Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth Davis arrived in the world on the 5th of April 1908, within the industrial city of Lowell, Massachusetts. Her father worked as a patent attorney while her mother managed the household for their family. The young girl known as Betty attended Crestalban boarding school in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, for three years starting in 1915. Her parents had separated by that time, and her mother moved to New York City to work as a governess. Davis later changed the spelling of her first name to Bette after a character named Bette Fischer from Honoré de Balzac's novel La Cousine Bette. She found her way into theater through a production of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck in 1926. An actress named Peg Entwistle appeared in that play, and Davis recalled seeing her performance as the reason she wanted to enter the profession. She auditioned for George Cukor's stock theater company in Rochester, New York, where he gave her a one-week stint playing a chorus girl in the play Broadway. Her first professional role came in 1929 when Blanche Yurka chose her to play Hedwig in a Provincetown Players production. Davis made her Broadway debut in Broken Dishes that same year before moving to Hollywood at age twenty-two.
Jack Warner offered Davis an increased salary of $2,250 per week during negotiations in the spring of 1936. She refused this offer because she demanded $3,500 a week plus all radio rights and permission to make outside pictures. Her agent Mike Levee told her that such demands were too much money. Warner Bros put Davis on suspension for refusal to work and replaced her with Beverly Roberts in God's Country and the Woman. Davis traveled to England with her husband Harmon Nelson and signed a contract with British film production company Toplitz. She agreed to make I'll Take the Low Road in England with Maurice Chevalier for a $50,000 salary. On the 9th of September 1936, Warner Brothers filed a legal injunction against Davis in England which forbade her from appearing in film productions without their consent. Mr Justice Branson issued his decision on October 19, ruling in favor of Warner Bros. The court dismissed claims that she was an underpaid slave held under a life sentence. Davis was ordered to pay Warner Bros $80,000 in restitution and also ordered to pay the studio's legal fees for filing the injunction in England. The British press called her overpaid and ungrateful despite her public declaration that she intended to defy the injunction.
Davis starred with Humphrey Bogart in Marked Woman, a contemporary gangster drama released in 1937. She received the Volpi Cup at the 1937 Venice Film Festival for this performance. Her portrayal of a strong-willed 1850s Southern belle in Jezebel won her a second Academy Award for Best Actress in 1938. This marked the beginning of five consecutive years where she received Best Actress nominations. Dark Victory followed in 1939 as a high-grossing film featuring Ronald Reagan and Humphrey Bogart in supporting roles. Davis considered Judith Traherne, a spirited heiress suffering from a malignant brain tumor, her personal favorite role. The Letter appeared in 1940 as one of the best pictures of the year according to The Hollywood Reporter. She played an adulterous killer originally originated on stage by Katharine Cornell. All This, and Heaven Too became the most financially successful film of Davis's career up to that point. In 1941, William Wyler directed Davis for the third time in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. She clashed over the character Regina Giddens but received another Academy Award nomination for her performance.
Numerous Hollywood entertainment industry members joined forces to form the Hollywood Canteen in 1942. Davis and John Garfield were the driving force credited with founding the canteen along with aid from forty-two unions and guilds. Thousands of celebrity volunteers came from the Hollywood Victory Committee and beyond. The canteen offered food, dancing, and entertainment for servicemen and was staffed by members of the entertainment industry. Davis served as Canteen president through the end of World War II. In 1983, she received the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal from the Department of Defense for her work with the organization. Warner Bros donated 40% of proceeds from the film Hollywood Canteen released in 1944 to both the Hollywood Canteen and the Stage Door Canteen in Manhattan. Davis showed little interest for the role of repressed spinster Charlotte Vale in Now, Voyager until Hal Wallis advised her that female audiences needed romantic dramas to distract them from reality. Paul Henreid lights two cigarettes as he stares into Davis's eyes and passes one to her in one of the film's most imitated scenes. Film reviewers complimented Davis on her performance, with the National Board of Review commenting that she gave the film a dignity not fully warranted by the script.
Davis filmed The Story of a Divorce which RKO Radio Pictures released in 1951 under the title Payment on Demand. She played a Broadway star in All About Eve released in 1950, earning another Oscar nomination and winning the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress. Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed the film and later remarked that Bette was letter perfect and syllable-perfect. Critics responded positively to Davis's performance, with several lines becoming well-known including Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night. On the 3rd of July 1950, Davis's divorce from William Sherry was finalized. On July 28, she married Gary Merrill, her fourth and final husband. They adopted a five-day-old baby girl named Margot Mosher Merrill born the 6th of January 1951. In 1952, they adopted a baby boy Michael born the 5th of February 1952. Few of Davis's films of the 1950s were successful, and many performances were condemned by critics. The Hollywood Reporter wrote of mannerisms that you'd expect to find in a nightclub impersonation of Davis. Her marriage continued to deteriorate until she filed for divorce in 1960.
Davis opened in the Broadway production The Night of the Iguana in 1961 but left after four months due to chronic illness. She then joined Glenn Ford and Hope Lange for Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles released in 1961. Exhibitors protested her star billing as they considered it would negatively impact box office performance. Her last Oscar nomination came for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? released in 1962, which also starred Joan Crawford. The film became one of the year's big successes despite arguments between Davis and Crawford on set. In October 1962, four episodes of CBS-TV series Perry Mason featured special guest stars covering for Raymond Burr during his convalescence from surgery. Davis was the first of these guest stars with The Case of Constant Doyle airing the 31st of January 1963. She appeared as Celia Miller on TV western The Virginian in episode titled The Accomplice in September 1962. Dead Ringer released in 1964 was a crime drama where she played twin sisters. Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte followed in 1964 as Robert Aldrich's follow-up to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. Olivia de Havilland replaced Crawford who withdrew allegedly due to illness soon after filming began.
In 1978, Christina Crawford published memoir Mommie Dearest defending her mother while criticizing Davis's treatment of her own daughter. Davis defended Crawford saying I was not Miss Crawford's biggest fan but did respect her talent. Her relationship with B.D. Hyman deteriorated when Hyman became born-again Christian and attempted to persuade Davis to follow suit. Upon returning from England to film Murder with Mirrors in 1985, Davis learned that Hyman had published My Mother's Keeper chronicling their difficult mother-daughter relationship. Several friends commented that Hyman's depiction of events was not accurate because so much of the book is out of context. Mike Wallace re-broadcast a 60 Minutes interview he filmed with Hyman years earlier where she commended Davis on skills as mother. Gary Merrill also defended Davis stating Hyman was motivated by cruelty and greed. Davis disinherited her daughter after the publication of this book. In her second memoir This 'n That released in 1987, Davis wrote I am still recovering from fact that child of mine would write about me behind my back.
Davis collapsed during American Cinema Awards ceremony in 1989 and later discovered cancer had returned. She recovered sufficiently to travel to Spain where honored at San Sebastián International Film Festival. Too weak to make long journey back to U.S., she traveled to France where died of metastasized breast cancer the 6th of October 1989. Davis was eighty-one years old when she passed away at American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine. A private funeral held the 12th of October 1989, at First Christian Church of North Hollywood. Following funeral, entombed in Davis family sarcophagus at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery alongside mother Ruthie and sister Bobby. Her name appears in larger letters on tombstone with inscription She did it the hard way. Estate valued between $600,000 and $1,000,000 at time of death. Left half estate to adopted son Michael Merrill and other half to assistant Kathryn Sermack. Adopted daughter Margot Merrill and daughter B.D. Hyman excluded from will. Davis received Legion of Honor from France and Campione d'Italia from Italy during final years.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When and where was Bette Davis born?
Ruth Elizabeth Davis arrived in the world on the 5th of April 1908, within the industrial city of Lowell, Massachusetts.
Why did Bette Davis refuse Jack Warner's salary offer in 1936?
She refused this offer because she demanded $3,500 a week plus all radio rights and permission to make outside pictures. Her agent Mike Levee told her that such demands were too much money.
Which film earned Bette Davis the Volpi Cup at the 1937 Venice Film Festival?
Davis starred with Humphrey Bogart in Marked Woman, a contemporary gangster drama released in 1937. She received the Volpi Cup at the 1937 Venice Film Festival for this performance.
How many Academy Award nominations did Bette Davis receive during her career?
The text states that Jezebel won her a second Academy Award for Best Actress in 1938 and marked the beginning of five consecutive years where she received Best Actress nominations. It also notes she earned another Oscar nomination for All About Eve and had her last Oscar nomination for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? released in 1962.
When did Bette Davis die and what was the cause of death?
Bette Davis died of metastasized breast cancer the 6th of October 1989. She passed away at American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine while traveling to France after recovering sufficiently to travel to Spain.