Tallulah Who, You Ask?
By Dr. Bill Lipsky–
Leave this article immediately. Surrender your ruby slippers and put your Ken doll back in the closet. One of the greatest and most famous actors of her time, Tallulah Bankhead (1902–1968) also was the most scandalous. She was outrageous, outspoken, and gloriously uninhibited. Laurence Olivier claimed that she “had more glamour than almost anybody alive.” Among Gaydom’s Magnificent Seven, she surely ranks second only to Bette Davis, who ranks second only to Judy Garland. Judy, of course, ranks second to no one.
There was only one Tallulah, astonishingly open about her behavior and herself when celebrities tried desperately to hide their truth. Described as “Humphrey Bogart in silk panties” and the “most thoroughgoing libertine and free-swinging flapper of the age,” she claimed having more than 500 affairs during her life. She was very much aware of her reputation, too, once admitting, “I’m as pure as the driven slush