Quotations from Chairman Bette:
“I wouldn’t piss on her [Joan Crawford] if she was on fire.”
“She [Joan Crawford] has slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie.”
“Why am I so good at playing bitches? I think it’s because I’m not a bitch. Maybe that’s why [Joan Crawford] always plays ladies.”
“[Joan Crawford] and I have never been warm friends. We are not simpatico. I admire her, and yet I feel uncomfortable with her.”
“To me, she is the personification of the Movie Star. I have always felt her greatest performance is Crawford being Crawford.”
“You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good . . . Joan Crawford is dead. Good.”
Not a Joan Crawford dig, but I do like this next one:
“There was more good acting at Hollywood parties than ever appeared on the screen.”
February 27, 2017 update
Looking forward to FX channel’s “Feud” starring Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lang as the brawling b’tches, described in this Harper’s Bizarre story here.
Thank you, bettedavisonline, for collecting these wonderful quotes!
Like this? Read more:
- arts·meme’s thread covering “Divas“
- arts·meme’s thread of “Hollywood History“
Bette Davis was my great grandmother’s third cousin. I met her at a family reunion once when I was a child. She was there for a few hours. She was the dearest sweetest nicest woman you can imagine. I had heard years later that she was a bitch. Based on a few hours spending time with her as a child I would have to say that is all B.S. she had a public persona and that was Hollywood hype. She had to pretend to be a bitch in public as her roles in movies were often bitchy and that was all for publicity. I don’t know anything much about the whole thing with Crawford. I can’t imagine that sweet woman saying such horrid things about anyone including an enemy. I think if you asked her opinion of Satan she’d have replied “Nice fellow very warm.” She said nice things about everyone. I remember her explaining how she was related to me and describing each common relative and saying the nicest thing about each of them. Then she talked about famous people she knew and he kept saying nice things about every one. By the time she got done you’d be convinced the world was full of saints. Now perhaps I’m only looking at it through the naive eyes of the child I was back then and perhaps she spent that whole time indulging in subtle sarcasm, but I doubt it. So I concur with Damon.
Thank you for this clarification, Damon.
She never said about 85% of those. Those quotes are from a fictional book called “The Divine Feud” with no points of reference in it.