Two Old Hollywood actresses duke it out in ‘Feud: Bette and Joan’

By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media

Hollywood has seen its share of high-profile rivalries over the years, but few are as iconic as that between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. The decades-long enmity between two of the silver screen’s greatest actresses has become the stuff of legend.

It’s all playing out right now on FX, thanks to Ryan Murphy, a lifelong fan of Davis’s and the creator of megahits “Glee” and “American Horror Story,” as well as the executive producer of the Emmywinning “American Crime Story.” Each season is set to portray a different famous feud, and this first season gives a detailed account of what went on between Crawford and Davis, played by Jessica Lange (“American Horror Story”) and Susan Sarandon (“Thelma & Louise,” 1991), respectively, during the one project the stars worked on together. “Feud: Bette and Joan” premiered earlier this month, and a new episode airs Sunday, March 26, on FX.

You have to look way, way back for the earliest evidence of bad blood between the actresses: It all began in the early ‘30s, when the two were still young and fresh and in the meat of their careers. Their mutual antipathy lasted until Crawford’s death in 1977, and, while it wasn’t necessarily evident by way of overt altercations, the sniping and shade-throwing made for frequent tabloid fodder.

The women were two of the most talented and sought-after actresses in Hollywood during their youth, and both were Old Hollywood starlets to a T, with four marriages apiece and multiple scandalous affairs under their belts. Middle-age did them no favors, however, and by the 1960s, their glamorous, Oscar-winning careers had all but fizzled out.

The 1962 release of “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” was the saving grace of both their careers, and their intense rivalry was a major contributor to the film’s success. The psychological thriller was nominated for five Academy Awards (winner of one), spawned the psycho-biddy subgenre and has become a cult classic.

“There was never a rivalry like theirs,” said Catherine Zeta-Jones (“Chicago,” 2002), in character as the legendary Olivia de Havilland, in the show’s trailer. “For over half a century, they hated each other, and we loved them for it.”

“Feud” covers some of the most storied battles of their rivalry, most of which took place during the filming of “Baby Jane.” The series features other Hollywood figures as well, including the film’s director, Robert Aldrich (Alfred Molina, “The Da Vinci Code,” 2006), and his calculating assistant, Pauline (Alison Wright, “The Americans”); Jack L. Warner (Stanley Tucci, “The Hunger Games,” 2012), head of Warner Brothers Studios; actress and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (Judy Davis, “A Passage to India,” 1984); and Davis’s daughter, B.D. Hyman (Kiernan Shipka, “Mad Men”), who was also cast in “Baby Jane.”

Though the barbed comments and catty behavior are well docu- mented, these aren’t what interested Murphy about the DavisCrawford rivalry. The series delves deeper into an examination of what fame and the pressures of Tinseltown can do to a person — particularly women, and particularly in that era when, however talented, they were often pushed to the sidelines once their youth and beauty started to fade.

“What was really interesting to explore was the idea of what a tragedy the last 15 years was in the lives of these women, and how they deserved so much more,” Murphy said during a promotional panel moderated by “CBS This Morning’s” Gayle King. Lange went on to explain what her research for the show revealed that, though their animosity was indeed very real, Crawford and Davis’s fights were exaggerated to promote the film. “As long as they kept the pot boiling, the publicity was there,” she said.

“There were a lot of people that pitted them against each other for a lot of reasons,” added Sarandon during a visit to “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

“There weren’t that many choices for these gals, ‘cause they were older, and they were two good parts. So they thought, yeah, they’ll give it a shot, and that’s what happens when you get older — you don’t get lead parts unless you’re playing someone who’s dying or has Alzheimer’s or something.”

Sadly, things aren’t much better in the industry today, as is evidenced in the plasticky countenances, enhanced body parts and

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33 Star of Peter Jackson’s 1992 flick “Braindead”: Timothy ___

34 Fred Savage’s dad in “The Wonder

7 Celebrity chef Aarón imaginary Mary

16 It leaves a mark

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22 Famous portrait painter Alice

23 David Bowie’s style of rock

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Mrs. Ricardo

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27 Japanese indigenous group

32 Lend a hand

33 Sophia, who plays Det. Erin Lindsay in “Chicago P.D.”

35 FX comedy “Better Things” star Pamela

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44 The “I” in ABC’s T.G.I.F.

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