Joel Lobenthal - Tallulah!: The Life and Times of a Leading Lady

Joel Lobenthal is the dance critic for the New York Sun and the assistant editor of Ballet Review. He has also written for Dance Magazine, Playbill, Quest, and the New York Times. He is the author of Radical Rags: Fashion of the Sixties, and he lives in NewYork City.

I wish there were a way to acknowledge all the people who have inspired, supported, or encouraged me over the many years since I first began researching this book. Instead of pretending to be able to do that, I will restrict myself to those connected most closely to the work at hand: For their help in tracking down leads and research sources, I am grateful to Tony Grillo, Marie Ellerbe Hancock, Richard Lamparski, Richard Lillie, Nicholas Lobenthal, Lydia Lobenthal, Francis Mason, Benjamin McFall, Patrick McGilligan, John Morrone, Andrea Swiedler, Glenn Shadix, David Stenn, Bart Williams, the late Raymond Mander, and Joe Mitchenson.

Research assistance was supplied by Michael Hauser, Barbara Hughes, Bob Levin, and Cindy Mindell.

Liz and Dick Turners hospitality in London was a joy. Marvin Hoshino tirelessly extended his graphics expertise.

My agent, Kathy Anderson, has an astute understanding of the genre of biography as well as the nature of this biography. Cal Morgan, Lina Perl, Brian Saliba, Bridie Clark, and Adrienne Makowski at ReganBooks supplied wise editorial counsel. Joan Brookbank was a valued confidante during my early thinking about this book.

The friends, colleagues, and family members of Tallulah Bankhead who shared their recollections with me are enumerated in the chapter notes. I am so grateful for their generosity. My many friends in the Soka Gakkai International are so sage and constructive.

The staffs of the following institutions have been indispensable: In London: the Victoria and Albert Theatre Collection, the Colindale Newspaper Library, the British Library Manuscripts Collection, the Metropolitan Police Service, Records Management Branch.

In New York: Actors Equity, Lincoln Center Library of Performing Arts, General Reference Collection of the New York Public Library, the Players Club Library, the Theater Collection at the Museum of the City of New York.

In Connecticut, the Beineke Library at Yale University in New Haven; in California, the San Francisco Performing Arts Library; in Washington, D.C., the Library of Congress, and the FBI Freedom of Information Service; in Alabama, the Tallulah Bankhead Historical Society, Alabama Department of Archives and History; in Massachusetts, Reference and Special Collections, Somerville Public Library.

Over the years, many friends and family members have read one or more chapters and given their reactions. My mother, Shirley Lobenthal, made many insightful comments. Charmane Spahr and my father, Joseph Lobenthal, read through the entire manuscript and gave honest and unsparing criticism.

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