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Beginnings - Tantrums and Turmoil
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was born on January 31, 1902 in Huntsville, Alabama to William Brockman and Adelaide Eugenia Bankhead. She was named after her paternal grandmother, who, in turn, was named after the town of Tallulah Falls in Georgia.
at age 4The Bankheads were a prominent Alabama political family. Tallulah's grandfather, John Hollis Bankhead, was a Confederate veteran and a U.S. senator. Tallulah's uncle John was also a Senator and her father would serve as a U.S. Representative and Speaker of the House.
Tallulah's mother, Adelaide (or "Ada" as she was called) was a native of Como, Mississippi and was already engaged to another man when she met William Bankhead on a trip to Huntsville, Alabama to shop for her wedding dress. Will and Ada fell in love at first sight and, following a whirlwind romance, were married on January 31, 1900 in Memphis, Tennessee.
They returned to Huntsville and lived in an apartment in the Schiffman Building (see photo at right). Their first child, daughter Ada Eugenia, was born on January 24, 1901. The following year, Tallulah was born on their anniversary. Ada died tragically of blood poisoning just three weeks following Tallulah's birth. On her deathbed, she told her sister-in-law to "take care of Eugenia, Tallulah will always be able to take care of herself".
Tallulah's birthplaceWilliam Bankhead was devastated over his young wife's death. He remained in Huntsville and worked in a law office but sent his daughters to live at Sunset, his parent's home in Jasper, Alabama. The girls would divide their time between Sunset and their aunt Marie Owen's home in Montgomery, Alabama.
As a child, Tallulah was pudgy and fair and her older sister Eugenia was slim and prettier. Tallulah did everything she could think of for attention. She ran around the house doing cartwheels or singing and reciting literature that she had memorized. She was rarely still and her boisterous behavior rankled everyone's nerves, especially her grandmother. She was prone to throw tantrums, rolling around on the floor and holding her breath until she was blue in the face. Tallulah's grandmother would threaten to throw a bucket of water on her to calm her down and she frequently did. Today, Tallulah would be probably be diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder.
Tallulah discovered at an early age that theatrics were a viable outlet for gaining the attention she craved. She had a gift for mimicry and entertained her classmates by imitating the school teachers. She could memorize poems and plays and recite them dramatically. Tallulah was happiest when all eyes were upon her. One of her fondest memories was when her father put her on a table top and allowed her to sing and dance for a group of his friends.
Tallulah and Eugenia's grandmother and aunt were determined to make proper Southern ladies of out both of them, but it soon became obvious that the girls were becoming a handful. William proposed enrolling them in a convent school to tame them. His mother, a stout Episcopalian, at first refused but then changed her mind when she learned that it was the only type of boarding school that would admit girls as young as ten. In 1912, both girls were promptly enrolled in the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattanville, New York.
Tallulah hated the convent school, but her grandmother and father were impressed by her new manners. As William's political career took him to Washington, the girls were enrolled in a series of different schools, each one closer to Washington. In 1913, they were enrolled at the Mary Baldwin Seminary in Staunton, Virginia. The following years found them at the Convent of the Visitation in Washington, the Holy Cross at Dunbar and the Fairmont Seminary.
Who Is She?
Tallulah was fifteen when she suddenly matured into a beautiful young woman. Eugenia, at sixteen, was getting married. Tallulah had more on her mind than boys and her life was about to take a dramatic turn. An avid reader of fan magazines, she had submitted her photo to Picture Play, which was conducting a contest and awarding a trip to New York plus a part in a movie to twelve lucky individuals solely based on their photographs. Tallulah learned that she was one of the winners while browsing through the magazine at a local drug store.
However, there was a slight problem. In her haste to enter the contest, Tallulah had failed to give her name or address. Her photo was captioned "Who Is She?" and asked that the mystery lady contact them at once. Picture Play was satisfied when they received a letter from Congressman William Bankhead along with a duplicate copy of Tallulah's photo. Tallulah was ecstatic, but both her father and grandmother had qualms about her going to New York. William Bankhead soon realized, however, that there would be no peace for anyone until he gave Tallulah his consent. A consensus was finally reached when Tallulah's grandfather agreed to finance her stay in New York and Aunt Louise would act as chaperone.
