In Tinseltown filled with beautiful women with stellar egos, there was bound to be jealousy and infighting. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, there were plenty of love triangles, professional rivalries, and petty jealousies that became fodder for newspapers and tabloids. Here are a few of the most notable Hollywood girl fights.
Jayne Mansfield and Sophia Loren
Jayne Mansfield, who had her first starring role in 1956, The Girl Can’t Help It, and Sophia Loren, star of It Started in Naples and The Key, were actresses who were reportedly in competition with each other during the 1950s and 1960s. The rivalry between the two was said to have stemmed from a photograph taken in 1957, in which Loren appeared to be staring disdainfully at Mansfield’s cleavage.
A photographer snapped a picture of the two actresses seated together at a dinner party at Romanoff’s in Beverly Hills. The party was hosted by Paramount Pictures as a way to welcome the Italian-born Loren to Hollywood. Loren’s famous side-eye seems to show her displeasure at Mansfield’s ploy to divert attention to herself with her low-cut gown. The photograph was widely circulated in the media, and the two actresses were often compared to one another in the press. While both women had successful careers in Hollywood, the supposed rivalry between them was largely a creation of the media and not based on any real animosity between the two actresses.
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were two of the most iconic actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age, and they were also known to have a legendary rivalry. The two women had a professional and personal feud that lasted for decades. They both started in Hollywood in the 1920s and became major stars in the 1930s and 1940s.
The two actresses were said to have been envious of each other’s success and fame, and they were known to have made snide comments about each other in the press. They were also said to have been competitive on set and had a number of public spats. Their rivalry came to a head in the early 1960s, when they were both cast in the film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? together. The film was a major success, but the two actresses reportedly had a difficult time working together and did not get along on set.
Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, who married in 1955, were best friends with Elizabeth Taylor and her boyfriend, producer Mike Todd. In fact, when Taylor and Todd married in 1957, Eddie Fisher served as the best man and Debbie Reynolds was the matron of honor. The next year, when Reynolds and Fisher gave birth to their son, they named him Todd after their good friend. When the baby was only about a month old, Mike Todd was killed in a plane crash. As the story goes, Eddie Fisher went immediately to Elizabeth Taylor’s side to comfort her. He never returned to Reynolds, who was crushed at her husband’s infidelity.
The press had a field day with the scandalous love triangle. Debbie Reynolds was painted as the poor, naïve, innocent young mother who was horribly wronged by the home-wrecking bad girl, Elizabeth Taylor, and Eddie Fisher was called a terrible person who took advantage of the grieving, yet glamorous Taylor. Later in life, Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor mended their hostilities.
Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe
With her buxom curves and platinum blonde hair, Marilyn Monroe was a trendsetter and style icon. Several rising stars, like Kim Novak and Anita Ekberg, mimicked her iconic look. As the story goes, Monroe was annoyed when a newcomer, Jayne Mansfield, adopted a similar look when she signed a contract with 20th Century Fox. It could be that she knew that the studio hoped Mansfield would be a replacement for Monroe, who was unreliable and erratic.
Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield never met in person, but Monroe commented about Mansfield’s ‘cheap imitation’, calling it ‘gross and vulgar.’ It was alleged that Mansfield, like Monroe, had an affair with John F. Kennedy. The rivalry was one sided, though. Even as Monroe spoke disparagingly about Mansfield, Mansfield spoke admirably of her idol.