In Hammer Films’ 1965 psychological thriller Die! Die! My Darling! (released in the UK as Fanatic), a 21-year-old Stefanie Powers starred as Patricia Carroll, a young American woman visiting England who becomes trapped and terrorized by her deceased fiancé's fanatically religious mother, Mrs. Trefoile. The set dynamics during filming in the summer of 1964 were defined by striking contrasts, intense personalities, and memorable backstage moments.
The film marked the final feature screen performance of legendary Broadway star Tallulah Bankhead, then 62. For Powers, sharing the set with Bankhead was an intense learning experience. Despite the terror on camera, Powers and Bankhead formed a close bond. Bankhead was famously immersive and affectionately referred to Powers exclusively as “Patricia” (her character’s name) on and off the set throughout production.
Bankhead’s declining health and notoriously flamboyant lifestyle frequently brought chaos to the schedule. A famous post-production looping session,where a heavily intoxicated Bankhead struggled for hours to dub a single line of dialogue, later inspired Matthew Lombardo’s Broadway play Looped. Ironically, decades later in 2013, Stefanie Powers stepped into the starring stage role in Looped to portray Bankhead herself.
Powers celebrated her 22nd birthday on set during filming in England in November 1964, receiving a birthday cake alongside Bankhead and the crew. The film featured a standout supporting cast early in their careers, including Donald Sutherland as the simple-minded handyman Joseph and Peter Vaughan as Harry.
Scripted by horror icon Richard Matheson, the role required Powers to endure escalating physical and psychological abuse, from being locked in an attic to having her clothes and makeup stripped away by Mrs. Trefoile. Powers earned praise from Matheson and critics alike for bringing genuine grit, nuance, and defiance to a role that could easily have devolved into a typical victim trope.
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