Bette Davis
Acting
- Born:
- 1908-04-05
- Died:
- 1989-10-06
- Place of birth:
- Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
Biography
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, though her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas. After appearing in Broadway plays, Davis moved to Hollywood in 1930, but her early films for Universal Studios were unsuccessful. She joined Warner Bros. in 1932 and established her career with several critically acclaimed performances. In 1937, she attempted to free herself from her contract and although she lost a well-publicized legal case, it marked the beginning of the most successful period of her career. Until the late 1940s, she was one of American cinema's most celebrated leading ladies, known for her forceful and intense style. Davis gained a reputation as a perfectionist who could be highly combative, and confrontations with studio executives, film directors and costars were often reported. Her forthright manner, clipped vocal style and ubiquitous cigarette contributed to a public persona which has often been imitated and satirized. Davis was the co-founder of the Hollywood Canteen, and was the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, was the first person to accrue 10 Academy Award nominations for acting, and was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. Her career went through several periods of eclipse, and she admitted that her success had often been at the expense of her personal relationships. Married four times, she was once widowed and thrice divorced, and raised her children as a single parent. Her final years were marred by a long period of ill health, but she continued acting until shortly before her death from breast cancer, with more than 100 films, television and theater roles to her credit. In 1999, Davis was placed second, after Katharine Hepburn, on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of all time.
Known For
Filmography
1939: Secrets of Hollywood's Golden Year
This Is Joan Collins
Madonna: Madame X
Morceaux de Cannes
Mike Wallace Is Here
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Bette Davis: Larger Than Life
The Fabulous Allan Carr
Bette and Joan
Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn
Listen to Me Marlon
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Talking Pictures
Footsteps on the Ceiling
Vito
Marilyn at the Movies
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
Jezebel: Legend of the South
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
How Real is 'The Star'?
Complicated Women
Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Bride of Trailer Camp
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Frank Capra's American Dream
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
The World of Hammer
All About Bette
Intimate Portrait
Wicked Stepmother
Hairway to the Stars
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
South of Reno
The Whales of August
Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood
As Summers Die
Directed by William Wyler
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
Bette Davis at the Cinémathèque Française
Murder with Mirrors
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Right of Way
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Showbiz Goes to War
Little Gloria... Happy at Last
Hotel
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Showbiz Ballyhoo
Night of 100 Stars
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino
Late Night with David Letterman
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Family Reunion
Family Reunion
Skyward
The Watcher in the Woods
White Mama
Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter
The Horror Show
The Kennedy Center Honors
Mickey's 50
Death on the Nile
Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette
Return from Witch Mountain
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home
Laugh-In
The Disappearance of Aimee
Burnt Offerings
Dinah!
Miss Moffat
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
Scream, Pretty Peggy
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor
Bette Davis
The Judge and Jake Wyler
The Scopone Game
Madame Sin
Film '72
Bunny O'Hare
V.I.P. Schaukel
Connecting Rooms
The Dick Cavett Show
The Anniversary
It Takes a Thief
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Nanny
The Decorator
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Where Love Has Gone
Dead Ringer
The Hollywood Palace
The Empty Canvas
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Merv Griffin Show
The Virginian
Pocketful of Miracles
The Mike Douglas Show
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The Scapegoat
John Paul Jones
Suspicion
Perry Mason
Wagon Train
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Storm Center
The Catered Affair
Telephone Time
Tony Awards
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Gunsmoke
The Virgin Queen
Reflets de Cannes
The Oscars
General Electric Theater
The Star
The Ford Television Theatre
Phone Call from a Stranger
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Another Man's Poison
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Payment on Demand
All About Eve
What's My Line?
Breakdowns of 1949
Beyond the Forest
June Bride
Winter Meeting
Deception
A Stolen Life
The Corn Is Green
Breakdowns of 1944
Hollywood Canteen
Mr. Skeffington
Golden Globe Awards
A Present with a Future
Old Acquaintance
The Voice That Thrilled the World
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Watch on the Rhine
Show-Business at War
Stars on Horseback
Breakdowns of 1942
Now, Voyager
In This Our Life
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Breakdowns of 1941
The Little Foxes
The Bride Came C.O.D.
Shining Victory
The Great Lie
The Letter
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
All This, and Heaven Too
If I Forget You
Breakdowns of 1939
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
The Old Maid
Juarez
Dark Victory
Breakdowns of 1938
The Sisters
Jezebel
Breakdowns of 1937
It's Love I'm After
That Certain Woman
Kid Galahad
A Day at Santa Anita
Marked Woman
Breakdowns of 1936
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Satan Met a Lady
The Golden Arrow
The Petrified Forest
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning"
A Dream Comes True
Dangerous
Special Agent
Front Page Woman
The Girl from 10th Avenue
Bordertown
Housewife
Of Human Bondage
Fog Over Frisco
Jimmy the Gent
Fashions of 1934
The Big Shakedown
Bureau of Missing Persons
Ex-Lady
The Working Man
The 42nd Street Special
Parachute Jumper
Just Around the Corner
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Three on a Match
The Cabin in the Cotton
The Dark Horse
The Rich Are Always with Us
So Big!
The Man Who Played God
Hell's House
The Menace
Way Back Home
Waterloo Bridge
Seed
The Bad Sister