The enmity between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis created one of the most famous celebrity feuds of all time.
Why did they hate each other so much? Well, it’s a long story, but to share it was actress, Jillann Gabrielle, who portrayed both roles at the Worth Public Library, 6917 W. 111th St., Worth, on August 20.
“It’s amazing how she (Jillann Gabrielle) plays both roles,” said Audrey Dambek, Programming Coordinator at the Worth Public Library. “Both Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were very interesting women. The fact that they were both Hollywood stars with thriving careers and a bitter feud makes me want to hear more about them.”
During the original one-woman musical called, Joan & Bette, Bette & Joan, Gabrielle, represented both Crawford and Davis while sharing the same body in purgatory, and going back and forth on their infamous movie star lives and betrayals along the way.
“They are the icons of their day,” Gabrielle, of Crystal Lake, said.
Gabrielle has been a successful singer, actress, producer and instructor for her entire professional life. She has obtained degrees in music and voice from Rosary College and Dominican University and has performed extensively as a cabaret artist, comedienne and emcee in musicals, theater, film, TV and in voice-overs. Her website, www.paradiseplayhouse.net follows her success and was founded in 1989.
“I have always loved to act,” Gabrielle said.
During the course of her extensive career, Gabrielle discovered her love to write. She proudly wrote, directed and started in her performance of Joan & Bette, Bette & Joan.
Joan Crawford, born on May 10, 1977, was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. She was already a big star when Davis came along.
Bette Davis, born on October 6, 1989, was an American actress of film, television, and theater. She was making her first appearances in movies when Joan had slept her way to the top, and gone as far as marrying the legendary Douglas Fairbanks Jr. The pair ended up divorcing, but he wasn’t the man who came between the two actresses.
Franchot Tone who the two really fell out over. Tone, who was dating Crawford, was Davis’s leading man in Dangerous. Davis fell in love with him, but he married Crawford.
By the 1940s both stars were extremely successful and employed by the same studio, Warner Bros., where they had adjoining dressing rooms; however, the fighting continued, becoming the one of most popular feuds in Hollywood history.
After years of continuous rivalry, the two started in the 1962 American psychological horror thriller film, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? directed and produced by Robert Aldrich. The filming was brutal with constant bickering.
That’s why it was so surprising, Gabrielle said that a couple of years after What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Davis and Crawford did actually agree to work together again, on Hush…Hush Sweet Charlotte. However, after a few days filming, during which Davis was even more poisonous than usual and Crawford pretended to be ill and pulled out of the movie.
The duo never worked together again after that, and there were no more recorded encounters. Nevertheless, this famous Hollywood feud is still remembered today.
Gabrielle’s performance at the Worth Public Library, left nothing out and highlighted the highs and lows of both Crawford and Davis was brilliant and entertaining, portraying both actresses’ lives immaculately, in an argumentative, musically enticing way.