Joan Crawford vs. Mercedes McCambridge!
Want to hear about a really old bitch fight? Even older than Kanye and fill in the blank?
I'm reading Ernest Borgnine's memoirs, in which the Oscar winner talks about having acted in the 1954 cult western Johnny Guitar.
Says Ernie, "The real drama was all behind the camera. Joan Crawford hated Mercedes McCambridge with a passion.
"She called her all kinds of insulting names, and poor Mercedes would fall apart. She'd literally go weak in the knees and collapse, she was that frightened of Joan Crawford."
So am I!
Anyway, Borgnine writes that Joan once invited some of the males on the set into her trailer for some boozin'. Mercedes found her way in there too and thanked Joan for her hospitality.
Crazy Joan thought she was mocking her, and as a result, says Ernie, "She let fly a fusillade of insults like I've never heard, not even in the navy."
And how did Mercedes process this whole experience?
Well, writes Ernie, "I can sort of guess who she was channeling when she did the voice of the possessed Linda Blar in The Exorcist."
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