Actor vs. Actor(s): TV's Biggest Cast Feuds

It really is just all an act. What you see onscreen — a couple that can't keep their hands off each other, a loving family, a pair of loyal friends — doesn't always translate offscreen. With the recent news that Charlie Sheen got Selma Blair fired from his comedy, "Anger Management," we take a look back at some of the biggest cast feuds in TV history.

Joan Crawford vs. Bette Davis, "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane"

 

While these actresses didn't play an on-screen couple, they did play sisters in this creepy 1962 movie. The off-screen rivalry between these two actresses is legendary, with Davis even being quoted as once saying "The best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane." Over the years, several documentaries have been made about the rivalry between the two actresses.

 

 

William Frawley vs. Vivian Vance, “I Love Lucy”

This mismatched pair from the classic 1950s sitcom had trouble from the start. Vance never liked the fact that her onscreen husband, played by Frawley, was 22 years older than she was. Furthermore, producers of the show wanted her to look frumpy and matronly to make her marriage to Frawley's Fred Mertz more believable. Early on, Frawley allegedly overheard Vance complaining about having to work with a man that was old enough to be her father. That set the tone for a feud between the two that lasted for the run of the series. Upon learning of Frawley's death*** in 1966 while she was dining out, Vivian Vance ordered a round of champagne for everyone at her table.

(***According to imdb.com)

Will Smith vs. Janet Hubert-Whitten, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"

 

Aunt Viv got a major makeover after Season 3 of "Fresh Prince" — because original actress Hubert-Whitten was fired and replaced after a contract renegotiation failed. She blamed Smith, once calling him an "a--hole." He blamed her bad attitude. If a reunion ever does happen, Hubert-Whitten shouldn't wait for an invitation.

 

 

Betty White vs. Bea Arthur, "The Golden Girls"

 

Arthur and White were not thanking each other for being a friend — at all. In fact, they detested each other. White believes her "positive attitude" infuriated Arthur, while cast mate Rue McClanahan wrote in her memoir that Arthur was jealous of White's getting the show's first Emmy nomination. Meanwhile, a friend of the late Arthur dished that Arthur told her that White "thought she was the star of the show and acted like it."

 

 

Sarah Jessica Parker vs. Kim Cattrall, "Sex and the City"

  

Friends forever? Maybe not so much. For years, the "SATC" stars were plagued by gossip that they didn't get along. Parker once got close to admitting it, saying that long days on set sometimes led to "hurt feelings." They clashed again over salaries and creative control of the big-screen version, but Parker later said that it led to a better movie.

 

 

Marcia Cross vs. Teri Hatcher, "Desperate Housewives"

 

Wisteria Lane? More like Claws Court! When weren't the ladies of "Desperate Housewives" feuding? In 2005, when the show was the hottest thing around, Cross and Hatcher got into it at a Vanity Fair photo shoot. Cross was, well, cross that Hatcher demanded to be at the center of every shot. But it seems this feud involved the other ladies too. When the series ended, Cross, Longoria, and Huffman teamed up to give the crew parting gifts — and left Hatcher out of it.

 

 

Isaiah Washington vs. Patrick Dempsey, "Grey's Anatomy"

 

In 2006, the two handsome male leads of the hit medical drama got into a "violent brawl," which Washington later blamed on Dempsey's lateness to the set. But during the argument, he used a homophobic slur in relation to co-star T.R. Knight and then repeated it again at the Golden Globes. Washington was fired; Dempsey is still McDreamy-ing it up on the show. Round: Dempsey.

 

 

 

Shannen Doherty vs. Everyone "Charmed"

 

If Doherty is on a show, a feud will follow. Consider that she was the star of both "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Charmed" but left both series early. "90210" cast mate Tori Spelling once revealed that Doherty and Jennie Garth got into a fistfight. Meanwhile, "Charmed" actress Alyssa Milano confessed, "we definitely didn't get along." The network even tried to send a mediator to mend fences, but Doherty got the boot instead.

 

 

Suzanne Somers vs. John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt, "Three's Company"

 

The hugely successful comedy started to derail in 1981 when Somers asked for a hefty pay raise that would put her on par with Ritter. When producers refused, she went on strike and appeared only in brief scenes before leaving the show altogether. They didn't speak to her for years, though she reconciled with Ritter before his death. DeWitt and Somers finally buried the hatchet last year.

 

 

Bruce Willis vs. Cybill Shepherd, "Moonlighting"

 

Onscreen, the chemistry between Willis and Shepherd was off the charts. But behind the cameras, the two couldn't stand each other. Shepherd was reportedly unhappy that the relatively unknown actor was starting to eclipse her. When she got pregnant in real life, the private eyes finally hit the sheets, which many viewers felt ruined the show. For the rest of the series, the stars rarely filmed scenes together. finally buried the hatchet last year. 

 

Lauren Conrad vs. Heidi Montag, "The Hills"

 

Once best friends and roommates, Conrad and Montag began to grow apart when the latter began dating Spencer Pratt. In Season 3, a permanent break formed over Conrad's belief that the couple had spread rumors that she'd been in a sex tape. The former friends have still not made up.