PARK Magazine

been dishonest about Miss Hopkins; I don’t think
there was ever a more difficult female in the world,
but Miss Hopkins has died since I was last asked this
question and I just think that’s the end of the conversation.
Joan Crawford is still living.
That’s all press, Miss Crawford and I on What Ever
Happened to Baby Jane, never, we are far too professional,
both of us. And I’m going to tell you something,
we made this film, Joan and I, in three weeks, that’s
all the money they would give for us to make it with.
Truthfully, we couldn’t get backing, everybody told
Mr. Aldrich that if they would recast these two broads,
we’ll give you some money. Seriously. And Mr. Aldrich
insisted on making it with
us. And Joan one day suggested
that we should put
up on the set a sign that
said, “With this schedule,
we haven’t got time not
to get along.” We got along
absolutely; this is just
ridiculous.
There was a time,
prior to WHATEVER
HAPPENED TO
BABY JANE when you
couldn’t get good
scripts and you
placed an ad in Variety.
No, no, not prior to
Jane. I took that ad out
while I was making Jane, finally employed with plenty
of money, that was not an ad as was mistaken by the
general public. That was an ad ribbing a banker who
had lists of people that they would employ and would
not employ, and I took it out completely with tongue
in cheek. If I say so myself it was brilliantly done. I took
it like a newspaper employment ad, and I even printed
a picture of myself and said mother of three children,
etc., and sort of described my life. No, it was a rib. But
a diabolical rib because these lists were terrible. How
can you know if you can make money in a film if you’re
not given a chance to make a decent film? And this
still goes on today.
That is one of the tragedies and one of the
ironies of having achieved such unbelievable
stardom: having made so much money for the
studios, then having to be in the position, as
time passes and as one gets older, to have to
struggle for good scripts and parts. How do you
deal with this?
One expects it. Scripts are basically written about
younger women. One doesn’t want to work as much
anymore; I certainly don’t want to make five and six
films a year. You do lament the quality of scripts today,
but I do not expect at my age to find many where I’m
the leading character. And I don’t expect it, and I’m
not sad about it; I could wish we would never have to
grow old. You know I think that if every woman could
stop at thirty-five and every man at forty-five it would
be a heavenly life. But that’s not the way it is planned,
and you prepare for this. You know that it is going to
happen. You don’t fight against it, while you lament
that you are older, you must accept this because that’s
the way it is.
Sometimes one is parodied or even parodies
oneself. There are even people who have tried
very hard to imitate Bette Davis. The Bette
cults are endless, acts are built around you.
But this is the sincerest form of flattery. Wouldn’t
it be horrible if they didn’t, really? For years nobody
ever characterized me, and it worried me to death.
Sincerely, until you find people that imitate you there’s
nothing that’s definite about you. And for ten years
nobody ever did an imitation of me, then you know
they made up for it.
THE LONELY LIFE, are you alone now?
Of course, I’m very alone, I’m not alone because I
have children, but I live alone. But you’re never alone
if you have children, even though you see them very
seldom… So of course, I’m lonely, but my book was
not called A Lonely Life, it was called The Lonely Life.
Because I feel people in the arts, whether it’s in the
theater or sculpting or painting or writing, they are a
people who as I say in my book, who travel light. Also,
if they are ambitious to get there, they do not have
time for many friendships, friendships take time, and
it’s a life where you dedicate thirty or forty years to get