"They used to photograph Shirley Temple through gauze. They should photograph me through linoleum"

Tallulah Bankhead’s remark about Shirley Temple and linoleum is a witty and self-aware commentary on fame, aging, and Hollywood’s obsession with youth and beauty. Shirley Temple, famous for her cherubic looks as a child star, was often filmed with soft-focus techniques like gauze over the camera lens, creating an ethereal, almost angelic quality that enhanced her innocence and appeal. Bankhead contrasts herself with Temple, ironically suggesting that not only does she lack that youthful ideal, but that she requires even more extreme measures, linoleum, a much heavier, opaque material, to soften her appearance.

The humor lies in both exaggeration and Bankhead’s ability to poke fun at herself, refusing to take Hollywood’s beauty standards seriously. She underscores the tendency of the film industry to idolize youth, perfection, and “camera-friendly” faces, usually to the detriment of older or unconventionally attractive performers. By suggesting linoleum, rather than a mere piece of gauze, Bankhead highlights the absurdity of such standards and mocks the superficiality of cinematic illusions. Her self-deprecating tone disarms criticism, turning her appearance and age into a punchline under her control rather than a vulnerability.

There is also a subversive edge; Bankhead refuses to buy into the falsehoods of glamour perpetuated by Hollywood. She recognizes the artifices involved in movie-making and implies she would rather embrace reality, even if exaggerated for effect, than pretend to be something she is not. In doing so, she draws attention to both the pressures placed on women in the entertainment industry and the resilience required to survive them. Her remark is not only a dig at her own expense but a broader critique of the culture of image, a challenge to the very lens through which fame is viewed and manufactured.