There was more than one cold war in the 20th Century. Both were a clash of egos and extremely volatile. Figuratively speaking, there was the risk that each might go nuclear. Yet only one was mostly fought in the press and with stockpiles of witty repartee. It began in the 1930s when Bette Davis became a formidable rival to the established star Joan Crawford. Davis rebuffed Crawford's phony offer of friendship (surely a Trojan Horse), declaring herself an actress and Crawford merely a star. 

Ironically the early 1960s saw their fortunes inextricably linked with the comeback vehicle in which they co-starred, the hugely successful Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? They played nice initially. After the first week of filming, they both attended a small dinner at Hedda Hopper's in which they offered fulsome praise of the other. [Who says Crawford could not act?] However, they were in open battle by the end of the film, as Shaun Considine amusingly relates in his marvelous book, Bette & Joan, The Divine Feud. 

In spite of this animosity, they were convinced by the huge office of Baby Jane to re-team for Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte. They both arrived on location in Baton Rouge and even posed for a publicity still before Crawford thought better of it and checked herself into the hospital instead. Olivia de Havilland reluctantly took over the role. 

Image Credit: Bette & Joan: The Divine Feud

"I don’t take ugly pictures of Jackie. If I have an unattractive picture of Jackie I tear it up. She’s too beautiful to permit the camera to play tricks on her."

Ron Galella, Jacqueline

In the 1970s, Ron Galella, the original paparazzo, was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's mortal enemy. However, he quite adored her, even when she sought a restraining order against him. Though he might have lost in a court of law, the court of time ruled differently. His candid snapshots of her are among the most iconic images of the 20th Century. Their adversarial nature produced art in a way that official publicity photos never could. 

Photo Credit: Jacqueline

"Democracy is sort of an arrangement, isn’t it?"

Diana Vreeland, via  John Fairchild,The Fashionable Savages    

At age seventy-eight, Diana Vreeland performed a curtsy so magnificent and deep that it might have sent even someone even half her age toppling to the ground. It suggests that though she considered democracy an arrangement, she viewed a monarchy as a bestowed-by-God right. Note the perplexed look of Jerry Zipkin whose turn is apparently next. He must be wondering how he could even begin to compete. 

Image Credit: ​Entertaining at the White House with Nancy Reagan

The copy listed on Nick Harvill Libraries of Everyone Comes to Elaine’s signed by the legendary restaurateur herself, Elaine Kaufman, brought back fond memories of 1990s Manhattan. Elaine’s appeared to be a regular joint. It was not trendy or fussy. Yet celebrities flocked to it. A primary draw, of course, was Elaine. She was fiercely loyal to her regular customers—writers, actors, and other media types. Non-regulars and those who transgressed her were not so fortunate. They might find themselves seated in Siberia or not welcome at all.

There were exceptions to the Siberia-rule. Elaine once awarded me prime real estate, seating me and a dining companion at a table adjacent to George Plimpton at one adjacent table. Michael Douglas and Barbara Walters were dining à deux at another. My dinner date was positioned so that he never saw Douglas and Walters. Given how star struck he was simply by Plimpton, I thought it best to keep him in the dark, thereby saving him from severe neck strain and rescuing us from the wrath of Elaine.

Elaine herself was not shy about pointing out celebrities. Once, when a customer asked for directions to the men’s room, she casually replied, “Take a right at Michael Caine.”

It is easy to understand why literary types were drawn to Elaine. Not only was she kind and warm, but also she was clever. This is most evident in the “Top Ten List” writer and producer Charles Kipps prepared of the things he heard Elaine say:

The book paints a glowing portrait of Elaine. Yet it is not hagiography. It points out that a fiery temper sometimes got the best of her, albeit usually with considerable justification. The book reprinted this 1998 cartoon from the Daily News, suggesting what might happen to a customer who drew her ire:

Image Credit: Everyone Comes to Elaine's

Image Credit: The Dance Photography of Carl Van Vechten.

"A lot of old movie stars couldn’t act their way out of a box of wet tissue paper, but they were successful because they had distinctive personalities. They were predictable brands of breakfast cereal."

Marlon Brando, Songs My Mother Taught Me

Image Credit: The Best of Beaton

"It’s freedom, it’s democracy, it’s casualness, it’s good health. Clothes can say all that."

Claire McCardell, What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When, and How Much of Fashion

Image Credit: American Fashion, The Life and Lines of Adrian, Mainbocher, McCardell, Norell, and Trigère

"To be a duke’s butler is only a little less important than being a Duke."

Daisy Goodwin, The American Heiress

"I prefer to pay visits to people who can still enjoy a bitchy remark and a glass of champagne."

Edward St. Aubyn, The Patrick Melrose Novels