Bette Davis
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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
Credits
All About Eve (1950)
as Margo Channing
Death on the Nile (1978)
as Marie Van Schuyler
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
as Baby Jane Hudson
Juarez (1939)
as Empress Carlotta von Hapsburg
The Scapegoat (1959)
as Countess
June Bride (1948)
as Linda Gilman
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady (1982)
as Self
Mr. Skeffington (1944)
as Fanny Trellis
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
as (in "Deception") (archive footage)
Now, Voyager (1942)
as Charlotte Vale
Housewife (1934)
as Patricia Berkeley
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
as Charlotte Hollis
Morceaux de Cannes (2021)
as Self (archive footage)
Return from Witch Mountain (1978)
as Letha Wedge
In This Our Life (1942)
as Stanley Timberlake Kingsmill
Burnt Offerings (1976)
as Aunt Elizabeth
Jezebel (1938)
as Julie Marsden
Directed by William Wyler (1986)
as Self
Madonna: Madame X (2021)
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jimmy the Gent (1934)
as Joan Martin
Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
as Apple Annie
John Paul Jones (1959)
as Empress Catherine the Great
Marked Woman (1937)
as Mary Dwight Strauber
The Little Foxes (1941)
as Regina Hubbard Giddens
Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood (1987)
as (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1942 (1942)
as Self
Miss Moffat (1974)
as Miss Moffat
The Watcher in the Woods (1980)
as Mrs. Aylwood
All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
as Henriette Deluzy-Desportes
Dark Victory (1939)
as Judith Traherne
Dead Ringer (1964)
as Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips
The Disappearance of Aimee (1976)
as Minnie Kennedy
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored (2013)
as Self (archive footage)
The Bad Sister (1931)
as Laura Madison
Satan Met a Lady (1936)
as Valerie Purvis
Bette Davis (1972)
as Self
Special Agent (1935)
as Julie Gardner
The Petrified Forest (1936)
as Gabrielle "Gabby" Maple
Listen to Me Marlon (2015)
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
as Queen Elizabeth
Night of 100 Stars (1982)
as Self
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006)
as Self (archive footage)
The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert (2005)
as Self (archive footage)
Three on a Match (1932)
as Ruth Westcott
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018)
as Self (archive footage)
The Letter (1940)
as Leslie Crosbie
Phone Call from a Stranger (1952)
as Marie Hoke
The Whales of August (1987)
as Libby Strong
The Nanny (1965)
as Nanny
Watch on the Rhine (1943)
as Sara Müller
Hollywood Canteen (1944)
as Self
20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932)
as Fay Wilson
The Sisters (1938)
as Louise Elliott Medlin
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage (1983)
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
All About Bette (1994)
as Self
Footsteps on the Ceiling (2013)
as Margo Channing (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1949 (1949)
as Self
The Fabulous Allan Carr (2017)
as Self (archive footage)
Kid Galahad (1937)
as Louise 'Fluff' Phillips
Hello Mother, Goodbye! (1974)
as Mother
The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
as Joan Winfield
The Girl from 10th Avenue (1935)
as Miriam A. Brady
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards (1940)
as Self
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941)
as Maggie Cutler
Wicked Stepmother (1989)
as Miranda Pierpoint
Deception (1946)
as Christine Radcliffe
Front Page Woman (1935)
as Ellen Garfield
A Stolen Life (1946)
as Kate Bosworth / Patricia Bosworth
Jezebel: Legend of the South (2006)
as Self (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1941 (1941)
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Where Love Has Gone (1964)
as Mrs. Gerald Hayden
Of Human Bondage (1934)
as Mildred Rogers
Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis (1996)
as Self (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year (2009)
as Self (archive footage)
The Scopone Game (1972)
as 'A vecchia
The Virgin Queen (1955)
as Queen Elizabeth I
Way Back Home (1931)
as Mary Lucy Duffy
Breakdowns of 1944 (1944)
as Self
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire (2014)
as Self - Actress (archive footage)
The Great Lie (1941)
as Maggie Patterson Van Allen
The Man Who Played God (1932)
as Grace Blair
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning" (1936)
Actor
The 42nd Street Special (1933)
as Self (uncredited)
As Summers Die (1986)
as Hannah Loftin
Another Man's Poison (1951)
as Janet Frobisher
It's Love I'm After (1937)
as Joyce Arden
The Horror Show (1979)
as (archive footage)
Marilyn at the Movies (2011)
as Self (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s (1984)
as (archive footage)
The Old Maid (1939)
as Charlotte Lovell
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka (2009)
as Self (archive footage)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies (1995)
as Self (archive footage)
Mike Wallace Is Here (2019)
as (archive footage)
The Anniversary (1968)
as Mrs. Taggart
Bureau of Missing Persons (1933)
as Norma Roberts
The Adventures of Errol Flynn (2005)
as Queen Elizabeth (archive footage)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema (2007)
as Self (archive footage)
Fashions of 1934 (1934)
as Lynn Mason
Bette and Joan (2017)
as Self (archive footage)
Murder with Mirrors (1985)
as Carrie Louise Serrocold
Storm Center (1956)
as Alicia Hull
The Corn Is Green (1945)
as Miss Lilly Christabel Moffat
Skyward (1980)
as Billie Dupree
The Catered Affair (1956)
as Agnes Hurley
The Empty Canvas (1963)
as Dino's Mother
Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette (1978)
as Marie Van Schuyler
Joan Crawford: Always the Star (1996)
as Self (archive footage)
Show-Business at War (1943)
as Self
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies (2001)
as Self (archive footage)
Ex-Lady (1933)
as Helen Bauer
The Star (1952)
as Margaret Elliot
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
as Self
Showbiz Goes to War (1982)
as (archive footage)
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino (1982)
as Esther McDonald Cimino
The Working Man (1933)
as Jenny Hartland alias Jane Grey
Just Around the Corner (1933)
as Ginger
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender (1997)
as Self (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988)
as Self (archive footage)
Dangerous (1935)
as Joyce Heath
A Dream Comes True (1935)
Actor
Waterloo Bridge (1931)
as Janet Cronin
This Is Joan Collins (2022)
as Self (Archive Footage)
Bordertown (1935)
as Mrs. Marie Roark
Hell's House (1932)
as Peggy Gardner
The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)
as Madge Norwood
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend (1986)
as archive footage
Mickey's 50 (1978)
as Self
Old Acquaintance (1943)
as Kit Marlowe
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers! (1982)
as Self (archive footage)
Frank Capra's American Dream (1997)
as Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition (2006)
as Self (archive footage)
The Dark Horse (1932)
as Kay Russell
Family Reunion (1981)
as Elizabeth Winfield
Madame Sin (1972)
as Madame Sin
Payment on Demand (1951)
as Joyce Ramsey (nee Jackson)
Bunny O'Hare (1971)
as Bunny O'Hare
That Certain Woman (1937)
as Mary Donnell
Vito (2011)
as Self (archive footage)
The Rich Are Always with Us (1932)
as Malbro
The Voice That Thrilled the World (1943)
as Self (segment 'Dangerous') (archive footage)
Backstory: 'All About Eve' (2000)
as Self (archive footage)
Beyond the Forest (1949)
as Rosa Moline
Parachute Jumper (1933)
as Patricia 'Alabama' Brent
Winter Meeting (1948)
as Susan Grieve
The Judge and Jake Wyler (1972)
as Judge Meredith
Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (2002)
as Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women (2003)
as Self (archive footage)
Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis (2009)
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers (1985)
as Self (archive footage)
Fog Over Frisco (1934)
as Arlene Bradford
Hairway to the Stars (1989)
as Self [Archive Footage]
If I Forget You (1940)
as Bette Davis
Breakdowns of 1936 (1936)
as Self
Shining Victory (1941)
Actor
Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell (1995)
as Self (archive footage)
Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter (1979)
as Lucy Mason
A Day at Santa Anita (1937)
as Bette Davis (uncredited)
Breakdowns of 1938 (1938)
as Self (archive footage)
Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973)
as Mrs. Elliott
Connecting Rooms (1970)
as Wanda Fleming
Stars on Horseback (1943)
Actor
Right of Way (1983)
as Miniature Dwyer
The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor (1973)
as Self (archive footage)
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano (1983)
as Self
So Big! (1932)
as Miss Dallas O'Mara
The Big Shakedown (1934)
as Norma Nelson
Bette Davis: Larger Than Life (2017)
as Self (archive footage)
The Decorator (1965)
as Liz
A Present with a Future (1943)
as Mother
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill (1994)
as Self (archive footage)
Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn (2015)
as Self (archive footage)
The Golden Arrow (1936)
as Daisy Appleby
Bride of Trailer Camp (2001)
as (archive footage)
Showbiz Ballyhoo (1982)
as Self (archive footage)
Seed (1931)
as Margaret Carter
How Real is 'The Star'? (2005)
as Self (archive footage)
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1) (1936)
as Self
Breakdowns of 1939 (1939)
as Self
Bette Davis at the Cinémathèque Française (1986)
as Self
White Mama (1980)
as Estelle Malone
South of Reno (1988)
Actor
The Menace (1932)
as Peggy Lowell
Breakdowns of 1937 (1937)
as Self