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On Netflix’s new limited series Hollywood from creator Ryan Murphy, several real-life actors are portrayed in this tale of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Two notable ones are Tallulah Bankhead, played by Paget Brewster, and Hattie McDaniel, played by Queen Latifah.
But in a bit of a surprise, the two are shown to be lovers in one of the episodes. Was that based on a real-life affair?
Here’s what we know about Bankhead and McDaniel’s relationship. Warning: Light spoilers ahead for Hollywood.
Bankhead and McDaniel Were Rumored to Be Involved
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According to “The Girls: Sappho Goes Hollywood” by Diana McLellan, in the Golden Age of Hollywood there was a group of lesbian or bisexual actresses that Marlene Dietrich referred to as the “Sewing Circle.” It talks about the alleged affair between Dietrich and Greta Garbo, and also says that Tallulah Bankhead was known to be with both men and women, counting among her lovers Hattie McDaniel and Patsy Kelly.
According to AutoStraddle, which compiled an infographic of lesbian or bisexual actresses from that era, Bankhead was also rumored to have had affairs with Libby Holman, Billie Holiday, Dietrich, Garbo, and Mercedes de Acosta.
McDaniel is not shown to have been linked to anyone but Bankhead. In fact, McDaniel was married to four different men over the course of her life: Howard Hickman, George Langford, James Lloyd Crawford, and Larry Williams.
But LGBTQ Relationships Couldn’t Be Open Back Then
As seen in Hollywood, gay relationships were not something anyone could carry on in public. Bankhead is shown attending one of director George Cukor’s infamous sex parties to be with men, and then later, picking up a man at Ernie’s “Dreamland” gas station to have a threesome with McDaniel.
But the show imagines a world in which those who had power in the entertainment industry stood up for their rights, so when Meg is up for several awards at the 1948 Oscars, screenwriter Archie Coleman (Jeremy Pope) and his lover, Rock Hudson (Jake Picking), walk the red carpet together hand-in-hand and later share a kiss when Coleman wins Best Screenplay.
McDaniel congratulates Camille Washington (Laura Harrier), the African-American lead in Meg, for winning Best Actress, telling her that when she (McDaniel) won in 1940, she couldn’t even attend the ceremony. The venue that year, the Ambassador Hotel, originally wouldn’t let her into the ceremony because of their “no-colored policy,” so she had to sit at a small table in the back after producer David O. Selznick called in a favor to get her let into the building, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
On the show, McDaniel tells Washington, “I’m gonna tell you right here, right now — when you go to that ceremony, you sit right down in that front row, you scream, you shout, you scratch somebody’s eyes out if you have to, but you demand the respect that you’re owed. It ain’t about whether you win or lose, there’s something more important at stake. What’s important is bein’ in the room.”
Hollywood season one is available now on Netflix.
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