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She knew some people who weren't politicians or actors. One, a banker, was giving a stag party at the old Waldorf. He was well aware of talents possessed by Tallulah. Among other things, she was athletic; she could turn cartwheels as well as Elsie Janis or Charlotte Greenwood.
The banker turned up at the psychological moment, saying, "Talu, if you come to the hotel and turn cartwheels all around the table for my guests, I'll give you anything you name."
"Anything?" she asked craftily.
"Anything."
She showed up and turned cartwheels so fast it made the guests' heads swim.
When she finished she planked herself in front of her host. "You promised. Now I want a boat ticket to London."
"Hey — "
"You promised!"
He pulled out his checkbook, and a few days later Talu was off on her first great adventure.
In her usual headlong way, she neglected to set up proper arrangements. She had never heard of such a thing as a labor permit. When she arrived at Southampton she was detained.
"You can't do this to me!" yelled the Bankhead. "I'm an American actress under contract to Charles Cochran. You must let me in immediately, you silly men."
"Might we see the contract?" they said politely.
"Don't waste time— I haven't got one. My contract is verbal— a gentlemen's agreement. Phone Mr. Cochran in London. He'll tell you. Brother, will he tell you! He'll make you apologize to me!"
Cochran was a good sport. She was released into his custody, and the immigration people apologized. They never had met a wildcat in human form before, and were, to put it conservatively, bowled over.
Talu was convoyed to London, and from that first day she never ceased to startle the natives. Her caprices, her fund of uncensored stories (many of them learned from her father, famous as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and elaborated on by her
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