# Who was the biggest bitch (male or female) in Hollywood history? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108 "2004-01-26T04:43:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/41 "2004-01-27T03:23:15Z")
I would have to vote for Steven Seagall as being a work of art and a total flake. His movies suck too. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/42 "2004-01-27T04:30:38Z")
Tom Hanks: You must think I’m the biggest jerk in the world. Lorne Michaels: No…that would be Steven Segal. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/43 "2004-01-27T04:46:26Z")
Let us not forget William Shatner, who seems to have been detested by all his _Trek_ co-stars except Nimoy, and comes off as an insecure, bullying prima donna in Harlan Ellison’s memoir of the “City on the Edge of Forever” controversy. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/44 "2004-01-27T05:03:28Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > _Groucho Marx?!?!?!_ > > I remember hearing about what a sweet guy he really was. I read a book of his published letters that showed he was a doting father too. Toward the end of his life he gave a concert/lecture at Carnegie Hall where he came across as humble, wise, and nostalgic about his family. > > Can anyone back this up or debunk it? _Hello, I Must be Going_, by Charlotte Chandler _Groucho_, by Stefan Kanfer _Monkey Business_, by Simon Louvish _My Life with Groucho_, by Arthur Marx _The Secret Word Is Groucho_, by Sally Presley-Rippengale & John E. Ballow _Raised Eyebrows_, by Steve Stoliac The divorce from wife Eden (who, like his first wife Ruth, he pushed into alcoholism with his constant verbal abuse), the last years when Erin Fleming took over his life, the estrangement with son Arthur and daughter Melinda, the increasing senility, paranoia, and loss of impulse control, the court case over who was to be his conservator, the allegations of physical and psychological abuse toward and from Erin. Yes, Erin managed to push him into that Carnegie Hall concert. So what was one day out of decades? His last years were a sad, sorry mess. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/45 "2004-01-27T06:00:54Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > He propositioned Tippie Hedren on the set of “Marnie”, basically asking her to be his mistress. She refused, and he set out on a stalker vendetta. Meg Ryan, Hedren’s real-life daughter, says that for her birthday that year, she received a gift from Hitch - a barbie doll, outfitted with a dress like the one Hedren wore in “the Birds”, and encased in a small coffin. Tippi Hedren herself has denied that it was a coffin. She says it was a lacquered wood box, the type that collectible dolls come in, and she thought it was a beautiful gift. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/46 "2004-01-27T06:13:16Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > I have also heard that Liz Taylor was a legendary bitch. IIRC she demanded that films in which she starred had to be shot in the Todd-AO format, since as Mike Todd’s widow she owned the rights to the system and would get more money from it being used. She must not have been very persuasive: only _Cleopatra_ was shot in Todd-AO. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/47 "2004-01-27T07:52:42Z")
> [@](#): > > the increasing senility, paranoia, and loss of impulse control, the court case over who was to be his conservator, the allegations of physical and psychological abuse toward and from Erin. Yes, Erin managed to push him into that Carnegie Hall concert. So what was one day out of decades? His last years were a sad, sorry mess. I’m sorry to learn all that about a man I greatly admire. All of the above seems consistent with an older man having mental problems, not being a jerk. When you take what’s left, it doesn’t remotely compare to some of the other names mentioned. Nobody’s mentioned Woody Allen either. Cheating on your wife with your adopted daughter (and then marrying and having kids with said girl) has to earn him some consideration. > [@](#): > > Imagine working your entire life scraping by in Vaudeville skipping meals, sharing crappy rooms saving money for your future, and it all goes down the toilet in one day. It must have been an incredible shock. But by the time of the crash, they Brothers were the biggest stars on Vaudeville and had some big hits on Broadway. They made plenty from that, and Groucho in particular had gotten even richer through the stock market. I’m not sure of the exact sum, but he lost hundreds of thousands. > [@](#): > > And you are 39, and you are going to have to start from scratch. If that didn’t turn you bitter on the spot, I don’t know what would, and I’ve never heard nasty things about him. It seemed to work out okay. And we got the Marx Brothers movies out of it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/48 "2004-01-27T08:51:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Nobody’s mentioned Woody Allen either. Cheating on your wife with your adopted daughter (and then marrying and having kids with said girl) has to earn him some consideration. It would if that’s what happened. Mia wasn’t his wife, she was his GF. And the girl wasn’t his daughter, adopted or otherwise, she was Mia’s. And I’m pretty sure she was over 18 at the time. Was cheating a shitty thing to do? Yeah. Was it quite as sordid as all that? Not really. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/49 "2004-01-27T08:58:53Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Tom Hanks: You must think I’m the biggest jerk in the world. > > Lorne Michaels: No…that would be Steven Segal. Nitpick: it was Nicholas Cage who did that bit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/50 "2004-01-27T08:59:33Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > It would if that’s what happened. Mia wasn’t his wife, she was his GF. And the girl wasn’t his daughter, adopted or otherwise, she was Mia’s. And I’m pretty sure she was over 18 at the time. > > Was cheating a shitty thing to do? Yeah. Was it quite as sordid as all that? Not really. I remember one columnist at the time describing the hysteria as “trying to make a Biblical-level pervert out of a garden-variety midlife crisis.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/51 "2004-01-27T13:21:17Z")
What, no mention of Bing Crosby? Well, YOU ALL GET THE BELT! (Whap! Whap!) Marlon Brando is famously impossible to work with, though one wonders where being a bitch ends and being a total nutbar begins. Linda Fiorentino, a talented actress and beautiful woman, seemingly destined for major stardom, basically sank her career by being nigh-on impossible to work with. David Letterman was famously jerkish earlier in his career; it’s the #1 reason he didn’t get The Tonight Show. He has apparently mellowed since his heart problems. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/52 "2004-01-27T13:59:33Z")
Woody Allen’s behavior was crappy no matter what the technical relationship was with his lover’s daughter. You just don’t fuck your girlfriend’s daughter, no matter what the age. However, Roman Polanski drugged and raped a 13 year old girl then fled the country to avoid prosecution. That rates higher on the assholemeter than having consensual sex with your lover’s daughter, IMO. As for she-bitch, I’m going with Liz Taylor. Homewrecker, self-absorbed, materialistic, whiny, jealous, aloof…she takes the cake and devours it, too. It’s no surprise she’s all alone after all these years. Well, her and Michael Jackson anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/53 "2004-01-27T14:25:16Z")
Ah, and I forgot about **Charlie Chaplin** , who tended to marry teenage girls (but only at the point of her father’s shotgun) . . . Learned his craft from such teachers as Mabel Normand, Ben Turpin, Mack Sennett, then dropped them like bricks and bad-mouthed them . . . Regularly reduced his costars (especiially his leading ladies) to tears on the set . . . And according to one recent bio, when a cat he was holding in a scene in _Monsieur Verdoux_ failed to behave he had it killed and played the scene holding its corpse, to the horror of the crew. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/54 "2004-01-27T15:15:42Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > If by “piece of work” you mean a thorough professional who helped her co-workers with money and clothes, funded a wing of an L.A. hospital for indigent show-business people, knew the names and gave gifts to the crews of her films, and nursed her dying ex-husband some 30 years after their divorce, then yes, she _was_ a piece of work. Well, **Eve** , I was thinking of the abusive “star” who feuded with every co-star she had, threw costumes along the sided of highways so that Art had to collect them before shooting began and child abuser. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/55 "2004-01-27T15:40:45Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > Well, **Eve** , I was thinking of the abusive “star” who feuded with every co-star she had, threw costumes along the sided of highways so that Art had to collect them before shooting began and child abuser. 😉 Well, except not. > [@](#): > > feuded with every co-star she had So howcum so many of them spoke werll of her in biographies and documentaries, saying how helpful and professional she was? > [@](#): > > threw costumes along the sided of highways . . . Wha—huh? That’s a new one on me. Where did you hear this? > [@](#): > > child abuser Been covered extensively here before. _Mommie Dearest_ was fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/56 "2004-01-27T17:36:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Nobody’s mentioned Woody Allen either. Cheating on your wife with your adopted daughter (and then marrying and having kids with said girl) has to earn him some consideration. Mia Farrow and Woody Allen were never married. Nor did Mia Farrow and Woody Allen ever live together. Sun-Yi Previn is the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and conductor Andre Previn. Not Woody Allen. And she was an adult, not a girl, when she began dating Woody. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/57 "2004-01-27T17:51:17Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > And according to one recent bio, when a cat he was holding in a scene in _Monsieur Verdoux_ failed to behave he had it killed and played the scene holding its corpse, to the horror of the crew. [Verdoux]Kill one cat, and you are a fiend. Kill a thousand cats, and you are the Humane Society.[/Verdoux] ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/58 "2004-01-27T18:17:45Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Well, except not. > So howcum so many of them spoke werll of her in biographies and documentaries, saying how helpful and professional she was? > Wha—huh? That’s a new one on me. Where did you hear this? > Been covered extensively here before. _Mommie Dearest_ was fiction. [Link](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047136/trivia) As for the rest, I was just kidding. I was talking about Davis and McCambridge, people unlikely to get along with _any_ costar. 😃 I nominate Swanson, see _Queen Kelly_. ---
**Author:** ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/59 "2004-01-27T18:22:20Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Let us not forget William Shatner, who seems to have been detested by all his _Trek_ co-stars except Nimoy, and comes off as an insecure, bullying prima donna in Harlan Ellison’s memoir of the “City on the Edge of Forever” controversy. No question about Shatner being an ass, to the point of sabatoging his fellow actors on screen. My favorite Shatner story is from a memo in a Roddenberry bio from Bob Justman complaining about how Shatner would steal all his hairpieces. Ellison, however, is just as much of an ass, and in this particular case couldn’t quite understand why they needed to make some changes in an unfilmable script. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108/60 "2004-01-27T20:33:41Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > She must not have been very persuasive: only _Cleopatra_ was shot in Todd-AO. Nah, more like IDRC. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-biggest-bitch-male-or-female-in-hollywood-history/226108.md?page=4)