Baby Jane Hudson

Living… in a Los Angeles mansion with her sister Blanche for four decades. Her sister Blanche bought this mansion with the earnings she made in her heyday as a star. She’s been talking about selling the mansion without consulting Jane. While Blanche insists they’ll always stick together, Jane is convinced Blanche is trying to kick Jane out on the street. Fans still show up at the gate, hoping to see a glimpse of Blanche Hudson. Jane just tells them to go away.

Profession… retired actress – long-time retired. Jane wasn’t always a spinster; she was once the world famous Baby Jane Hudson – a child superstar whose star inevitably fated, just as her sister Blanche’s career took off. Now Jane is trying to start a revival of her old act. She’ll do it just as she used to. She’s sure the public is just dying for it. To her, failure is not even a possibility. As her father used to tell her, “You can lose everything, but you can’t lose your talent!”

Interests… subtly torturing her sister Blanche. There are flagrant violations, such as stealing Blanche’s money in order to pay for adult sized versions of her old dresses. But she also serves Blanche her own parakeet as dinner, and she never stops singing her signature song from childhood, “I’ve Written a Letter to Daddy.” More than anything, she loves being a thorn in Jane’s side. 

Relationship Status… oddly repressed and strained. Jane refused to grow up, and so her romantic affairs are similar in nature to a teenager. She seems to have a crush on her accompanist Edwin, but that may only be because Edwin is the only man who’s paid attention to her in years. And he’s being paid too.

Challenge… dealing with her mental illness, alcoholism, and the overwhelming bitterness of an unfulfilled life. Jane is fairly powerless and without agency when it comes to her own fate. Her house and livelihood belong to Blanche’s, and her guilt over putting Blanche in a wheelchair has prevented her from ever pursuing a life of her own. All she has are her little victories – the hidden fan letters, the boiled pets. She’ll never have what Blanche will never lose – the fame and the glory.

Personality… domineering, suffocating and unstable. Jane has lived under the tremendous guilt of ruining her sister’s career, on top of watching her own go up in flames. As a child, she only ever heard yes. She was always the star of the show during her formative years. She never got used to the decrease in attention; she can’t stand the idea that she’s just like anybody else, except with fifteen former minutes of fame. She’s consumed with resentment to the point of insanity.