Not Addicted

Tallulah Bankhead (1903-1968) was a flamboyant actress, whom one critic called “more an act than an actress.” At the opening-night party for a play in which she was performing, she got into an argument with the writer Dashiell Hammett. Hammett criticized Bankhead for using drugs and seemingly being addicted to cocaine. Tallulah responded with indignance: “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I…