Bette Davis
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
209
Gender
Female
Birthday
1908-04-05
Day of death
1989-10-06 (81 years old)
Place of Birth
Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
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
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Perry Mason
The Mike Douglas Show
Golden Globe Awards
Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Tony Awards
The Virginian
The Merv Griffin Show
The Dick Cavett Show
Gunsmoke
Dinah!
Intimate Portrait
What's My Line?
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
The Oscars
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The Kennedy Center Honors
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
It Takes a Thief
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
The 20th Century Fox Hour
The Ford Television Theatre
Death on the Nile
Now, Voyager
Reflets de Cannes
Return from Witch Mountain
Telephone Time
Parachute Jumper
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The Rich Are Always with Us
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
V.I.P. Schaukel
White Mama
Suspicion
Waterloo Bridge
The Star
The Andy Williams Christmas Show
The Hollywood Palace
The Empty Canvas
Hollywood Canteen
Bordertown
All About Eve
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
The Letter
The Scapegoat
Juarez
Seed
Skyward
Madame Sin
The Anniversary
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Winter Meeting
So Big!
The Nanny
Ex-Lady
Connecting Rooms
The Sisters
Shining Victory
Mr. Skeffington
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Talking Pictures
Marked Woman
Mickey's 50
Wicked Stepmother
Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Dangerous
Deception
Pocketful of Miracles
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
The Whales of August
The Great Lie
Madonna: Madame X
Jimmy the Gent
Murder with Mirrors
The Menace
The World of Hammer
The Watcher in the Woods
Beyond the Forest
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Burnt Offerings
Of Human Bondage
The Little Foxes
Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
June Bride
Housewife
The Bad Sister
Watch on the Rhine
Right of Way
Way Back Home
The Man Who Played God
Phone Call from a Stranger
The Scopone Game
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Frank Capra's American Dream
Bureau of Missing Persons
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
The Cabin in the Cotton
John Paul Jones
Night of 100 Stars
Bunny O'Hare
The Old Maid
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
The Virgin Queen
Three on a Match
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Bette Davis
Jezebel
The Bride Came C.O.D.
The Petrified Forest
A Dream Comes True
Breakdowns of 1942
Showbiz Goes to War
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Hell's House
Special Agent
Breakdowns of 1939
The Catered Affair
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Breakdowns of 1938
The Working Man
Fog Over Frisco
The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Disappearance of Aimee
That Certain Woman
Where Love Has Gone
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano
In This Our Life
Scream, Pretty Peggy
The Big Shakedown
Breakdowns of 1936
Dead Ringer
The Golden Arrow
Little Gloria... Happy at Last
Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood
All This, and Heaven Too
Listen to Me Marlon
Front Page Woman
Directed by William Wyler
Fashions of 1934
A Day at Santa Anita
The Voice That Thrilled the World
The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor
Breakdowns of 1937
As Summers Die
Another Man's Poison
Bride of Trailer Camp
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
The Girl from 10th Avenue
Going Hollywood: The '30s
The Horror Show
Satan Met a Lady
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Laugh-In
General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater
The Dark Horse
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home
Mike Wallace Is Here
Old Acquaintance
Breakdowns of 1944
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Payment on Demand
A Present with a Future
Breakdowns of 1941
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Kid Galahad
Show-Business at War
Footsteps on the Ceiling
Dark Victory
Bette Davis: Larger Than Life
Just Around the Corner
It's Love I'm After
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
Complicated Women
A Stolen Life
Stars on Horseback
Breakdowns of 1949
Storm Center
Family Reunion
Thank Your Lucky Stars
The Judge and Jake Wyler
Jezebel: Legend of the South
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis
Bette Davis at the Cinémathèque Française
The Corn Is Green
The Decorator
The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino
Showbiz Ballyhoo
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
All About Bette
Family Reunion
Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
The 42nd Street Special
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
Hairway to the Stars
Bette and Joan
If I Forget You
Miss Moffat
