sparklejamesysparkle:

Beatrice Arthur discusses her experience working as an understudy

for the legendary stage and screen diva Tallulah Bankhead in a 1956 Broadway revival of Ziegfeld Follies during an interview from 2002. Though Tallulah had been dead for over thirty years at this point, Bea was still clearly hurt and annoyed by Bankhead’s inference

that she wasn’t attractive enough to be a star. Bea’s colorful language was bleeped and an abrupt “fade to black” was made when the interview aired. Cast as glamorous stage star Vera Charles in the Broadway musical Mame opposite Angela Lansbury in 1966 (a role which she later reprised in the 1974 film version opposite Lucille Ball), Bea won
a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance. Tallulah Bankhead, fully aware that Bea had become a star, died two years later at the age of 66.