Characters / Feud: Bette and Joan

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Joan

Joan Crawford

Portrayed By: Jessica Lange

• A-Cup Angst: She's revealed to wear falsies, much to her humiliation.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Joan Crawford wasn't ugly, but she was more svelte and had sharper angles in her face. Jessica Lange looks a bit more filled out and is softer-faced than Crawford was.
• The Alcoholic: She drinks a lot and she really hit it hard after Baby Jane.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Cool, poised (sometimes), dark-haired, big movie star, and beautiful.
• Boarding School of Horrors: As a child Joan was sent to a Catholic boarding school where she endured terrible beatings.
• Female Misogynist: Although not quite to the same extent as Bette, Joan still harbors some sexist beliefs about her own gender, claiming proudly she wouldn't trust a woman director.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Joan is deeply envious of Bette's talent and the respect it's earned her.
  • Vincent Price joked that Joan envied Bette's bra size.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Part of her conflict is trying to prevent herself from being seen as this, in the 1970s when an unflattering photo is taken of her and printed in a newspaper, she decides to quit being a movie star and from going out in the public eye; before that, when the meticulous-in-keeping-her-youthful-figure Joan tries on a dress before going on a date, she saw that her body changed and cancels her date.
• Mama Bear: In a different light, she is concerned about her daughters being poorly influenced by B.D.
• Mirror Character: The entire season repeatedly hammers home that Joan and Bette are birds of a feather, but their egos and the cruel business of Hollywood won't allow them to ever become friends.
• My Beloved Smother: To her twin daughters.
• The Rival: To Bette Davis, as is the premise of the show.
• Sugary Malice: Joan can come across as rather sweet and complimentary, but her words are viciously hurtful.

Bette

Bette Davis

Portrayed By: Susan Sarandon

• Adaptational Attractiveness: Was a pretty ingenue, a dazzling adult actress, and could clean up nicely but the real Bette Davis didn't age as well as Susan Sarandon.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: "Mommie Dearest" shows a tender scene where she comforts B.D.
• Brutal Honesty: Bette is blunt to the point of tactless and is willing to say exactly what's on her mind.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Played With. She is noticeably bustier than Joan but this doesn't spare her from having her looks insulted by Jack Warner, she can safely say she doesn't wear falsies like Joan and Vincent Price joked that Joan wanted Bette's bosom.
• Fiery Redhead: Portrayed by the red-haired Sarandon (until she got blonde for the last episode) and she does have a fiery temper.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Born with rather large eyes, she wasn't a conventional beauty and always envied Joan for her ability to walk in the room and have everybody stop and stare.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: A platonic version with Victor; she is the tiny girl to his huge guy.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Downplayed a bit, in real life she was a pretty young woman with a petite/busty figure but after she hit 40, she started aging badly. BD even points out that Bette is jealous because men don't look at her anymore like they do BD.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She is rough around the edges, tactless, and wasn't called "bitch" for nothing. But she proves to be ultimately caring to those close to her, like Victor Buono when he needed bail and Robert Aldrich when he was heartbroken about his wife divorcing him.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The dark to Olivia's light. She wore a black gown at the Oscars to compliment Olivia's white.
• Mama Bear: She is protective of Victor Buono and was going to lash out at Hedda for threatening to write a nasty piece about B.D.

Hedda

Hedda Hopper

Portrayed By: Judy Davis

• Bitch Alert: She even provides a taste of her own power and personality, proudly

  Welcome to the house that fear built.

• Heteronormative Crusader: She rose to power during the Red Scare, where she helped expose the "queers" and the "reds". She is actually proud of the fact that she ruined a lot of people's lives.
• Hypocrite: Proudly declares herself this just after complaining that Bette thinks she and Joan Crawford are.
• Never Bareheaded: She is always seen in some kind of hat or other, usually with a feather.
• Never My Fault: She says she sacrificed an acting career, her reproductive years, and her marriage to be Hollywood's self-appointed Moral Guardian; never to take into account that she could have saved herself misery by not fixating on and scandalizing the public.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Hedda cheerfully encourages much of Joan's diva antics, either out of friendship or because the ensuing drama is good for her columns.
• Would Hurt a Child: Practically threatens to write about the teenage BD in one of her columns to Bette's face.

Mamacita

Anna Marie "Mamacita" Brinke

Portrayed By: Jackie Hoffman

• Adaptational Attractiveness: In real life, Anna Marie Brinke was so much older than Joan that she earned the nickname "Mamacita" after someone mistook her for Joan's mother. In the series, she looks somewhat younger than Joan.
• Cool Old Lady: Serves as this to Pauline, supporting her in her dreams to become a director, even reminding her that there will be more of a demand for movies that focus on a female POV and will require women behind the camera to film these stories.
• Silent Snarker: She is a master of withering looks.

Bob

Robert "Bob" Aldrich

Portrayed By: Alfred Molina

• Grew a Spine: Part of his arc is becoming a successful film director and standing up for himself.
• Papa Wolf: Downplayed, he attempts to stick up for his daughter Adele when Frank Sinatra insults and threatens her but is unable as he is a bigger target for Sinatra.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Bette discusses this with him, on how a man like him can get by on his success even if he wasn't stereo-typically handsome as opposed to women in the film industry. For his part he has an attractive wife, a mistress, later (in real life) a model as a second wife, Joan Crawford trying to seduce him, and an awkward kiss with Bette Davis.

Jack

Jack L. Warner

Portrayed By: Stanley Tucci

• Adaptational Attractiveness: They gave Stanley Tucci padding for his stomach and had him dress as Jack, but Jack was no near as handsome◊.
• Big Bad: Jack is the closest thing to a tangible villain in the show. A joyously manipulative misogynist, he pushes Bob to deepen the rivalry between Joan and Bette without any concern for what it might do to all three of them, let alone whoever else is caught in the wake.
• Control Freak: The Chairman of one of the most successful film studios in the world who repeatedly ensures that those who signed a contract to him are firmly under his thumb.

Pauline

Pauline Jameson

Portrayed By: Alison Wright

• Brainy Brunette: Has dark brown hair and is very brainy and ambitious.
• Composite Character: Pauline did not exist in real life. It was stated in interviews that she was meant to represent women who worked in the film industry who desired to achieve more in the industry than what was expected of them.
• Servile Snarker: She snarks with just one look, always respectful and professional but doesn't shy away from giving an eye at Joan and Bettes' antics and Bob's infidelity.
• '70s Hair: The finale shows her with long, loose, straight hair that frames her face; in contrast to her rounded updo.

Olivia

Olivia de Havilland

Portrayed By: Catherine Zeta-Jones

• Adaptational Attractiveness: The real Olivia de Havilland was an attractive lady◊ in real life, but with Catherine Zeta-Jones playing her, she looks a lot more va-va-voom and glamorous◊.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Off-screen, and mentioned, she has a rivalry with her sister Joan Fontaine that is similar to, if not worse, the rivalry between Bette and Joan.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The light to Bette's dark. At the Oscars, she even wears a white gown to compliment Bette's black.
• Morality Pet: For Bette, she urges to her not antagonize Joan.
• Not So Above It All: She too had a nasty feud with her sister, where she broke her collarbone as a child.
• Those Two Guys: Shows up in the late 70s documentary with Joan Blondell commenting on Bette and Joan.

Joan Blondell

Joan Blondell

Portrayed By: Kathy Bates

• Cool Old Lady: On board with Women's Lib, sympathetic to both Bette and Joan, and very witty.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted example in-universe.
• Perpetual Smiler: Hard to catch her in a gloomy mood, she tends to be smile the most out of the cast.
• Token Good Teammate: She is the only one of the actresses (Bette, Joan, and Olivia) who didn't have noted dramas in her life and is thoroughly good-natured.

B.D.

B.D. Davis Hyman

Portrayed By: Kiernan Shipka

• '70s Hair: She ends the series with a subdued Farrah Fawcett do.
• Adaptational Curves: B.D. in real life is not only tall, she is also a full figured woman and was large-boned with a rounded face. Kiernan is shorter and more slender.
• Age-Gap Romance: She married Jeremy Hyman when he was in his late 20s and she was a teenager.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: "Mommie Dearest" shows a tender scene where B.D. tearfully asks Bette if she herself ruined the picture.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: A sympathetic variation of the trope, she has a dysfunctional relationship with her mother and is sharp-tongued.
• Deadpan Snarker: She is a droll young woman, Robert even notes she has "teenage sass".
• Happily Married: Her marriage with Jeremy went smoothly against her Mother's predictions and is still married to him in real life.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The brief moment she had with Crawford's teen daughters show her to be friendly and willing to dispense advice.
• Mama Bear: She doesn't take kindly to Bette giving her youngest son a smack on the face.

George Cukor

George Cukor

Portrayed By: John Rubenstein

• Morality Pet: He tries to discourage Joan Crawford vindictive antics to no avail.
• Nice Guy: Kind, warm, and sympathetic.
• Straight Gay: Was gay in real life and his appearance is conservative like most men of his era.

Victor

Victor Buono

Portrayed By: Dominic Burgess

• Adaptational Curves: In real life he was a lot heavier looking.
• Big Eater: His first scene shows him gorging himself at Craft Services.
• Gay Best Friend: To Bette.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: A platonic version. He is the huge guy to Bette's tiny girl.
• Morality Pet: She tends to be rather tender with him and he encourages her to be kinder to Joan Crawford.