Hollywood Rivalries

The violent feud between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, began as an attempted friendship. Crawford was signed to Warner Brothers in the late forties, in order to film Mildred Pierce. Many at the studio believed that Crawford was brought in to challenge Davis' position as the "queen" of the studio. The rumors about the two escalated into an imagined rivalry which did not yet exist.

Wanting nothing to do with the whole issue, Davis purposely kept her distance from Crawford so that no one could claim that they had quarreled. When asked about Crawford, she was polite and claimed to admire her work. Crawford would have none of this distance; she desperately wanted to win Davis' friendship. She began bombarding Davis with gifts, all of which were quickly returned. When she wrote her letters, begging to meet for dinner, Davis declined. Finally, Crawford abandoned her pursuit of Davis.

The two met again in 1962, as co-stars in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?. Crawford showered Davis with gifts once again. When Davis wrote her a note asking her to stop, Crawford was deeply hurt, and became an avowed enemy. Now she had only an insane jealousy of Davis' talent.

Despite the drama behind the cameras, both actresses achieved strong performances. Baby Jane was a huge financial and critical success. When Davis was nominated for a best actress Academy Award, Crawford was so furious that she volunteered to pick up the awards of any winners who could not attend. When the absent Anne Bancroft won for her performance in the Miracle Worker, Crawford gleefully took the spotlight. Davis was already furious about losing; the fact that Crawford was getting so much attention irritated her all the more.

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