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Bette Davis
Actor, Producer
Died October 6, 1989 (81 years)
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.
Filmography
| 2011 | These Amazing Shadows · as Margo |
| 2011 | Vito · as Judith Traherne |
| 2008 | Hollywood contra Franco · as Sara Muller |
| 2008 | Warner at War · as actor |
| 2007 | P.S. I Love You · as Joyce Heath |
| 2004 | Behind the Tunes: Looney Tunes Go Hollywood · as Charlotte Vale |
| 1998 | |
| 1997 | Frank Capra's American Dream · as Unknown |
| 1994 | Mina Tannenbaum · as Mildred Rogers |
| 1989 | Wicked Stepmother · as Miranda Pierpoint |
| 1988 | South of Reno · as Mildred Rogers |
| 1987 | The Whales of August · as Libby Strong |
| 1986 | As Summers Die · as Hannah Loftin |
| 1985 | Murder with Mirrors · as Carrie Louise Serrocold |
| 1984 | Terror in the Aisles · as Baby Jane Hudson (archive footage) (uncredited) |
| 1983 | Right of Way · as Miniature Dwyer |
| 1983 | Hotel (TV Series) · as Laura Trent |
| 1982 | A Piano for Mrs. Cimino · as Esther McDonald Cimino |
| 1982 | Night of 100 Stars · as Unknown |
| 1982 | Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid · as (in "Deception") (archive footage) |
| 1980 | Windows · as Charlotte Vale |
| 1980 | Skyward · as Billie Dupree |
| 1980 | The Watcher in the Woods · as Mrs. Aylwood |
| 1979 | The Horror Show · as actor |
| 1978 | Death on the Nile · as Marie Van Schuyler |
| 1978 | Return from Witch Mountain · as Letha |
| 1976 | Burnt Offerings · as Aunt Elizabeth |
| 1972 | Madame Sin · as Madame Sin |
| 1972 | The Scopone Game · as 'A vecchia |
| 1970 | Connecting Rooms · as Wanda Fleming |
| 1968 | It Takes a Thief (TV Series) · as Bessie Grindel |
| 1965 | The Love Goddesses · as (archive footage) |
| 1964 | Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte · as Charlotte Hollis |
| 1964 | Dead Ringer · as Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips |
| 1964 | Where Love Has Gone · as Mrs. Gerald Hayden |
| 1964 | The Hollywood Palace (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1963 | The Empty Canvas · as Dino's Mother |
| 1963 | Hollywood: The Great Stars · as Margaret Elliot |
| 1962 | The Virginian (TV Series) · as Celia Miller |
| 1962 | What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? · as Baby Jane Hudson |
| 1961 | Pocketful of Miracles · as Apple Annie |
| 1959 | John Paul Jones · as Empress Catherine the Great |
| 1959 | The Scapegoat · as Countess |
| 1957 | Perry Mason (TV Series) · as Constant Doyle |
| 1957 | Suspicion (TV Series) · as Mrs. Wilfred Ellis |
| 1957 | Wagon Train (TV Series) · as Ella Lindstrom |
| 1956 | Storm Center · as Alicia Hull |
| 1956 | The Catered Affair · as Mrs. Agnes Hurley |
| 1955 | The Virgin Queen · as Queen Elizabeth I |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke (TV Series) · as Etta Stone |
| 1955 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) · as Miss Fox |
| 1953 | General Electric Theater (TV Series) · as Miss Burrows |
| 1952 | Phone Call from a Stranger · as Marie Hoke |
| 1952 | The Star · as Margaret Elliot |
| 1951 | Another Man's Poison · as Janet Frobisher |
| 1951 | Payment on Demand · as Joyce Ramsey (nee Jackson) |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall Of Fame (TV Series) · as Mrs. Minnie Kennedy, Aimee's mother |
| 1950 | All About Eve · as Margo Channing |
| 1948 | Winter Meeting · as Susan Grieve |
| 1946 | Deception · as Christine Radcliffe |
| 1946 | A Stolen Life · as Kate Bosworth / Patricia Bosworth |
| 1945 | The Corn Is Green · as Miss Lilly Christabel Moffat |
| 1944 | Mr. Skeffington · as Fanny Trellis |
| 1943 | Old Acquaintance · as Kit Marlowe |
| 1943 | Watch on the Rhine · as Sara Müller |
| 1942 | The Man Who Came to Dinner · as Maggie Cutler |
| 1942 | Now, Voyager · as Charlotte Vale |
| 1942 | In This Our Life · as Stanley Timberlake Kingsmill |
| 1941 | The Bride Came C.O.D. · as Joan Winfield |
| 1941 | The Little Foxes · as Regina Hubbard Giddens |
| 1941 | The Great Lie · as Maggie Patterson Van Allen |
| 1940 | The Letter · as Leslie Crosbie |
| 1940 | All This, and Heaven Too · as Henriette Deluzy-Desportes |
| 1939 | The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex · as Queen Elizabeth |
| 1939 | Dark Victory · as Judith Traherne |
| 1939 | The Old Maid · as Charlotte Lovell |
| 1939 | Juarez · as Empress Carlotta von Hapsburg |
| 1938 | Jezebel · as Julie Marsden |
| 1937 | Marked Woman · as Mary Dwight Strauber |
| 1937 | Kid Galahad · as Louise 'Fluff' Phillips |
| 1937 | That Certain Woman · as Mary Donnell/Mme Al Haines |
| 1936 | The Petrified Forest · as Gabby Maple |
| 1936 | Satan Met a Lady · as Valerie Purvis |
| 1935 | Dangerous · as Joyce Heath |
| 1935 | Front Page Woman · as Ellen Garfield |
| 1934 | Of Human Bondage · as Mildred Rogers |
| 1934 | Fashions of 1934 · as Lynn Mason |
| 1934 | The Big Shakedown · as Norma Nelson |
| 1934 | Jimmy the Gent · as Joan Martin |
| 1934 | Housewife · as Patricia Berkeley |
| 1933 | Ex-Lady · as Helen Bauer |
| 1932 | 20, 000 Years in Sing Sing · as Fay Wilson |
| 1932 | The Man Who Played God · as Grace Blair |
| 1932 | The Rich Are Always with Us · as Malbro |
| 1932 | Hell's House · as Peggy Gardner |
| 1931 | Waterloo Bridge · as Janet Cronin |