January 31, 1902
Actress Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was born in Huntsville. Born into the illustrious and politically powerful Bankhead family, Bankhead became an infamous celebrity of the Jazz Age known for her beauty, flamboyant personality, wit and talented performances. She earned critical acclaim for starring roles across stage, film, television and radio, including the Broadway plays “The Little Foxes” and “The Skin of Our Teeth” and Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Lifeboat.” In 1952, Bankhead published her “New York Times” bestselling autobiography, “Tallulah: My Autobiography,” which sold 10 million copies. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame and the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
Portrait of Tallulah Bankhead, c. 1905-1945. (Harris & Ewing, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
Senator John H. Bankhead’s daughter, Marie Bankhead Owen, and granddaughter, Tallulah Bankhead. Marie headed the Alabama Department of Archives and History for 35 years. Tallulah was an internationally renowned star of the stage and screen who spoke against racial injustice and inequality. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives and History)
Portrait of Tallulah Bankhead, Jan. 25, 1934. (Photograph by Carl Van Vechten, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
Photograph of Tallulah Bankhead, posing with artist Augustus John, in front of a portrait he had painted of her, 1929. (Wikipedia)
Portrait of Tallulah Bankhead, Jan. 25, 1934. (Photograph by Carl Van Vechten, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
Tallulah Bankhead was the daughter of William Bankhead, who was a U.S. congressman from 1916-1940. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives and History)
Portrait of Tallulah Bankhead, c. 1941. (Talbot, Wikipedia)
John Hollis Bankhead (Rep. from Alabama 1887-1907, Senator 1907-1920) at a confederate reunion with grand-daughters Tallulah (left) and Eugenia (right), 1917. (Harris & Ewing, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.
