It was a name meant for a star: Tallulah.
Tallulah Bankhead, born in Huntsville, Ala., Jan. 31, 1902, was often referred to simply as “Tallulah” in news accounts during her heyday, becoming one of the first one-name celebrities.
Tallulah was named for her grandmother, who was in turn named for Tallulah Falls, Ga. She was a well-known figure of stage and screen and the subject of numerous rumors about her promiscuity and mischievous behavior. She was also known for calling everyone, “dahling,” which became her catchphrase.
Her famous politician father, Speaker of the House William Bankhead, attended a showing of her first talking film, “The Tarnished Lady,” in Birmingham in 1931.
“Tallulah has been a mimic, a pantomimist ever since she was a little girl,” he told the Birmingham News after the showing. “She would go to stores in jasper and come home and mimic the people she saw there – the drug clerks, doctors and customers. It was part of her nature to act.”
Tallulah’s last film
Tallulah had a long, successful career starring in such plays as “The Little Foxes,” written by fellow Alabamian Lillian Hellman, and “A Streetcar Named Desire,” as well as films including Alfred Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat.”
Tallulah Bankhead backstage at a production of “Little Foxes” in the 1940s.Birmingham News File Photo
See the gallery at the top of the story for more photos.
In 1965, when she was 63, roles for aging actresses were scarce. Tallulah joined such legends as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford who resorted to making B-horror films. The genre became known, unflatteringly, as “hag horror” and its stars as “psycho biddies.” Tallulah starred as the crazed Mrs. Trefoile in the British camp horror film “Fanatic,” known in the U.S. as “Die! Die! My Darling!” an exclamation-filled title that seemed a fitting vehicle for Tallulah. According to an article on Edge, Tallulah disliked the US title because she felt it “capitalized on her famous catchphrase.” It’s streaming free as “Die! Die! My Darling!” as of January 2025.
The film, which had mixed reviews with some praise for her performance, also starred the up-and-coming actors Stefanie Powers and Donald Sutherland. When the film debuted, the New York Times wrote that although Bankhead “towers above the cast and story, her present effort adds little to her record.”
Following the film, Tallulah had one last television role as the Black Widow on the campy 1960s show “Batman.”
Legacy
Tallulah Bankhead died in 1968 of pneumonia. Her obituary in the Birmingham News called her a “life force that inundated everything in her path.”
“Her credo of life and best be summed up in the following quote: ‘I’ve lived to the hilt. I must carry on or perish. I have a tiger by the tail,’” the obituary said.
Although her sexuality and off-screen exploits were frequent topics of discussion – she jokingly referred to herself as “ambisextrous” – many people don’t realize she was an advocate for racial equality and that she was known for supporting fellow Alabamians such as baseball greats Willie Mays and Willie McCovey, boxer Joe Louis and jazz legend W.C. Handy, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama.
“In the 1950s she began a radio show, hosted a television show, published her autobiography, appeared on shows like The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, had a Las Vegas nightclub act, and occasionally returned to the stage,” according to the Legacy Project.
A historical marker in front of the 1845 Schiffman building in Huntsville, Ala., notes that Tallulah was born in an apartment kept there by her father. The marker says, “Alabama’s Best-Known Actress. Tallulah Bankhead was the toast of the London theatre in the 1920’s … A ravishing beauty in her youth, Tallulah was known for her uninhibited exuberance, deep sultry voice, and for calling everyone ‘Dahling.’ She appeared in 56 plays, 19 movies, and scores of radio and television productions during her 50-year career.”
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