Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were two of the biggest names in Hollywood, both Oscar-winning stars who had a bitter, decades-long feud.

While it was initially believed that their differences were due to their contrasting backgrounds and characters, Bette Davis revealed to a reporter before her death that the real cause of their mutual hatred was a man.

Davis fell desperately in love with Franchot Tone, a fellow actor, but Crawford married him, divorced him four years later, and then took him back into her home to nurse him during his final days.

This saga of love and possession is now the subject of a new eight-part TV series, Feud: Bette And Joan, produced and directed by Ryan Murphy and starring Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis and Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford.

The series is set in 1962, the year that Davis and Crawford made their only film together, What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, which was a huge success and resurrected both stars from obscurity.

However, the making of the film was complicated by what had happened between the two women almost 30 years earlier.

Their feud began when Davis fell in love with Franchot Tone, who was also the object of Crawford’s affections.

Crawford seduced Tone and they got married, which infuriated Davis.

Both women went on to marry four times, but their mutual animosity continued.

When Crawford joined Warner Bros, where Davis was already established, she demanded the dressing room next to Davis.

In Mildred Pierce, Crawford won a Best Actress Oscar and was signed by Warner Bros to a seven-year contract at $200,000 a film, which made Davis feel threatened.

Despite their animosity, Crawford found the novel that inspired What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? and brought it to Davis, who was initially reluctant to work with Crawford.

During filming, tensions rose between the two stars, and Davis kicked Crawford in the head during a scene that required only simulated violence.

The film was a huge success, but Crawford did not receive a Best Actress nomination.

Their animosity continued to escalate, and when director Robert Aldrich attempted to re-team Davis and Crawford in another film, Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte, their hatred defeated him.

Davis assembled the cast and crew, minus Crawford, for photographs in which they all ostentatiously drank Coca-Cola, Pepsi’s rival.

Crawford, overwhelmed by Davis’s hostility, was replaced in the film by Olivia de Havilland, a close friend of Davis.

After Crawford’s death, her adopted daughter, Christina, published a book called Mommie Dearest, which depicted Crawford as a drunken, abusive, and sadistic mother.

Davis commented, ‘I don’t blame the daughter, don’t blame her at all,’ but she also disinherited her own daughter, Barbara Davis Hyman, who published a book called My Mother’s Keeper, depicting Bette as ‘a mean-spirited, neurotic, profane and pugnacious boozer who took out her anger at the world by abusing those close to her.’

Even two years after Crawford’s death, Davis continued to maintain the fiction that there had been no feud.

However, in private, Davis continued to heap scorn on her rival’s memory until the end of her days.

During the filming of her penultimate movie, The Whales Of August, the mere mention of Crawford’s name provoked a tirade of bitterness and fury from Davis in front of the cast and crew.

Davis and Crawford were two of the most iconic actresses of their time.

They both had successful careers in Hollywood, with Davis receiving two Oscars and Crawford receiving one.

The two women were also known for their fashion sense and style.

Davis was known for her unique fashion style, which included wearing a patch over her right eye, which she said helped her to see better.

She also wore bold, dramatic dresses and was never afraid to make a statement with her fashion choices.

Crawford, on the other hand, was known for her classic, elegant style.

She often wore tailored suits and sophisticated dresses, and was famous for her signature ‘power shoulders.’

Crawford was also an early advocate for health and fitness, and was known for her strict diet and exercise regimen.