Bebe is based on Michon Peacock and Nancy Lane, the original Bebe, as well as smaller ideas from many dancers involved with the ACL project.
Michon Peacock came from Chicago and was born Carol Petri. She had a real abusive childhood and when she was on her own, she really boozed and drugged it up. In part it was to cover up her own feelings of inadequacy instilled in her by her own parents.
When she was finally in New York, she changed her name to a real "showbiz" moniker and worked on a total makeover,however, she still felt inside that she was never pretty.
Michon had worked with Michael Bennett several times and was one of the co-creationists of the tape sessions out of which ACL developed. She also brought in Nick Dante who was the basis for the Paul character. This was obviously not used in the final show. Michon auditioned to play herself in ACL, but gave a bad audition and ended up understuding Chita
Rivera in "Chicago." She was dissappointed that she was not in the show, but she is extremely proud that she was a "mid-wife" to Micheal and his creation of ACL.
Nancy Lane was originally an understudy to Bebe and Diana, and when the original actress left in the workshops, she auditioned and got cast as Bebe. Since Bebe was originally Bebe Nichols, it was tailored to Nancy in the last name of Benzenheimer.
Nancy grew up in New Jersey. She said "We were the typical Jewish family. My mother would say 'Come on, Darling. It's Christmas. Let's go to New York and have chinese food.' My parents were real tummlers--you know, the lampshade on the head." Nancy really loved making people laugh. She and her sister used to choreograph little shows to entertain people at
their parents parties.
Nancy didn't want to go to college, but her parents said she had to have something to bring to a marriage. Nancy wanted to be an actress. But her parents said they would *not* pay for an acting degree. So Nancy applied to one college, "and just my luck I got accepted as, of all things, a recreational activities leader! So, I go down to Virginia, and at registration, I go up to the counselor and said 'See, there's been some kind of mistake. I should be in the theater department." Her parents were furious and said they wouldn't pay, but they did, for two years.
Nancy said "Even though it didn't start with me, Bebe was me. I always wanted to be gorgeous, glamourous, a movie star. But I knew that I had this huge nose. Although I thought I was attractive, I was never really pretty." In my opinion, it's not that Bebe is ugly, it's just that she doesn't have high self-esteem. As with Greg, Judy, and Kristine, they discount their great talents for a physical (or in Kristine's case, vocal) ideal that they can't match.
Probably the key thing that makes Bebe so memorable is that despite her insecurity about her looks, she has a great sense of humor about herself. Nancy brought a fresh face to the Bebe, someone who is very excited to have come this far in the audition. Bebe has probably been kicking around regional dinner theaters for years, which is why she only made it to Broadway at 26, relatively late compared to most of the other auditioners. Nancy Lane had actually worked for Michael Bennett before, but this obviously was not used for the Bebe character.
Other facts: Bebe really doesn't know anyone there. She feels very much like an outsider and really wants to be friends with the other dancers. (This was reflected in real life, when Nancy felt very excluded from the cast.) She wears an brown-orange shirt over a leotard is in the exact center of the line. The character in the movie is quite different from the play version, who is pretty funny. I could see a young Barbara Streisand playing this role.
