Bette Davis
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
Apple Annie
Pocketful of Miracles
Margo Channing
All About Eve
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
Baby Jane Hudson
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Self (archive footage)
The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert
Charlotte Hollis
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Julie Marsden
Jezebel
Marie Van Schuyler
Death on the Nile
Mrs. Aylwood
The Watcher in the Woods
Carrie Louise Serrocold
Murder with Mirrors
Marie Van Schuyler (archive footage)
Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette
Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips
Dead Ringer
Christine Radcliffe
Deception
Mary Dwight Strauber
Marked Woman
(in "Deception") (archive footage)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Maggie Cutler
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Mrs. Marie Roark
Bordertown
Charlotte Vale
Now, Voyager
(archive footage)
The Horror Show
Judith Traherne
Dark Victory
Aunt Elizabeth
Burnt Offerings
Valerie Purvis
Satan Met a Lady
Miranda Pierpoint
Wicked Stepmother
Rosa Moline
Beyond the Forest
Joan Winfield
The Bride Came C.O.D.
Fay Wilson
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Letha Wedge
Return from Witch Mountain
Ruth Westcott
Three on a Match
Fanny Trellis
Mr. Skeffington
Madge Norwood
The Cabin in the Cotton
Queen Elizabeth I
The Virgin Queen
Susan Grieve
Winter Meeting
Kate Bosworth / Patricia Bosworth
A Stolen Life
Miss Lilly Christabel Moffat
The Corn Is Green
Self
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Stanley Timberlake Kingsmill
In This Our Life
Regina Hubbard Giddens
The Little Foxes
Henriette Deluzy-Desportes
All This, and Heaven Too
Maggie Patterson Van Allen
The Great Lie
Mildred Rogers
Of Human Bondage
Charlotte Lovell
The Old Maid
(archive footage)
Hollywood and the Stars
Alicia Hull
Storm Center
Self
Hollywood Canteen
Self (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1938
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Shining Victory
A Dream Comes True
A Day at Santa Anita
Queen Elizabeth
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Gabrielle "Gabby" Maple
The Petrified Forest
Nanny
The Nanny
Leslie Crosbie
The Letter
Sara Müller
Watch on the Rhine
Libby Strong
The Whales of August
Arlene Bradford
Fog Over Frisco
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Breakdowns of 1941
(archive footage)
Showbiz Goes to War
Joan Martin
Jimmy the Gent
Joyce Heath
Dangerous
Julie Gardner
Special Agent
Louise 'Fluff' Phillips
Kid Galahad
Norma Roberts
Bureau of Missing Persons
Helen Bauer
Ex-Lady
Mrs. Gerald Hayden
Where Love Has Gone
Janet Frobisher
Another Man's Poison
Lynn Mason
Fashions of 1934
Kit Marlowe
Old Acquaintance
Empress Catherine the Great
John Paul Jones
Joyce Ramsey (nee Jackson)
Payment on Demand
Madame Sin
Madame Sin
'A vecchia
Lo scopone scientifico
Marie Hoke
Phone Call from a Stranger
(archive footage)
Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood
Dino's Mother
La noia
Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan
Margaret Elliot
The Star
Mrs. Taggart
The Anniversary
Janet Cronin
Waterloo Bridge
Empress Carlotta von Hapsburg
Juarez
Kay Russell
The Dark Horse
Jenny Hartland alias Jane Grey
The Working Man
Norma Nelson
The Big Shakedown
Mary Donnell/Mme Al Haines
That Certain Woman
Bunny O'Hare
Bunny O'Hare
Miss Dallas O'Mara
So Big!
Joyce Arden
It's Love I'm After
Malbro
The Rich Are Always with Us
Linda Gilman
June Bride
Mrs. Agnes Hurley
The Catered Affair
Louise Elliott Medlin
The Sisters
Queen Elizabeth (archive footage)
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Self [Archive Footage]
Hairway to the Stars
Countess
The Scapegoat
Grace Blair
The Man Who Played God
Self (archive footage)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Laura Madison
The Bad Sister
Ellen Garfield
Front Page Woman
Peggy Gardner
Hell's House
Patricia 'Alabama' Brent
Parachute Jumper
Self (archive footage)
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
Mary Lucy Duffy
Way Back Home
Self (archive footage)
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Mrs. Elliott
Scream, Pretty Peggy
Miniature Dwyer
Right of Way
Patricia Berkeley
Housewife
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Madonna: Madame X
Miriam A. Brady
The Girl from 10th Avenue
Daisy Appleby
The Golden Arrow
Peggy Lowell
The Menace
Self (from All About Eve [1950]) (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
Minnie Kennedy
The Disappearance of Aimee
Ginger
Just Around the Corner
Wanda Fleming
Connecting Rooms
Margaret Carter
Seed
Estelle Malone
White Mama
Lucy Mason
Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter
Billie Dupree
Skyward
(archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Esther McDonald Cimino
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino
Liz
The Decorator
Herself
Bette Davis à la Cinémathèque française
Self (archive footage)
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
Self (archive footage)
Jezebel: Legend of the South
Mother
A Present with a Future
Self (archive footage)
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Hannah Loftin
As Summers Die
Self (archive footage)
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
The Andy Williams Christmas Show
Self (archive footage)
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
(archive footage)
Mike Wallace Is Here
Self (archive footage)
Always at The Carlyle
Elizabeth Winfield
Family Reunion
Judge Meredith
The Judge and Jake Wyler
Self (archive footage)
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Self
Breakdowns of 1936
Self
All About Bette
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Faye
Self (archive footage)
The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Faye
Self (archive footage)
Listen to Me Marlon
Self
Breakdowns of 1937
Self
Breakdowns of 1939
Self
Breakdowns of 1944
Self
Breakdowns of 1949
Self
Show-Business at War
Self
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Bette Davis
If I Forget You
Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
Self (archive footage)
Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Self (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Self
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Self (archive footage)
Bette Davis - Größer als das Leben
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
Self (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Self
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano
Self (archive footage)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Stars on Horseback
Self (segment 'Dangerous') (archive footage)
The Voice That Thrilled the World
Self (archive footage)
Frank Capra's American Dream
Self (archive footage)
And the Oscar Goes To...
Self (archive footage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Self
Directed by William Wyler
Self - Actress (archive footage)
Marlon Brando, un acteur nommé désir
Self (archive footage)
田中絹代の旅立ち～占領下の日米親善芸術使節～
Self
Breakdowns of 1942
Self (archive footage)
Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis
Self (archive footage)
Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis
Margo Channing (archive footage)
Footsteps on the Ceiling
Self (uncredited)
The 42nd Street Special
Self
Night of 100 Stars
Self
Bette Davis
Miss Moffat
Miss Moffat
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
174
Gender
Female
Birthday
1908-04-05
Place of Birth
Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
Also Known As
The First Lady of Film