And who could forget Bette Davis in Mr. Skeffington (or for that matter, anything!) Her house, painted a totally atrocious combination of colors (hot pink and green) is within walking distance of my house.
Did you know that she refused to tell people that she was from Lowell? She preferred to say that she was from Boston!...Lowell was (and for that matter... still is) a working class immigrant city.

As for the teaching...well today I finished my civilization class (mind you...advanced Spanish majors) telling them about Juana la Beltraneja...and their first question?...was that Juana la Loca? They have no idea who either is...but just assume that any Juana I mention from the Middle Ages (for them that means anything over two hundred years ago) is La Loca...(even though Juana la loca pertained to the era of the early Renaissance).

A few weeks ago, in discussing the Spanish Inquisition, I mentioned that it was started in 1476 and that it was controlled by the Domincan branch of the Catholic Church. My students from La Republica Domincana got insulted...asking what they had to do with the Spanish inquisition. Of course, I looked at them with bewilderment until I understood what they were thinking and asking. I then explained that they didn't have anything to do with the inquisition, but they insisted that Dominicans are from the island. Ultimately, once they let me get a word in edge wise, I explained that I was talking about the Catholic Church and that 1476 was still way before the age of Columbus and therefore before their discovery...they did not seem to understand.

By the way, Mel Brook's History of the World part I deals with this horrific moment in history the best I ever seen within a span of 8 1/2 minutes and explains clearly the time, fear and horrors. (Torquemada...Torquemada...you can't talkhimoutta nada!)