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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →The reporting does not support a list of fifteen late celebrities who were jerks in real life. What it does support is a narrower discussion: a documented professional feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and a contested memoir in which Christina Crawford accused her mother of cruelty and abuse. Each of these is attributed, dated, and disputed in different ways, and each needs to be read on its own terms.
Why a fifteen-name list would overstate the evidence
“Jerk” is a judgment, not a finding. Calling someone difficult, rude, or cruel requires a specific act, a witness, and some way to check the account. Headlines and search tags do none of that work. A June 2024 listicle preview naming Old Hollywood figures circulated with tags such as “Old Hollywood Stars Who Were Jerks in Real Life,” but tags and preview blurbs are not evidence for any allegation against any of the people they name.
Different kinds of material also carry different weight. The table below sets out the four main types of source that appear when a long-dead performer is described as difficult.
| Source type | What it can show | Its limit |
|---|---|---|
| Contemporaneous press report | What was published at the time and what a named person said then | May rest on one interview or one incident; the subject may not have been asked to respond |
| Named colleague’s recollection | Firsthand observation of a set or a working relationship | Memory fades, and the colleague may have a stake in the story |
| Memoir or autobiography | The author’s account of their own experience | A first-person account; it is not independent confirmation unless other sources corroborate it |
| Later biography or profile | A synthesis of several sources, sometimes with fresh interviews | Only as strong as its sourcing; it can repeat older anecdotes without re-checking them |
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford: a rivalry, not a personality verdict
The best-documented “difficult” pairing among late stars is the Davis–Crawford rivalry. It was a real professional feud, and it is worth describing accurately. It is narrower than the word “jerk” suggests. It concerned two stars who were at odds with each other, and the public record of how they conducted themselves is mixed.
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What director Robert Aldrich described
Vanity Fair’s production-history article quotes director Robert Aldrich on the two actors. He said: “I think it’s proper to say that they really detested each other, but they behaved absolutely perfectly: no upstaging, not an abrasive word in public.” That is Aldrich’s account of the production, not a neutral finding. Still, it describes mutual hostility and professional conduct at the same time, which is why neither woman can be reduced to a single label on this evidence.
A profile anecdote about Davis
A 1989 Washington Post profile of Davis recounts her rivalry with Crawford. It also includes an anecdote in which Davis insisted on a forceful choice during a disagreement with composer Max Steiner. That is one story told in a profile. It does not establish how Davis treated colleagues in general, and it should be read as a single episode.
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Davis in her own words
A BFI-hosted archive interview gives Davis’s own perspective on her work and on the people she worked with. It is valuable for her voice and for how she described her career. It does not independently prove anything about her personal conduct, and readers should weigh it as testimony from one of the parties to the rivalry.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Joan Crawford and the Mommie Dearest allegations
The most serious allegations about Joan Crawford come from her adopted daughter, Christina Crawford, in Mommie Dearest, a 1978 memoir. In it she describes cruelty and abuse in the household. The book is one person’s account of her own childhood. Its claims should be attributed to Christina Crawford and described as contested, not stated as established fact.
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What the memoir claims and how it has been disputed
Christina Crawford alleged in her memoir that Joan Crawford was cruel and abusive toward her. In a 2008 interview with The Guardian, Christina Crawford discussed the book and the controversy that followed, and the piece also covers the differing accounts that the book generated. The reporting available here does not include an independent finding that resolves the memoir’s claims one way or the other. Readers should hold both the allegation and the dispute in view.
Reading the book
For the primary account, Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford is the source of these allegations. Reading it lets you see exactly what is claimed and how it is framed. It does not verify those claims, and it should be read as one side of a disputed family history.
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How to test a “difficult celebrity” claim
- Ask for the specific incident, with a date and a place. A claim that names no event cannot be checked.
- Identify who is speaking and whether that person was present. Secondhand accounts carry less weight than firsthand ones.
- Check whether the subject, or someone close to them, responded to the account at the time.
- Separate a rivalry between two people from conduct toward crew, staff, or junior colleagues. They are different claims.
- Distinguish one anecdote from a pattern that several independent witnesses describe in similar terms.
- Treat headlines, preview blurbs, and search tags as pointers to where to look, never as the evidence itself.
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