Why did Joan Crawford and Bette Davis hate each other?

Answer 1

It is not clear that Joan and Bette 'hated' each other. Joan and Bette made only one picture together - Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. The actresses were similar in that they were both stars, Oscar winners, and strong personalities. Joan was the more glamorous of the two. Bette was more of a classical actress with stage training. Joan started as a hoofer. They may have had personality differences.

In 1935, Joan married Franchot Tone. Bette had co-starred with Franchot Tone in the film Dangerous and was reportedly smitten with him. In 1939, Franchot and Joan divorced. Some theories report that Bette was not happy with the nuptials of Joan and Franchot and was a bit jealous.

When Joan left MGM in 1943 to work for Warner Brothers, Bette was the main star at the Warner Bros. lot. In order to ingratiate herself to Bette, Joan sent many gifts (as was Joan's nature) to Bette. Bette took offense.

In 1962, when the two of them were cast in Baby Jane, Joan started to send gifts again which ticked off Bette. Joan was also concerned with her image as a star unlike Bette. Bette was quite annoyed as Joan's falsies used in the beach scene at the end of the film. Also, there are rumors that the Bette kicked Joan during the filming of the scene where Blanche attempts to call Dr. Shelby to the house. This caused Joan to be injured. In retaliation, Joan supposedly wore a lead apron underneath her costume for the filming of the scene where Baby Jane has to hurry Blanche to the car after offing Elvira the Maid. This caused Bette to sprain her back. They were slated to do another film together Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. Joan backed out the project reportedly for having pneumonia.

For the Oscars in 1962, Bette was nominated for Baby Jane in the Best Actress category. Joan was not nominated. Joan began a campaign to ask the other nominees to accept the award at the ceremony on the nominee's behalf if she could not attend the ceremony. Anne Bancroft won the Oscar and Joan accepted for Anne who was not able to go. This did annoy Bette.

I'm not sure if they 'hated' each other or if they just were peeved.

****What happened to Baby Jane was just on a channel with some host, he was apparently on the set while it was filming and he said they didn't hate each other. They were cordial to each other. The reason this rumor of them hating each other came out was because Crawford was said to start romances with her directors and as such Davis was suspicious of her.****

Answer 2

It is not clear that Joan and Bette 'hated' each other. Joan and Bette made only one picture together - Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. The actresses were similar in that they were both stars, Oscar winners, and strong personalities. Joan was the more glamorous of the two. Bette was more of a classical actress with stage training. Joan started as a hoofer. They may have had personality differences.

In 1935, Joan married Franchot Tone. Bette had co-starred with Franchot Tone in the film Dangerous and was reportedly smitten with him. In 1939, Franchot and Joan divorced. Some theories report that Bette was not happy with the nuptials of Joan and Franchot and was a bit jealous.

When Joan left MGM in 1943 to work for Warner Brothers, Bette was the main star at the Warner Bros. lot. In order to ingratiate herself to Bette, Joan sent many gifts (as was Joan's nature) to Bette. Bette took offense.

In 1962, when the two of them were cast in Baby Jane, Joan started to send gifts again which ticked off Bette. Joan was also concerned with her image as a star unlike Bette. Bette was quite annoyed as Joan's falsies used in the beach scene at the end of the film. Also, there are rumors that the Bette kicked Joan during the filming of the scene where Blanche attempts to call Dr. Shelby to the house. This caused Joan to be injured. In retaliation, Joan supposedly wore a lead apron underneath her costume for the filming of the scene where Baby Jane has to hurry Blanche to the car after offing Elvira the Maid. This caused Bette to sprain her back. They were slated to do another film together Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. Joan backed out the project reportedly for having pneumonia.

For the Oscars in 1962, Bette was nominated for Baby Jane in the Best Actress category. Joan was not nominated. Joan began a campaign to ask the other nominees to accept the award at the ceremony on the nominee's behalf if she could not attend the ceremony. Anne Bancroft won the Oscar and Joan accepted for Anne who was not able to go. This did annoy Bette.

I'm not sure if they 'hated' each other or if they just were peeved.

****What happened to Baby Jane was just on a channel with some host, he was apparently on the set while it was filming and he said they didn't hate each other. They were cordial to each other. The reason this rumor of them hating each other came out was because Crawford was said to start romances with her directors and as such Davis was suspicious of her.****