Bette Davis
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
206
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
The Mike Douglas Show
Perry Mason
Tony Awards
The Virginian
Golden Globe Awards
Wagon Train
The Dick Cavett Show
Intimate Portrait
What's My Line?
Dinah!
It Takes a Thief
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Gunsmoke
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
The Oscars
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The Ford Television Theatre
The Kennedy Center Honors
The Hollywood Palace
Telephone Time
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Bunny O'Hare
Suspicion
V.I.P. Schaukel
The Whales of August
Burnt Offerings
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
The Andy Williams Christmas Show
The Voice That Thrilled the World
Marked Woman
Murder with Mirrors
Pocketful of Miracles
Death on the Nile
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Right of Way
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Dark Victory
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood
The Big Shakedown
Shining Victory
The Great Lie
Reflets de Cannes
Bureau of Missing Persons
The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Way Back Home
Showbiz Goes to War
Talking Pictures
All About Eve
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
As Summers Die
Madonna: Madame X
A Day at Santa Anita
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
The Golden Arrow
Of Human Bondage
Hollywood Canteen
Bordertown
Phone Call from a Stranger
Deception
Seed
Parachute Jumper
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Breakdowns of 1937
Frank Capra's American Dream
Directed by William Wyler
Breakdowns of 1939
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Fog Over Frisco
Dangerous
Breakdowns of 1936
Madame Sin
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
The Rich Are Always with Us
The Horror Show
Breakdowns of 1949
Waterloo Bridge
The Bad Sister
The Decorator
Breakdowns of 1938
Payment on Demand
The Catered Affair
Mickey's 50
The Girl from 10th Avenue
Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter
Fashions of 1934
Skyward
The Man Who Played God
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Going Hollywood: The '30s
The Old Maid
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano
Scream, Pretty Peggy
Winter Meeting
The Working Man
Juarez
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
The Cabin in the Cotton
Watch on the Rhine
Jimmy the Gent
Little Gloria... Happy at Last
The Letter
Kid Galahad
John Paul Jones
Night of 100 Stars
The Watcher in the Woods
The Anniversary
Bride of Trailer Camp
Beyond the Forest
A Present with a Future
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home
The Disappearance of Aimee
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
The Dark Horse
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
Connecting Rooms
Now, Voyager
The Nanny
Wicked Stepmother
The World of Hammer
General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater
The Scapegoat
The Star
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
White Mama
That Certain Woman
The Sisters
The Empty Canvas
June Bride
The Petrified Forest
The Virgin Queen
The Scopone Game
Breakdowns of 1942
Mr. Skeffington
Three on a Match
The Little Foxes
A Dream Comes True
So Big!
Hell's House
Return from Witch Mountain
The Menace
Jezebel
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Listen to Me Marlon
All This, and Heaven Too
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Family Reunion
Breakdowns of 1941
Bette Davis: Larger Than Life
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Laugh-In
Ex-Lady
Mike Wallace Is Here
Breakdowns of 1944
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Footsteps on the Ceiling
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Show-Business at War
Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Another Man's Poison
Housewife
Front Page Woman
Dead Ringer
Stars on Horseback
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
Where Love Has Gone
In This Our Life
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
The Bride Came C.O.D.
It's Love I'm After
Special Agent
The Corn Is Green
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Satan Met a Lady
Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis
A Stolen Life
Bette Davis
Storm Center
The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Bette Davis at the Cinémathèque Française
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Old Acquaintance
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis
Complicated Women
The 42nd Street Special
Jezebel: Legend of the South
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino
Showbiz Ballyhoo
Hairway to the Stars
The Judge and Jake Wyler
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
If I Forget You
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
All About Bette
Just Around the Corner
Miss Moffat
Bette and Joan
