Joan Crawford v. Bette Davis
Joan Crawford v. Bette DavisPR Handouts

Hollywood's list of rivalries between celebs is never ending. And, American Crime Story creator Ryan Murphy created a popular anthology series FX's Feud: Bette and Joan based on one of the most infamous Hollywood feuds.

Also read: 5 iconic Hollywood feuds

Oscar winners and Hollywood golden age actors Joan Crawford and Bette Davis are widely popular for their body of work over the years on the silver screen. But the reason why they are even more spoken about is their very public, decades-long battle, that was sparked by both personal as well as professional resentments on both sides.

The series Feud, which airs Sundays on FX, is must-see TV for fans of Crawford and Davis - played by Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon respectively.

Last week's episode 4 of FX's Feud looked into 1963 Oscar nomination where Bette Davis had received her tenth and final Oscar nomination for her role in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. And, before episode 5 shows the Oscar ceremony of 1963, where actress Joan Crawford accepted an award, (which she wasn't even nominated for — just to rub it in the face of losing nominee Bette Davis), here we present you the sensational facts behind the 1963 Oscar drama.

The original video of Crawford accepting the Oscar on behalf of actress Anne Bancroft (who won the best actress award that year) has been enlisted below.

Going back to where things got much worse, it was Crawford who convinced Davis to sign onto Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. But Davis only decided to be part of the movie on two conditions – she would play the title role of Jane and the film's director Robert Aldrich assured her that he was not sleeping with Crawford. Davis reportedly said, "It wasn't that I cared about his private life, or hers either. I didn't want him favouring her with more close-ups."

But this was just the beginning! It was on the sets of this movie that the most legendary episodes in Joan and Bette's feud took place. From Davis installing a coke machine to spite Crawford, who was on Pepsi's Board of Directors, to slapping Joan very hard for a scene in the movie (which allegedly required stitches) to Joan dragging Davis around to accentuate her back problems, everything only increased by leaps and bounds on the sets of the movie and beyond. 

But what actually happened on the stage of Oscar 1963?

Hollywood star Anne Bancroft won the 1963 Oscar for Best Actress for The Miracle Worker, but instead of her appearing on stage, it was Crawford accepting the award on Bancroft's behalf. It was also reported that Crawford paid other nominees to let her go up on the stage and accept the award (Oscar) on their behalf just to show off Davis.

She read a very short speech written by Bancroft and didn't make any mention of Davis, but her message was well received. Davis had to sit in the audience and watch her hated co-star holding the award that she felt she deserved. Rumours have that Crawford likely had a hand in making sure Bette didn't get the Oscar for the Best Actress. Check out the video of the crazy moment below.

Feud: Bette and Joan episode 5 will air on Sunday, April 2 at 10 pm ET on FX. You can watch a new episode on every Sunday at 9 pm on Star World Premiere HD (India).