how to utilize it.
With her deep, sultry voice, Tallulah wooed men into her bed with the skill of Cleopatra--who she even played on screen in 1937, though the film was a flop. However, when Tallulah looked at her promiscuity in retrospect she claimed that she was not quite the nymphomaniac she appeared to be. She just like the thrill of the game. And a feral predator she was.
Upon seeing a former lover that she hadn't seen in many years, she said, to the shock of many, "I thought I told you to wait in the car." Oh, she was clever. Tallulah knew how to work a man. Once at a party, a young man, brought by one of Tallulah's many friends, boldly announced that he wanted to make love to her that very night. Tallulah's response--"and so you shall, you wonderful, old-fashioned boy."
Although, with regard to her wild and carefree social calender, Tallulah still felt that she hadn't accomplished anything of worth. As a strong anti-communist, and loud liberal, she donated much of her time and money to the anti-communist cause to make up for her more risque endeavours.
Eventually, by the year 1950, Tallulah was a household name, whether for her political activism or her many humorous anecdotes. She had charmed her way into the American hearts and even the housewives that denounced her insane lifestyle to their husbands and daughters secretly admired her fervent youth and boisterous personality. Perhaps they had heard of her more soft-hearted exploit? Since the nineteen forties, Tallulah had adopted foster children from abroad.
After writing her memoirs, Tallulah finally allowed herself to slow down. She appeared in one last film, Die, Die My Darling, and had numerous TV appearances, including one celebrity appearance in Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez's comedy, I Love Lucy.
The end of Tallulah was not quite as glorious as the beginning. But she did leave a two million dollar legacy to her friends and family as well as a legacy to women everywhere. If there is anything I think we can learn from Tallulah, it is this, "only good girls keep diaries, bad girls don't have time."
We should be living our lives to the fullest, only dropping when we are too exhausted to stand. Writing it all down, doesn't matter half as much as living to be remembered. Of course if you leave words people will acknowledge your life. But don't you want them to acknowledge your memories and personality without the assistance of the written word? Don't you want them to exalt you as much in death as they did in life?
This should be our goal, ladies.
From now on, it sure is mine.
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