Much like The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, uber-producer Ryan Murphy’s newest FX show is a dramatization of real-life events. The focus of Feud: Bette and Joan is the ongoing Hollywood rivalry between legendary silver screen stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, played by Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange.
In preparation for the series’ premiere, let Rotten Tomatoes fill you in on who the real-life people were and why they were embroiled in such a bitter feud.
While Crawford was considered the more traditional beauty, Davis was the one snatching up the acting recognition. Crawford received three Oscars noms with one win for Mildred Pearce (a role Davis turned down) to Davis’ 10 nominations and two wins (for Dangerous and Jezebel).
Interestingly, both women were the subject of a tell-all memoir by their respective daughters — Christina Crawford and B.D. Hyman — that painted the mothers as overbearing, abusive, and alcoholic.
Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange)
Crawford become a household name in the 1930s, but her three Oscar nominations (with one win) came in the ’40s and ’50s.
Her feud with Davis came to a head during the 1962 movie What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, which is the subject of the FX drama, but it actually began decades earlier through competition for parts, awards, and even a man — actor Franchot Tone.
Crawford passed away in 1977 at the age of approximately 73 (her exact birth date is disputed), to which Davis reportedly said, “You should never say bad things about the dead, only good . . . Joan Crawford is dead. Good.”
B.D. Hyman (Kiernan Shipka)
Hyman, birth name Barbara Davis Sherry, is the eldest daughter of Davis, from her marriage to William Grant Sherry. Under the stage name B.D. Merrill, she played a small role in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Davis and Hyman’s estrangement began in the mid-1980s with publication of Hyman’s memoir My Mother’s Keeper and over the fact that Hyman became a born-again Christian and Davis would not follow suit. Hyman is now head of her own ministry in Virginia.
Hedda Hopper (Judy Davis)
Hopper was a moderately successful actress who was much more well known for her gossip column in the Los Angeles Times. Naturally, the Crawford-Davis feud on the Baby Jane set definitely piqued her interest.
Hopper was also a fervent supporter of Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming suspecting Communists during the McCarthyism of the ’40s and ’50s.
Robert Aldrich (Alfred Molina)
Aldrich was a prolific Hollywood director who never received an Oscar nomination. But his work on What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and The Dirty Dozen earned him great critical acclaim and nominations from the Directors Guild of America.
Jack Warner (Stanley Tucci)
The four Warner brothers (Harry, Albert, Jack and Sam) got started in film production in 1910, with Jack outlasting the other three in the business. He officially retired from Warner Bros. in 1969.
He produced Baby Jane, but initially balked at the project because of the ages of the proposed stars — 54 for Davis and 58 for Crawford at the time of the film’s release.
Olivia de Havilland (Catherine Zeta-Jones)
This two-time Oscar winner was a contemporary of Davis and Crawford’s. She didn’t have a part in Baby Jane, but famously stepped into Crawford’s role in Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte when Crawford dropped out. Crawford cited illness, but Davis always thought it was because Crawford didn’t want Davis stealing her thunder again. Sweet Charlotte was not a sequel to Baby Jane, but it was a similar movie and was slated to pair Crawford and Davis again until Crawford left the project.
Joan Blondell (Kathy Bates)
Blondell was known as a wise-cracking blonde on screen, most famous for her film work in the 1930s — she starred in more than 50 movies in that 10-year span. But her greatest acclaim came for the 1951 movie The Blue Veil and the 1965 film The Cincinnati Kid. Modern audiences best know her as Vi, the malt shop waitress in Grease.
Pauline Jameson (Alison Wright)
Jameson was an English actress known more for her stage work than her screen appearances, though she did act opposite Judy Garland in I Could Go On Singing. During the events of Feud, she was the assistant to Baby Jane director Aldrich.
Victor Buono (Dominic Burgess)
This young actor — only 24 at the time of Baby Jane — played Edwin Flagg, a piano player hired by Jane (Davis) in an effort to revive her childhood Vaudeville career. He received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the role.
Geraldine Page (Sarah Paulson)
FX has not yet released an image of Emmy-winner Paulson as Page — so we have that to look forward to! Page got her start in theater at the age of 17 and earned great critical acclaim for her stage work throughout her career, though she also earned eight Oscar nominations (and one win) over the course of her film career as well. She starred in Robert Aldrich’s What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice in 1969, the third film in his trilogy made up of Baby Jane and Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte.
