Joel Lobenthal has just published Tallulah: The Life and Times of a Leading Lady. It’s a monumental study of Tallulah Bankhead and is a magnificent book about the gay actress.

Bankhead was born into a wealthy southern family in 1902. She was an actress and celebrity famed for her beauty and outrageousness. Bankhead debuted on stage in the early 1920s but failed to break into film. Lucky for her then that her theatre career kept her on booze and women for most of her life.

In the 50s and 60s she hosted popular radio and television shows and made memorable appearances in Batman and The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Comedy Hour. Unfortunately her alcoholism led to a swift decline and she became, in some people's eyes, a caricature of her former self. Bankhead died of pneumonia  and emphysema in 1968.

Given the colourful nature of her life, it's not hard to see why she would make such an excellent choice for this long-overdue book. Lobenthal documents Bankhead's party girl history but looks deeper than the one-liners and scandal to question some of the truisms that have since sprung up around her.

He suggests that her skill as an actress was never celebrated because of the moralistic climate in which she lived, where her sexuality and outspokenness were seen as intolerable in a woman. He also explores Bankhead's miserable childhood and connects it to her self-destructiveness in later life.

What makes this a stand-out book is its scope. It's no surprise to read that it was 25 years in the making. The scholarship of Lobenthals' writing, as well as its accessibility, is outstanding and Tallulah contains meticulous research and original interviews. For a Tallulah fan like me it was a pleasure to read page after page of anecdotes, with quote after jaw-dropping quote. Lobenthal also includes an extensive index and plenty of lush black and white photography.

This is a book that will appeal to admirers old and new. It is a definitive account of a life that burned brightly. Bankhead died over 35 years ago, but her relevance as a wild-living celebrity, a sexual and somewhat lawless woman, is still strong today.

Her forward approach to sexuality was outrageous for the times, and would still be disconcerting even today. Take her opening gambit, used to introduce herself: "Hello, my name is Tallulah Bankhead. I'm a lesbian. What do you do?"

Reading Tallulah: The Life and Times of a Leading Lady, it's hard not to miss her. It's a shame she's not of our generation today as you wish she was here amongst us. It can't be done, so in her place we'll make do with Lobenthal's excellent book.

Tallulah: The Life and Times of a Leading Lady by Joel Lobenthal
Published by: Aurum Press Ltd
ISBN: 1845130723
Price: £20

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