PARK Magazine

‘‘AH-HA! BABY JANE.
THERE ARE CERTAIN
PERFORMANCES THAT ARE
SUITABLE FOR AN ACADEMY
AWARD, AND WHEN I LOST
OUT WITH JANE, NEVER
HAD I HAD A SHOCK LIKE
THAT BEFORE.’’
I thought she was absolutely marvelous
in it too. And it was an extraordinary
experience for Anne who
played Eve, some twenty years later
to be playing Margo. I stayed backstage
and I couldn’t believe it, I thought,
it can’t be twenty-one years. Anne
played it so terribly, terribly well. It
was fate for her to play both parts.
What do you feel about performers
in politics?
I think the performer, who is very
well known, must be terribly sure of
his or her facts. Really knowledgeable
about what is being advocated,
because you can have an enormous
influence on people, and therefore
it becomes a dangerous weapon,
otherwise it’s simply up to the individual
if you believe in something
then there’s no reason why not, but this I think has
sometimes not been too well managed.
How do you feel about seeing
yourself on the TV?
It’s an odd experience. It’s like seeing somebody
else. It fills you full of a certain amount of regrets,
physically. I always thought I was absolutely hideous
during my entire career. Little did I know, compared
to today, I was a raving beauty. I never could stand
myself, at all. Now I just sit there and say, “My God!”
Is there any film for which you feel you should
have won an Oscar but didn’t?
Ah-ha! BABY JANE. There are certain performances
that are suitable for an Academy Award, and when I
lost out with Jane, never had I had a shock like that
before. I thought, the year of Margo Channing, that if
I lost, I would have lost with great, great graciousness
to Miss Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, which was
marvelous. However, I did feel that someone who had
done a play for that many years, it’s not that big an
accomplishment as starting from scratch on the screen
and play the character, so I was a little bitter.
Which line in BEYOND THE FOREST did you
enjoy delivering the most?
You’re talking about, “What a dump.” This line only
became famous through Mr. Edward Albee, because
literally, all I did in that film, and I checked on this
because I became fascinated, was as I was dusting a
table, in the quietest voice in the whole world, say,
“What a dump”. And I might also add that that’s the
only reason that that film will ever be thought of again.
Every star has his disappointments and one of
yours must have been not playing in WHO’S
AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF. You have
stated that you went to Mr. Albee and said, “I
would kill for that part!”
Yes, it was true, but Edward had nothing to do with
that. Edward had given up all rights, he might have
been able to help me if he had had anything to say.
Interestingly enough, Mr. Warner wanted me very
much to have this, he begged the producer, Lee Miller,
but he would have no part of it, for me. You can understand
his enormous temptation with the Burtons, I
can’t quarrel. I can be heartbroken and wish I had
had it because it would have been in these ten years
just one of the great things for me, I was the right age
and everything. But you can understand his temptation.
I can, but I hate him for it.
Cosmetic deception is something that has
been highly developed, especially for the big
screen. And experts, including your hairdresser
Eugene of Cinandre, who has cut your
hair for years, has told me that they can make
you appear young and glamorous very easily