Estate / Collection: Property of Frances Kazan

BANKHEAD, TALLULAH and KAZAN, ELIA

A gold money clip with presentation inscription to Elia Kazan from Tallulah Bankhead. A gold money clip (stamped 14k), 2 x 1 inches (5 x 2 cm), inscribed "Gadget/December 1942/Tallulah" in a script replicating her hand, the verso with a seal of St. Christopher. Fine.

A remarkable Golden Age association item, a money clip gifted from Tallulah Bankhead to Elia Kazan during the production of “The Skin of Our Teeth”, which opened on Broadway on November 18th, 1942, and ran for 359 performances. The play, written by Thornton Wilder, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, was an allegory covering nearly 5000 years of human history that baffled critics. Bankhead notably showcased her skills as an actress, as the play demanded her to portray many different women throughout history from the Ice Age to Atlantic City. This was Bankhead's second great Broadway role, and she was awarded the Variety Award for Best Actress and the New York Drama Critics Award. The play was also the first major Broadway success for its director, Elia Kazan, who won the New York Drama Critic's Best Director award (in college, Kazan was given the nickname Gadget as he "was small, compact, and handy to have around"). On and off stage, Bankhead is known to have clashed with actors and the play's director, including distractingly brushing her lustrous blond locks on stage during actress Florence March's major scene in the dress rehearsal. For this, Kazan apparently lambasted her publicly, drawing applause from the audience. The money clip presented here is perhaps an olive branch of sorts for this incident and others, and is a fine association item between two of the top stars of the period.

Provenance: Property of Frances Kazan

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