"Va Va Voom" Star of the Day: Bette Davis

Bette Davis
From the official Bette Davis website:

Often referred to as "The First Lady of the American Screen," Bette Davis created a new kind of screen heroine. She was a liberated woman in an industry dominated by men. She was known as an actress that could play a variety of difficult and powerful roles, and because of this she set a new standard for women on the big screen. Independent off-screen as well, her battles with studio bigwigs were legendary. With a career spanning six decades, few in the history of film rival her longevity and appeal.

Bette Davis was born Ruth Davis on April 5, 1908 in Lowell, Massachusetts. Just before her tenth birthday, Bette's father, Harlow, left the family. Although she had little money, her mother, Ruthie, sent Bette and her sister to boarding school. Upon graduating Cushing Academy, Bette enrolled in John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School. In 1929, she made her Broadway debut in "Broken Dishes." She also landed a role in "Solid South." In 1930, she moved to Hollywood to screen test for Universal.

Mee-Yow Thursday

Did you miss your favorite cat fights?  We just wanted to revisit the greatest of them all...that is, the Bette Davis vs. Joan Crawford feud that has spanned generations.

The Queens of Vintage website reviews the feud, finally digging to the bottom of the fight and discovering that it all started with a man.  Of course -- it all makes sense that two successful, beautiful women would fight over a man.  Sound familiar, anyone?

As the website states: "It was the most notorious cat fight in Hollywood history...A little investigation shows that these two cinematic giants were reduced to duking it out over, what else, a man. Namely, the slightly less legendary, Franchot Tone...

Happy Birthday, Joan Crawford!

Our favorite Mee-Yow Thursday vixen would have been 105 today!

Mee-Yow Wednesday

About Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart was quoted as saying:

"Even when I was carrying a gun, she scared the bejesus out of me."

Mee-Yow Thursday

It's been awhile since our last catfight, but don't have a hissy fit about it -- here's a new one for you!
Howard Hughes was quoted as saying that Marilyn Monroe "moves her upper lip around like a snake." Ouch! What a cad!

Mee-Yow Friday

Gary Cooper was first up for the role of Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind, but he turned it down, saying "'Gone With The Wind' is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history," and "I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper."

Mee-Yow Thursday

They're at it again...

"Why am I so good at playing bitches? I think it's because I'm not a bitch. Maybe that's why Miss Crawford always plays ladies."

- Bette Davis

Mee-Yow Thursday

The ultimate in cattiness: Rosalind Russell shines as the gossipy Sylvia Prowler-- er, Fowler -- in 1939's "The Women." Now the best scenes have been set to Pink's song "Trouble."

Mee-Yow Thursday

Laurence Olivier on Marilyn Monroe:"I said to her on the set once, 'Why can't you get here on time, for f***'s sake?' And she replied, 'Oh! Do you have that word in England, too?'"

Mee-Yow Thursday

Poor Joan...constantly a subject of our "Mee-Yow's"...

Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge fought both on and off camera while filming Johnny Guitar (1954). One night, in a drunken rage, Crawford scattered the costumes worn by McCambridge along an Arizona highway. Cast and crew had to collect the outfits.

Mee-Yow Thursday

Still on the Joan Crawford kick...When Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford were called to shoot publicity stills for The Women, neither actress would enter the studio first. Instead, they remained in their limousines and circled the parking lot until director George Cukor summoned them. Once they were at the shoot they instantly behaved like best friends.

Mee-Yow Thursday: Special Edition

Set your Moxies for "mee-yow!"

One of our favorite Mee-Yow vixens is Lucille LeSueur, a.k.a. Joan Crawford. Her biting comments and the outrageous portrayal by her daughter (as magnified in the classic film "Mommie Dearest"), has made her one of Hollywood's classic bitches.

Well, TCM decided to spotlight this diva with their original documentary Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star. It airs twice tomorrow: at 6 AM and 6:30 PM EST. Check the website or your television guide for local times.

Mee-Yow Thursday

Joan Crawford on Marilyn Monroe:
"Look, there's nothing wrong with my t**s,
but I don't go around throwing them in people's faces!"

Mee-Yow Thursday

Orson Welles was quoted as calling Audrey Hepburn
"The Patron Saint of Anorexics." Funny, as how he is widely known (pun intended) as
being overweight for most of his career.

What a grouch.

Mee-Yow Thursday

Rod Steiger vs. Marlon Brando
As part of his contract in On the Waterfront (1954), Brando only worked till 4:00 every day and then he would leave to go see his analyst. His mother had just died and he was having trouble dealing with it.
During the famous "Brother Charlie" in the back of the cab, Brando left the set early, leaving Steiger to deliver his lines to an empty wall. Steiger carried a grudge about this until 1997, when the two finally made peace.

Mee-Yow Thursday

Some of the things that happened behind the scenes of White Christmas (1954) were not so jolly.
For example, all of Vera-Ellen's costumes, down to her robe and sleepwear, had to be designed to cover high up her neck, as her anorexia aged the skin beyond its years. (Vera-Ellen is the woman on the right.)

Mee-Yow Thursday

During filming of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Marilyn Monroe kept insisting on retakes despite the director, Howard Hawks' approval of each take.

When the production company asked Hawks how work could be sped up, he retorted: "Three wonderful ideas: replace Marilyn, rewrite the script to make it shorter, and get a new director."

Mee-Yow Thursday

While filming Gone With the Wind, Vivien Leigh reportedly did not like kissing Clark Gable because she said that he had excessively bad breath due to smoking.

Mee-Yow Thursday

While making The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958), John Wayne apparently became so enraged with director John Huston (who was something of a tough guy himself and was nearly as tall as Wayne but not as massive) that he throttled and punched him out. It is unknown what Huston did to earn the beating, but the director was known to have a mean streak.

Mee-Yow Thursday

On the set of Captain Blood, Basil Rathbone didn't get along with Errol Flynn. During their dueling sequence Rathbone reminded Flynn that he was being paid considerably more for his part in the picture than Flynn was.
Then Rathbone deliberately wounded him in the arm (leaving a permanent scar).