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New Ventures
With Jeff Chandler on The Big Show (1952)By 1950, Tallulah was a household name who was frequently mentioned in the press, whether it was to report on her latest political involvement or simply to relate another humorous anecdote (of course, many of these were often unprintable!). The name "Tallulah" was so analogous with her that she took legal action when Prell shampoo used a jingle with her name in it for an advertisement (see the ad here). Tallulah was victorious and the company stopped using the ad.
Tallulah had starred on both stage and screen but she was about to tackle a new medium - radio. In November of 1950, NBC radio introduced The Big Show, a 90-minute extravaganza which would feature big name actors, singers and comedians. Tallulah was asked to be "Mistress of Ceremonies" or in simpler language, the host. She was given a four-week trial-run after which she could quit if she wanted. Tallulah was nervous and highly excited about the project, but she wasn't sure exactly what her role was. She fretted for weeks, losing sleep and questioning every line of the script. When the show debuted on November 5, 1950, it was an outstanding success. Tallulah was elated and agreed to keep working after the four-week trial.
Much of The Big Show's success was attributed to Tallulah's trademark wit. Although the show was scripted, Tallulah was known to ad-lib. Much of the banter consisted of playful put-downs between Tallulah and her guests. A sampling:
Marlene Dietrich: Tallulah, that's a beautiful gown you are wearing, what color is it?
Tallulah: It's called battleship grey, dahling.
Marlene: Battleship grey, how lovely. But don't you think it's a little tight around the boiler-room?Tallulah (to Ethel Merman): I must say, dahling, that you don't look a day over 60!
Tallulah: Dahling, I've decided to grow old gracefully.
George Sanders: And so you have, darling!Earl Wilson: Are you ever mistaken for a man on the telephone?
Tallulah: No dahling, are you?The Big Show aired every Sunday night from 6-7:30 and ran for two years. It introduced millions of new fans to Tallulah and she was named radio's "Woman of the Year" for 1951.
Tallulah was once again in a legal predicament in late 1951 when it was discovered that her personal secretary, Evyleen Cronin, was stealing money from her. Cronin took care of Tallulah's bills and household expenses and in the process, she inflated the amounts of the checks and kept the extra cash for herself. It was estimated that she had stolen at least $10,000 from Tallulah since she first started working for her in 1949. Tallulah fired Cronin in April of 1950, but did not intend to press charges. However, when columnist Walter Winchell publicly congratulated Tallulah for being a "good sport" about the incident, District Attorney Frank Hogan contacted Tallulah's lawyers insisting that she must press charges or compound the crime.
The dreaded trial began on Dec. 11, 1951 and Tallulah was greatly humiliated by it. "Thank God my blessed daddy is not alive to see this!", she said. Cronin's lawyers alleged that Cronin's job included "paying for marijuana, cigarettes, cocaine, booze and sex." Cronin also testified that Tallulah taught her to roll marijuana cigarettes and would beat her if she ever asked for money. Tallulah seethed in her seat and couldn't keep quiet. Her huffs and guffaws finally persuaded the judge to exclude her from any proceedings except for her own testimony. Many of Cronin's statements were proven false and she was found guilty of stealing from her employer. She was given a suspended sentence due to her age (59) and a strong plea of clemency from Tallulah.
Tallulah hated public incidents like the Cronin trial and did not like persecuting anyone, even if that person had done her wrong. This may have conflicted with Tallulah's public image as a ballsy, outspoken dame, but, in truth, she had a soft heart. Since the mid-1940s, Tallulah had adopted foster children from abroad. She regularly corresponded with them and sent them money as well as generous gifts. She wrote about one of her foster children, Barbara Nicoli, in an article for Cosmopolitan magazine.
In the meantime, Tallulah was paid $30,000 to pen her memoirs. The book would actually be ghost-written by Richard Maney. Tallulah would pace restlessy in the early morning hours at Windows, shouting into a tape recorder while chain smoking and drinking bottles of bourbon. The book - ostentatious and chock full of metaphors, and sounding very much like Tallulah - spent twenty-six weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List and was serialized in newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and England.
Tallulah continued to perform in various venues. The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas paid her a generous $20,000 per week to perform in a one-woman show which included monologues, songs and poem readings. Tallulah employed actress friend and now house-mate Patsy Kelly to attend to her personal needs. She also made new acquaintances with the young Las Vegas chorus boys and employees who idolized her. She would regale them all night with her stories.
During this time, Tallulah had a mammoplasty and couldn't resist showing off her new silicone breasts. Although she was getting older and her body was beginning to show it, she still loved to parade around in the nude. At Windows, she would perform for her guests on top of her piano, wearing only a string of pearls.
Tallulah had been absent from the stage for over four years when she returned in September of 1954 to appear in Dear Charles. By this time, Tallulah's body was beginning to slow down, but she was not. She smoked and drank non-stop and took an arsenal of drugs to keep her functioning.
On stage, she always played herself, no matter what the role, and her fans loved it. She appeared in a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire with an audience comprised mainly of gay men. Williams later said, "The worst Blanche DuBois was poor Tallulah, although I must say she was amusing. I'm sure the attack on Blanche being a drag queen started with Tallulah."
One medium that Tallulah had eschewed in previous years but finally give in to was television. She made her first appearance in 1952 on "All Star Revue" and made several guest appearances on variety shows, as well as acting in one-hour dramatic programs.
Tallulah's most popular television appearance and the one that is still seen widely today was her December 3, 1957 appearance on the "Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Hour". Tallulah played herself in the episode titled "The Celebrity Next Door". The part was originally slated for Bette Davis, but she had to bow out after cracking her verterbra.
Lucille Ball was a big fan of Tallulah's and did a good impression of her. By the time the episode was filmed, however, both Ball and Arnaz were at their wit's end over Tallulah's behavior during rehearsals. Tallulah refused to listen to the director and she did not like to rehearse. It took her three hours to "wake up" once she arrived on the set and everyone thought she was drunk most of the time. Lucy and Desi apparently didn't know about Tallulah's antipathy toward rehearsing or her incredible ability to memorize a script. The actual taping of the episode went off without a hitch and Tallulah impressed everyone with her line readings and professionalism.
Tallulah had now successfully performed in every entertainment medium and had achieved memorable performances in each. Her true love was still the stage, but her failing health was beginning to limit her ability to do strenuous work. For the first time in her life, she started to slow down.
