Bette Davis Eyes
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Title = Bette Davis Eyes
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URL = http://www.squidoo.com/BetteDavisEyes/
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Introduction =
"Bette Davis Eyes" is the name of a popular song, best known for being performed by Kim Carnes.
The song was written in 1974 by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon. DeShannon recorded the song that same year on
her album New Arrangement. But it was not until 1981, when Kim Carnes recorded her version of the song, that it
became a success. It spent nine non-consecutive weeks on top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (interrupted for one week by
the "Stars on 45 Medley"), and over eight million copies of the album Mistaken Identity (which includes the song) were
sold. The single went on to become the highest seller of the year and won the Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and
Record of the Year.
Bette Davis admitted to being a fan of the song and approached Carnes and the songwriters to thank them for making her
"a part of modern times."
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow performed the song in the movie Duets (2000), and her single release was a hit in some parts of
the world.
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Amazon =
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Write = Personal life
So who was Bette Davis?
Bette Davis
"I will not retire while I've still got my legs and my make-up box."
A publicity photo of Bette. She and Joan Crawford were bitter rivals.
Bette Davis was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis on April 5, 1908, in Lowell, Massachusetts. She was the oldest of two
daughters. Her father abandoned the family and she would always have a strained relationship with him. She began her
career on stage and appeared in numerous Broadway shows. Bette made her film debut in the 1931 drama The Bad
Sister. She married musician Harmon Nelson in 1932. During their marriage Bette had two abortions because she
thought a baby would hurt her career. Bette was offered a contract with Warner Brothers. In 1934 she was nominated for
an Academy Award for the drama Of Human Bondage. The following year she won an Academy Award for her
performance in Dangerous. Bette claimed that she gave the Academy Award statue the nickname "Oscar". She played a
southern belle in the 1938 film Jezebel and won her second Oscar. Bette was nicknamed "The Fifth Warner Brother".
She divorced Harmon in 1939. Bette became one of the most successful actresses of the 1940s with hit movies including
Now, Voyager, The Great Lie, and Mr. Skeffington. In 1941 she became the first female president of the American
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Bette married innkeeper Arthur Farnsworth, in 1942. He died three years
later after an accidental fall. The great love of her life was director William Wyler.
A publicity photo of Bette. She said her beauty secret was always wearing brown mascara.
Their affair lasted for decades but he was married and refused to leave his wife. She also had a serious relationship with
Howard Hughes. Unhappy with the roles she was being given she sued Warner Brothers. In 1945 Bette married William
Grant Sherry. Their daughter, Barbara, was born in 1946. While making the drama All About Eve Bette fell in love with
her costar, Gary Merrill. She divorced her husband and married Gary in 1950. The couple adopted two children - Margo
and Michael. Margo was mentally retarded and had to be institutionalized. Gary and Bette had a tumultuous marriage
and they divorced in 1960. In 1963 Bette received her eleventh Oscar nomination for her performance in What Ever
Happened to Baby Jane?. She wrote several books and even recorded an album. In the early 1980s Bette was
diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy. She also suffered a stroke. Despite her illnesses she
continued to work in movies and on television. Bette became a frequent guest on talk shows. She was devastated when
her daughter, Barbara, wrote an unflattering tell-all book. Bette never spoke to her again. She died on October 6, 1989,
from complications of breast cancer. Bette is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.
Bette photographed by George Hurrell. She auditioned for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind
Bette with her stand-in. When Bette first came to Hollywood producers wanted to change her name to "Bettina Dawes".
http://www.classicactresses.com/bette.html
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Write = Career
She was the first actress to receive ten Academy Award nominations and the first woman to receive a Lifetime
Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.
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Autographed photo of Better Davis
Bette Davis & Douglas Fairbanks Jr
in 1932's thriller "Parachute Jumper".
http://www.movietreasures.com/Bette_Davis/bette_davis.html
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Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bette_Davis
Bette Davis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Bette Davis
from the Jezebel film trailer, 1938.
Birth name
Ruth Elizabeth Davis
Born
April 5, 1908
Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
Died
October 6, 1989
Neuilly, France
Academy
Awards
Best Actress
1935 Dangerous
1938 Jezebel
Emmy
Awards
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
1979 Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter
Bette Davis (April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989), born Ruth Elizabeth Davis, was a two-time Academy Award-winning
American actress of film, television and theater.
After appearing in Broadway plays, Davis moved to Hollywood in 1930, but her early films for Universal Studios were
unsuccessful. She joined Warner Brothers 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 actresses. 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 in romantic dramas.
Known for her forceful and often intense style, Davis was recognized for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters.
She gained a reputation as a perfectionist who could be highly combative, and her 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 was the first actress to receive ten Academy Award nominations and the first woman to receive a
Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. Her career went through several periods of decline, 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. However, she continued acting until shortly before her death from cancer, with more than one hundred
film, television and theater roles to her credit.
Background and early acting career
Ruth Elizabeth Davis, known from early childhood as "Betty", was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Harlow Morrell Davis
and Ruth ("Ruthie") Augusta Favor; her sister, Barbara ("Bobby"), was born October 25, 1909. The family was of English,
French, and Welsh ancestry.[1] In 1915, Davis's parents separated and, in 1921, Ruth Davis moved to New York City with
her daughters, where she worked as a photographer. Betty was inspired to become an actress after seeing Rudolph
Valentino in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) and Mary Pickford in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921),[2] and
changed the spelling of her name to "Bette" after Honoré de Balzac's La Cousine Bette.[3] She received encouragement
from her mother, who had aspired to become an actress.
She attended Cushing Academy, a finishing school in Ashburnham, Massachusetts where she met her future husband,
Harmon O. Nelson, known as "Ham". In 1926, she saw a production of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck with Blanche Yurka
and Peg Entwistle. Davis later recalled that it inspired her full commitment to her chosen career, and said, "Before that
performance I wanted to be an actress. When it ended, I had to be an actress... exactly like Peg Entwistle".[4] She
auditioned for admission to Eva LeGallienne's Manhattan Civic Repertory, but was rejected by LeGallienne who described
her attitude as "insincere" and "frivolous". [5] She was accepted by the John Murray Anderson School of Theatre, where
she also studied dance with Martha Graham.
She auditioned for George Cukor's stock theater company, and although he was not impressed, he gave Davis her first
paid acting assignment – a one week stint playing the part of a chorus girl in the play, Broadway. She was later chosen to
play Hedwig, the character she had seen Peg Entwistle play, in The Wild Duck. After performing in Philadelphia,
Washington and Boston, she made her Broadway debut in 1929 in Broken Dishes, and followed it with Solid South. She
was seen by a Universal Studios talent scout, who invited her to Hollywood for a screen test.
[edit] Transition from stage to film
Accompanied by her mother, Davis traveled by train to Hollywood, arriving on December 13, 1930. She later recounted
her surprise that nobody from the studio was there to meet her; a studio employee had waited for her, but left because he
saw nobody who "looked like an actress". She failed her first screen test but was used in several screen tests for other
actors. In a 1971 interview with Dick Cavett, she related the experience with the observation, "I was the most Yankee-est,
most modest virgin who ever walked the earth. They laid me on a couch, and I tested fifteen men... They all had to lie on
top of me and give me a passionate kiss. Oh, I thought I would die. Just thought I would die." [6] A second test was
arranged for Davis, for the film A House Divided (1931). Hastily dressed in an ill-fitting costume with a low neckline, she
was rebuffed by the director William Wyler, who loudly commented to the assembled crew, "What do you think of these
dames who show their chests and think they can get jobs?" [7] Carl Laemmle, the head of Universal Studios, considered
terminating Davis's employment, but the cinematographer Karl Freund told him she had "lovely eyes" and would be
suitable for The Bad Sister (1931), in which she subsequently made her film debut. [8] Her nervousness was compounded
when she overheard the Chief of Production, Carl Laemmle Jr., comment to another executive that she had "about as
much sex appeal as Slim Summerville", one of the film's co-stars.[9] The film was not a success, and her next role in
Seed (1931) was too brief to attract attention.
Universal Studios renewed her contract for three months, and she appeared in Waterloo Bridge (1931) before being
loaned to Columbia Pictures for The Feathered Serpent and The Menace, and to Capital Films for Hell's House (all 1932).
After nine months, and six unsuccessful films, Laemmle elected not to renew her contract.
George Arliss chose Davis for the lead female role in The Man Who Played God (1932), and for the rest of her life, Davis
credited him with helping her achieve her "break" in Hollywood. The Saturday Evening Post wrote, "she is not only
beautiful, but she bubbles with charm", and compared her to Constance Bennett and Olive Borden.[10] Warner Brothers
signed her to a five year contract.
In 1932, she married "Ham" Nelson, who was scrutinized by the press; his $100 a week earnings compared unfavorably
with Davis's reported $1000 a week income. Davis addressed the issue in an interview, pointing out that many Hollywood
wives earned more than their husbands, but the situation proved difficult for Nelson, who refused to allow Davis to
purchase a house until he could afford to pay for it himself.[11]
As the shrewish Mildred in Of Human Bondage (1934), Davis was acclaimed for her dramatic performance.
Enlarge
As the shrewish Mildred in Of Human Bondage (1934), Davis was acclaimed for her dramatic performance.
After more than twenty film roles, the role of the vicious and slatternly Mildred Rogers in Of Human Bondage (1934)
earned Davis her first major critical acclaim. Many actresses feared playing unsympathetic characters, and several had
refused the role, but Davis viewed it as an opportunity to show the range of her acting skills. Her costar, Leslie Howard,
was initially dismissive of her, but as filming progressed his attitude changed and he subsequently spoke highly of her
abilities. The director, John Cromwell, allowed her relative freedom, and commented, "I let Bette have her head. I trusted
her instincts." She insisted that she be portrayed realistically in her death scene, and said, "the last stages of
consumption, poverty and neglect are not pretty and I intended to be convincing-looking".[12]
The film was a success, and Davis's confronting characterization won praise from critics, with Life Magazine writing that
she gave "probably the best performance ever recorded on the screen by a U.S. actress."[13] When she was not
nominated for an Academy Award, The Hollywood Citizen News questioned the omission and Norma Shearer, herself a
nominee, joined a campaign to have Davis nominated. This prompted an announcement from the Academy president,
Howard Estabrook, who said that under the circumstances "any voter...may write on the ballot his or her personal choice
for the winners", thus allowing, for the only time in the Academy's history, the consideration of a candidate not officially
nominated for an award.[14] Claudette Colbert won the award for It Happened One Night but the uproar led to a change in
Academy voting procedures the following year, whereby nominations were determined by votes from all eligible members
of a particular branch, rather than by a smaller committee,[15] with results independently tabulated by the accounting firm
Price Waterhouse.[16]
Davis appeared in Dangerous (1935) as a troubled actress and received very good reviews. E. Arnot Robertson wrote in
Picture Post, "I think Bette Davis would probably have been burned as a witch if she had lived two or three hundred years
ago. She gives the curious feeling of being charged with power which can find no ordinary outlet". The New York Times
hailed her as "becoming one of the most interesting of our screen actresses."[17] She won the Academy Award for Best
Actress for the role, but felt it was belated recognition for Of Human Bondage.
For the rest of her life, Davis maintained that she gave the statue its familiar name of "Oscar" because she felt it
resembled her husband, whose middle name was Oscar, [18] although her claim has been disputed by the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, among others.
In her next film, The Petrified Forest (1936), Davis costarred with Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart, but Bogart, in his
first important role, received most of the critics' praise. Davis appeared in several films over the next two years but most
were poorly received.
[edit] Legal case
Convinced that her career was being damaged by a succession of mediocre films, Davis accepted an offer to appear in
two films in England. Knowing that she was breaching her contract with Warner Brothers, she fled to Canada to avoid
legal papers being served upon her. Eventually brought to court in England, she later recalled the opening statement of
the barrister, Sir Patrick Hastings, who represented Warner Brothers. Hastings urged the court to "come to the conclusion
that this is rather a naughty young lady and that what she wants is more money". He mocked Davis's description of her
contract as "slavery" by stating, incorrectly, that she was being paid $1,350 per week. He remarked, "if anybody wants to
put me into perpetual servitude on the basis of that remuneration, I shall prepare to consider it". The British press offered
little support to Davis, and portrayed her as overpaid and ungrateful.[19]
Davis explained her viewpoint to a journalist, saying "I knew that, if I continued to appear in any more mediocre pictures, I
would have no career left worth fighting for".[20] Davis's counsel presented her complaints - that she could be suspended
without pay for refusing a part, with the period of suspension added to her contract, that she could be called upon to play
any part within her abilities regardless of her personal beliefs, that she could be required to support a political party
against her beliefs, and that her image and likeness could be displayed in any manner deemed applicable by the studio.
Jack Warner testified, and was asked, "Whatever part you choose to call upon her to play, if she thinks she can play it,
whether it is distasteful and cheap, she has to play it?" Warner replied, "Yes, she must play it."[21]
Davis lost the case and returned to Hollywood, in debt and without income, to resume her career. Olivia de Havilland
mounted a similar case in 1943 and won.
[edit] Success as "The Fourth Warner Brother"
Davis began work on Marked Woman (1937), as a prostitute in a contemporary gangster drama inspired by the case of
Lucky Luciano. The film, and Davis's performance, received excellent reviews and her stature as a leading actress was
enhanced.
David O. Selznick was conducting a search for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara, a role Davis coveted, in Gone With the
Wind, and a radio poll named Davis as the audience favorite. She won a second Academy Award for her next film,
Jezebel (1938), in which she portrayed a willful and self absorbed Southern Belle, much like Scarlett. Warner offered her
services to Selznick as part of a deal that also included Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, but Selznick did not consider
Davis as suitable, and rejected the offer. [22] During the filming of Jezebel, Davis entered a relationship with the director,
William Wyler. She later described him as the "love of my life", and said that making the film with him was "the time in my
life of my most perfect happiness".[23]
Jezebel marked the beginning of the most successful phase of Davis's career, and over the next few years she was listed
in the annual "Quigley Poll of the Top Ten Money Making Stars", which was compiled from the votes of movie exhibitors
throughout the U.S. for the stars that had generated the most revenue in their theaters over the previous year.[24] In
contrast to Davis's success, her husband, Ham Nelson, had failed to establish a career for himself, and their relationship
faltered. In 1938, Nelson obtained evidence that Davis was engaged in a sexual relationship with Howard Hughes and
subsequently filed for divorce citing Davis's "cruel and inhuman manner".[25]
Davis with her eyebrows and hairline shaved as Elizabeth I of England, in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
(1939).
Enlarge
Davis with her eyebrows and hairline shaved as Elizabeth I of England, in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
(1939).
She was emotional during the making of her next film, Dark Victory (1939), and considered abandoning it until the
producer Hal Wallis convinced her to channel her despair into her acting. The film became one of the highest grossing
films of the year, and the role of Judith Traherne brought her an Academy Award nomination. In later years, Davis cited
this performance as her personal favorite.[26]
She appeared in three other box office hits in 1939, The Old Maid with Miriam Hopkins, Juarez with Paul Muni and The
Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex with Errol Flynn. The latter was her first color film, and was one of her few color films
made during the height of her career. To play the elderly Elizabeth I of England, Davis shaved her hairline and eyebrows.
During filming she was visited on the set by the actor, Charles Laughton. She commented that she had a "nerve" playing
a woman in her sixties, to which Laughton replied, "Never not dare to hang yourself. That's the only way you grow in your
profession. You must continually attempt things that you think are beyond you, or you get into a complete rut". Recalling
the episode many years later, Davis remarked that Laughton's advice had influenced her throughout her career.[27]
Davis's distinctive eyes were used to dramatic effect, such as in this close-up from The Letter (1940)
Enlarge
Davis's distinctive eyes were used to dramatic effect, such as in this close-up from The Letter (1940)
By this time, Davis was Warner Brother's most profitable star, described as "The Fourth Warner Brother", and she was
given the most important of their female leading roles. Her image was considered with more care; although she continued
to play character roles, she was often filmed in close-ups that emphasized her distinctive eyes. All This and Heaven Too
(1940) was the most financially successful film of Davis's career to that point, while The Letter was considered "one of the
best pictures of the year" by the Hollywood Reporter, and Davis won admiration for her portrayal of an adulterous
killer.[28] During this time she was in a relationship with her former costar George Brent, who proposed marriage. Davis
refused, as she had met Arthur Farnsworth, a New England innkeeper. They were married in December 1940.
In January 1941, Davis became the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences but
antagonized the committee members with her brash manner and radical proposals. In view of the war in Europe, Davis
advocated changing the venue for Academy Awards ceremonies from banquet halls to theaters, and charging admission
to raise funds for the British War Relief. She also advocated that film extras should not have the opportunity to vote for
awards. Faced with the disapproval and resistance of the committee, Davis resigned, and was succeeded by Jean
Hersholt, who implemented the changes she had suggested.
William Wyler directed Davis in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes (1941), but they clashed over the interpretation of the
character, Regina Giddens. Originally played on stage by Tallulah Bankhead, Davis did not want to duplicate Bankhead's
performance, although in many scenes Wyler felt that Bankhead's interpretation was more appropriate. Davis refused to
compromise on several points, and although she received another Academy Award nomination for her performance, she
never worked with Wyler again.
[edit] War effort, and the Hollywood Canteen
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Davis spent the early months of 1942 traveling across the U.S. selling
war bonds. Criticized by Jack Warner for her tendency to cajole and harangue crowds into buying, she reminded him that
her audiences responded most strongly to her "bitch" performances. She considered herself to be proven correct when
she sold two million dollars worth of bonds in two days, as well as a picture of herself in Jezebel for $250,000. She also
performed for black regiments as the only white member of an acting troupe formed by Hattie McDaniel, that also included
Lena Horne and Ethel Waters.[29]
When John Garfield discussed opening a serviceman's club in Hollywood, Davis responded enthusiastically. With the aid
of Warner, Cary Grant and Jule Styne, they transformed an old nightclub into the "Hollywood Canteen", which opened on
October 3, 1942. Hollywood's most important stars volunteered their time and talents to entertain servicemen prior to them
being sent to war. Davis ensured that every night there would be at least a few important "names" for the visiting soldiers
to meet, often calling on friends at the last moment to ensure the soldiers would not be disappointed.[30] She appeared as
herself in the film Hollywood Canteen (1944) which used the canteen as the setting for a fictional story. The canteen
remained in operation until the end of World War II. Davis later commented, "There are few accomplishments in my life
that I am sincerely proud of. The Hollywood Canteen is one of them." In 1980, she was awarded the Distinguished Civilian
Service Medal, the United States Department of Defense's highest civilian award, for her work with the Hollywood
Canteen.[31]
Davis had initially shown little interest in the film Now, Voyager (1942) until Hal Wallis advised her that female audiences
needed romantic dramas to distract them from the reality of their lives. It became one of the best known of her "women's
pictures". In it she portrayed dowdy, repressed spinster Charlotte Vale, who is forced to cater to her domineering mother's
demands until psychiatric therapy and a physical makeover transform her into a beautiful, confident woman. The cigarette,
often used by Davis as a dramatic prop, featured prominently in one of the film's most imitated scenes, in which Paul
Henreid lit two cigarettes before passing one to Davis. Film reviewers complimented Davis on her performance despite
some perceived weaknesses in the film's narrative, with the National Board of Review commenting that Davis gave the
film "a dignity not fully warranted by the script".[32]
During the early 1940s several of Davis's film choices were influenced by the war; Watch on the Rhine (1943) featured her
in a relatively low-key role, as the wife of the leader of an underground anti-Nazi movement, while Thank Your Lucky
Stars (1943) was a lighthearted all-star musical cavalcade, with each of the featured stars donating their fee to the
Hollywood Canteen. Davis performed a novelty song, "They're Either Too Young or Too Old", which became a hit record
after the film's release.
Old Acquaintance (1943) reunited her with Miriam Hopkins in a story of two old friends who deal with the tensions created
when one of them becomes a successful novelist. Davis felt that Hopkins tried to upstage her throughout the film's
production, and the director Vincent Sherman and costar Gig Young later recalled the intense competitiveness and
animosity between the two actresses, and Davis often joked that she held back nothing in a scene in which she was
required to shake Hopkins in a fit of anger. [33]
[edit] Personal and professional setbacks
In August 1943, Davis's husband, Arthur Farnsworth, collapsed while walking along a Hollywood street, and died two days
later. An autopsy revealed that his fall had been caused by a skull fracture which had occurred about two weeks earlier.
Davis testified before an inquest that she knew of no event that might have caused the injury, and a finding of "accidental
death" was reached. Highly distraught, she attempted to withdraw from her next film Mr. Skeffington (1944), but Jack
Warner, who had halted production following Farnsworth's death, convinced her to continue.
Although she had gained a reputation for being forthright and somewhat confrontational during the making of some of her
previous films, her behavior during filming of Mr. Skeffington was erratic and out-of-character. She alienated the director,
Vincent Sherman, by refusing to film certain scenes, and insisted that some sets be rebuilt. She improvised dialogue,
causing confusion among other actors, and infuriated the writer Julius Epstein, who was also called upon to rewrite
scenes at her whim. Davis later explained her actions with the observation, "when I was most unhappy I lashed out rather
than whined." Some reviewers criticized Davis for the excess of her performance; James Agee wrote that she
"demonstrates the horrors of egocentricity on a marathonic scale",[34] but despite the mixed reviews, she received
another Academy Award nomination.
She married an artist, William Grant Sherry, in 1945. She had been drawn to him partly because he had never heard of
her and was therefore not intimidated by her, but after their marriage the disparity between their levels of professional
success and earnings led to tensions and arguments.[35]
The Corn is Green (1945) starred Davis as a dowdy English teacher, who saves a young Welsh miner from a life in the
coal pits, by offering him education. The film was well received by critics but did not find a substantial audience. A Stolen
Life (1946) received poor reviews, but was one of her biggest box-office successes. It was followed by Deception (1946),
the first of her films to lose money.[36]
In 1947, Davis gave birth to a daughter, Barbara (known as B.D.) and later wrote in her memoir that she became
absorbed in motherhood and considered ending her career. Her relationship with Sherry began to deteriorate and she
continued making films, but her popularity with audiences was steadily declining.[37] After the completion of Beyond the
Forest (1949), Jack Warner released Davis from her contract, at her request. The reviews that followed were scathing;
Newsweek called it "undoubtedly one of the most unfortunate stories [Davis] has ever tackled", while Dorothy Manners
writing for the Los Angeles Examiner, criticized the "sheer hysteria and overexposed histrionics" of Davis's performance,
and described the film as "an unfortunate finale to her brilliant career".[38] Hedda Hopper wrote, "If Bette had deliberately
set out to wreck her career, she could not have picked a more appropriate vehicle."[39] The film contained the line, "What
a dump!", which became closely associated with Davis after impersonators used it in their acts. In later years, Davis often
used it as her opening line at speaking engagements.
[edit] Starting a freelance career
As Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950), Davis prepares to deliver her iconic line, "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to
be a bumpy night."
Enlarge
As Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950), Davis prepares to deliver her iconic line, "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to
be a bumpy night."
By 1949, Davis and Sherry were estranged and Hollywood columnists were writing that Davis's career was at an end. She
filmed The Story of a Divorce (released in 1951 as Payment on Demand) and then, when original star Claudette Colbert
injured her back and was unable to perform, appeared as the glamorous, aging theatrical actress, Margo Channing, in All
About Eve (1950), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Davis described the script as "the best I ever read" and during
production, she established what would become a life-long friendship with her costar, Anne Baxter, and a romantic
relationship with her leading man, Gary Merrill, which led to marriage. Mankiewicz later remarked, "Bette was letter
perfect. She was syllable-perfect. The director's dream: the prepared actress".[40]
Critics responded positively to Davis's performance and several of her lines became well known, particularly, "Fasten your
seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night." She was again nominated for an Academy Award and critics such as Gene
Ringgold described her Margo as her "all-time best performance".[41] Pauline Kael wrote that much of Mankiewicz's
vision of "the theater" was "nonsense" but commended Davis, writing "[the film is] saved by one performance that is the
real thing: Bette Davis is at her most instinctive and assured. Her actress – vain, scared, a woman who goes too far in her
reactions and emotions – makes the whole thing come alive."[42]
Davis won a "Best Actress" award from the Cannes Film Festival, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award. She also
received the San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award as "Best Actress", having been named by them as the "Worst
Actress" of 1949 for Beyond the Forest. During this time she was invited to leave her handprints in the forecourt of
Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
In July 3, 1950 Davis's divorce from William Sherry was finalized, and on July 28 she married Gary Merrill. With Sherry's
consent, Merrill adopted B.D., Davis's daughter with Sherry, and in 1950, Davis and Merrill adopted a baby girl they
named Margot. The family traveled to England, where Davis and Merrill starred in a murder-mystery film, Another Man's
Poison. When it received lukewarm reviews and failed at the box office, Hollywood columnists wrote that Davis's
comeback had petered out, and an Academy Award nomination for The Star (1952) did not halt her decline.
Davis and Merrill adopted a baby boy, Michael, in 1952, and Davis appeared in a Broadway revue, Two's Company. She
was uncomfortable working outside of her area of expertise; she had never been a musical performer and her limited
theater experience had been more than twenty years earlier. She was also severely ill and was operated on for
osteomyelitis of the jaw. Margot was diagnosed as severely brain damaged due to an injury sustained during or shortly
after her birth, and was eventually placed in an institution. Davis and Merrill began arguing frequently, with B.D. later
recalling episodes of alcohol abuse and domestic violence.[43]
Few of Davis's films of the 1950s were successful and many of her performances were condemned by critics. The
Hollywood Reporter wrote of mannerisms "that you'd expect to find in a nightclub impersonation of [Davis]", while the
London critic, Richard Winninger, wrote, "Miss Davis, with more say than most stars as to what films she makes, seems to
have lapsed into egoism. The criterion for her choice of film would appear to be that nothing must compete with the full
display of each facet of the Davis art. Only bad films are good enough for her".[44] As her career declined, her marriage
continued to deteriorate until she filed for divorce in 1960. The following year, her mother died.
[edit] Renewed success
Davis received her final Academy Award nomination for her role as Baby Jane Hudson in What Ever Happened to Baby
Jane? (1962), opposite Joan Crawford.
Enlarge
Davis received her final Academy Award nomination for her role as Baby Jane Hudson in What Ever Happened to Baby
Jane? (1962), opposite Joan Crawford.
In 1962, Davis opened in the Broadway production, The Night of the Iguana to mostly mediocre reviews, and left the
production after four months due to "chronic illness." She then joined Glenn Ford and Ann-Margret for the Frank Capra
film A Pocketful of Miracles, based on a story by Damon Runyon. She accepted her next role, in the Grand Guignol horror
film, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? after reading the script and believing it could appeal to the same audience that
had recently made Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) a success. She negotiated a deal that would pay her ten percent of
the worldwide gross profits, in addition to her salary. The film became one of the year's biggest successes.[45]
Davis and Joan Crawford played two aging sisters, former actresses forced by circumstance to share a decaying
Hollywood mansion. The director, Robert Aldrich, explained that Davis and Crawford were each aware of how important
the film was to their respective careers and commented, "It's proper to say that they really detested each other, but they
behaved absolutely perfectly". [46] After filming was completed, their public comments against each other allowed the
tension to develop into a lifelong feud, and when Davis was nominated for an Academy Award, Crawford campaigned
against her. Davis also received her only BAFTA Award nomination for this performance.
B.D. also played a small role in the film, and when she and Davis visited the Cannes Film Festival to promote it, she met
Jeremy Hyman, an executive for Seven Arts Productions. After a short courtship, she married Hyman at the age of
sixteen, with Davis's permission.
Davis sustained her comeback over the course of several years. Dead Ringer (1964) was a crime drama in which she
played twin sisters and Where Love Has Gone (1964) was a romantic drama based on a Harold Robbins novel. Davis
played the mother of Susan Hayward but filming was hampered by heated arguments between Davis and Hayward.[47]
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) was Robert Aldrich's follow-up to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, in which he
planned to reunite Davis and Crawford, but when Crawford withdrew allegedly due to illness soon after filming began, she
was replaced by Olivia de Havilland. The film was a considerable success and brought renewed attention to its veteran
cast, which also included Joseph Cotten, Mary Astor and Agnes Moorehead.
By the end of the decade, Davis had also appeared in the British films The Nanny (1965) and The Anniversary (1968), but
her career again stalled.
[edit] Late career
Davis and Elizabeth Taylor in late 1981 during a show that was celebrating Taylor's life. Image by Alan Light
Enlarge
Davis and Elizabeth Taylor in late 1981 during a show that was celebrating Taylor's life. Image by Alan Light
In the early 1970s, Davis was invited to appear in New York, in a stage presentation, Great Ladies of the American
Cinema. Over five successive nights, a different female star discussed her career and answered questions from the
audience; Myrna Loy, Rosalind Russell, Lana Turner and Joan Crawford were the other participants. Davis was well
received and was invited to tour Australia with the similarly themed, Bette Davis in Person and on Film, and its success
allowed her to take the production to the United Kingdom.[48]
In the U.S., she appeared in the stage production, Miss Moffat, a musical adaptation of The Corn is Green, but after the
show was panned by the Philadelphia critics during its pre-Broadway run, she cited a back injury and abandoned the
show, which closed immediately. She played supporting roles in Burnt Offerings (1976) and The Disappearance of Aimee
(1976), but she clashed with Karen Black and Faye Dunaway, respectively the stars of the two productions, because she
felt that neither extended her an appropriate degree of respect, and that their behavior on the film sets was
unprofessional.[49]
In 1977, Davis became the first woman to receive the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award. The
televised event included comments from several of Davis's colleagues including William Wyler who joked that given the
chance Davis would still like to refilm a scene from The Letter to which Davis nodded. Jane Fonda, Henry Fonda and
Olivia de Havilland were among the actors who paid tribute, with de Havilland commenting that Davis "got the roles I
always wanted".[50]
Following the telecast she found herself in demand again, often having to choose between several offers. She accepted
roles in the television miniseries The Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978) and the film Death on the Nile (1978). For the
rest of her career the bulk of her work was for television. She won an Emmy Award for Strangers: The Story of a Mother
and Daughter (1979) with Gena Rowlands, and was nominated for her performances in White Mama (1980) and Little
Gloria... Happy at Last (1982). She also played supporting roles in two Disney films, Return from Witch Mountain (1978)
and The Watcher in the Woods (1980).
Her name became well known to a younger audience, when Kim Carnes's song "Bette Davis Eyes" became a worldwide
hit and the highest selling record of 1981 in the U.S., where it stayed at number one on the music charts for more than two
months. Davis's grandson was impressed that she was the subject of a hit-song and Davis considered it a compliment,
writing to both Carnes and the songwriters, and accepting the gift of gold and platinum records from Carnes, and hanging
them on her wall. [51]
She continued acting for television, appearing in Family Reunion (1981) opposite her grandson J. Ashley Hyman, A Piano
for Mrs. Cimino (1982) and Right of Way (1983) with James Stewart.
[edit] Illness, betrayal and death
In 1983, she was acting in the television series Hotel when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a
mastectomy. Within two weeks of her surgery she suffered four strokes which caused paralysis in the right side of her
face and in her left arm, and left her with slurred speech. She commenced a lengthy period of physical therapy and, aided
by her personal assistant, Kathryn Sermak, gained partial recovery from the paralysis.
During this time, her relationship with her daughter, B. D. Hyman, deteriorated when Hyman became a born again
Christian and attempted to persuade Davis to follow suit. With her health stable, she travelled to England to film the
Agatha Christie mystery, Murder with Mirrors (1985). Upon her return, she learned that Hyman had published a memoir,
titled My Mother's Keeper in which she chronicled a difficult mother and daughter relationship and depicted scenes of
Davis's overbearing and drunken behavior.
Several of Davis's friends commented that Hyman's depictions of events were not accurate; one said, "so much of the
book is out of context". Mike Wallace rebroadcast a Sixty Minutes interview he had filmed with Hyman a few years earlier
in which she commended Davis on her skills as a mother, and said that she had adopted many of Davis's principles in
raising her own children. Critics of Hyman noted that Davis had financially supported the Hyman family for several years
and had recently saved them from losing their house. Despite the acrimony of their divorce years earlier, Gary Merrill also
defended Davis. Interviewed by CNN, Merrill said that Hyman was motivated by "cruelty and greed". Davis's adopted son,
Michael Merrill, ended contact with Hyman and refused to speak to her again, as did Davis, who also disinherited her. [52]
In her memoir, This 'N That (1987), Davis wrote, "I am still recovering from the fact that a child of mine would write about
me behind my back, to say nothing about the kind of book it is. I will never recover as completely from B.D.'s book as I
have from the stroke. Both were shattering experiences." Her memoir concluded with a letter to her daughter, in which she
addressed her several times as "Hyman", and described her actions as "a glaring lack of loyalty and thanks for the very
privileged life I feel you have been given". She concluded with a reference to the title of Hyman's book, "If it refers to
money, if my memory serves me right, I've been your keeper all these many years. I am continuing to do so, as my name
has made your book about me a success."[53]
Davis's final completed role in The Whales of August (1987) brought her acclaim during a period in which she was beset
with failing health and personal trauma.
Enlarge
Davis's final completed role in The Whales of August (1987) brought her acclaim during a period in which she was beset
with failing health and personal trauma.
Davis appeared in the television film, As Summers Die (1986) and Lindsay Anderson's The Whales of August (1987), in
which she played the blind sister of Lillian Gish. The film earned good reviews, with one critic writing, "Bette crawls across
the screen like a testy old hornet on a windowpane, snarling, staggering, twitching – a symphony of misfired
synapses".[54] Her last performance was the title role in Larry Cohen's Wicked Stepmother (1989). By this time her health
was failing, and after disagreements with Cohen she walked off the set. The script was rewritten to place more emphasis
on Barbara Carrera's character, and the reworked version was released after Davis's death.
After abandoning Wicked Stepmother and with no further film offers, Davis appeared on several talk shows and was
interviewed by Johnny Carson, Joan Rivers, Larry King and David Letterman, discussing her career but refusing to
discuss her daughter. Her appearances were popular; Lindsay Anderson observed that the public enjoyed seeing her
behaving "so bitchy". He commented, "I always disliked that because she was encouraged to behave badly. And I'd
always hear her described by that awful word, feisty."[55]
During 1988 and 1989, Davis was feted for her career achievements, receiving the Kennedy Center Honor, the Legion of
Honor from France, the Campione d'Italia from Italy and the Film Society of Lincoln Center Lifetime Achievement Award.
She collapsed during the American Cinema Awards in 1989 and later discovered that her cancer had returned. She
recovered sufficiently to travel to Spain where she was honored at the Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival,
but during her visit her health rapidly deteriorated. Too weak to make the long journey back to the U.S., she travelled to
France where she died on October 6, 1989, at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
She was interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, alongside her mother, Ruthie, and
sister, Bobby. On her tombstone is written: "She did it the hard way", an epitaph that had been suggested to her by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz shortly after they had filmed All About Eve.[56]
In 1997, the executors of her estate, Michael Merrill, her son, and Kathryn Sermak, her former assistant, established "The
Bette Davis Foundation" which awards college scholarships to promising actors and actresses.[31]
[edit] Comments and criticism
In 1964, Jack Warner spoke of the "magic quality that transformed this sometimes bland and not beautiful little girl into a
great artist",[56] and in a 1988 interview, Davis remarked that, unlike many of her contemporaries, she had forged a
career without the benefit of beauty.[57] She admitted she was terrified during the making of her earliest films and that she
became tough by necessity. "Until you're known in my profession as a monster, you are not a star", she said, "[but] I've
never fought for anything in a treacherous way. I've never fought for anything but the good of the film".[58] During the
making of All About Eve, Joseph L. Mankiewicz told her of the perception in Hollywood that she was difficult, and she
explained that when the audience saw her on screen, they did not consider that her appearance was the result of
numerous people working behind the scenes. If she was presented as "a horse's ass... forty feet wide, and thirty feet
high", that is all the audience "would see or care about".[59]
While lauded for her achievements, Davis and her films were sometimes derided; Pauline Kael described Now, Voyager
as a "shlock classic",[60] and by the mid 1940s her sometimes mannered and histrionic performances had become the
subject of caricature. Reviewers such as Edwin Schallert for the Los Angeles Times praised Davis's performance in Mr.
Skeffington (1944), while observing, "the mimics will have more fun than a box of monkeys imitating Miss Davis", and
Dorothy Manners writing for the Los Angeles Examiner said of her performance in the poorly received Beyond the Forest,
"no night club caricaturist has ever turned in such a cruel imitation of the Davis mannerisms as Bette turns on herself in
this one." Time Magazine noted that Davis was compulsively watchable even while criticizing her acting technique,
summarizing her performance in Dead Ringer (1964) with the observation, "her acting, as always, isn't really acting: it's
shameless showing off. But just try to look away!"[61]
She attracted a gay following and was frequently imitated by female impersonators such as Charles Pierce.[62]
Attempting to explain her popularity with gay audiences, the journalist Jim Emerson wrote, "Was she just a camp
figurehead because her brittle, melodramatic style of acting hadn't aged well? Or was it that she was 'Larger Than Life', a
tough broad who had survived? Probably some of both."[57]
Her film choices were often unconventional; she sought roles as manipulators and killers in an era when actresses usually
preferred to play sympathetic characters, and she excelled in them. She favored authenticity over glamour and was willing
to change her own appearance if it suited the character. Claudette Colbert commented that Davis was the first actress to
play roles older than herself, and therefore did not have to make the difficult transition to character parts as she aged.[63]
As she entered old age, Davis was acknowledged for her achievements. John Springer, who had arranged her speaking
tours of the early 1970s, wrote that despite the accomplishments of many of her contemporaries, Davis was "the star of
the thirties and into the forties", achieving notability for the variety of her characterizations and her ability to assert herself,
even when her material was mediocre. Individual performances continued to receive praise; in 1987, Bill Collins analyzed
The Letter (1941), and described her performance as "a brilliant, subtle achievement", and wrote, "Bette Davis makes
Leslie Crosbie one of the most extraordinary females in movies."[65] In a 2000 review for All About Eve, Roger Ebert
noted, "Davis was a character, an icon with a grand style, so even her excesses are realistic."
A few months before her death in 1989, Davis was one of several actors featured on the cover of Life. In a film
retrospective that celebrated the films and stars of 1939, Life concluded that Davis was the most significant actress of her
era, and highlighted Dark Victory as one of the most important films of the year. Her death made front-page news
throughout the world as the "close of yet another chapter of the Golden Age of Hollywood". Angela Lansbury summed up
the feeling of those of the Hollywood community who attended her memorial service, commenting after a sample from
Davis's films were screened, that they had witnessed "an extraordinary legacy of acting in the twentieth century by a real
master of the craft", that should provide "encouragement and illustration to future generations of aspiring actors".
In 1999, the American Film Institute published its list of the "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars", which was the result of a film
industry poll to determine the "50 Greatest American Screen Legends" in order to raise public awareness and
appreciation of classic film. Of the 25 actresses listed, Davis was ranked at number two, behind Katharine Hepburn.
[edit] Academy Awards and nominations
Bette Davis became the first woman to secure 10 nominations for the Best Actress Oscar, and in the intervening years,
only Katharine Hepburn and Meryl Streep have surpassed this figure.
Steven Spielberg purchased Davis's Oscars for Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938) when they were offered for auction,
and returned them to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
* 1962: Nominated for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
* 1952: Nominated for The Star
* 1950: Nominated for All About Eve
* 1944: Nominated for Mr. Skeffington
* 1942: Nominated for Now, Voyager
* 1941: Nominated for The Little Foxes
* 1940: Nominated for The Letter
* 1939: Nominated for Dark Victory
* 1938: Won for Jezebel
* 1935: Won for Dangerous
As she entered old age, Davis was acknowledged for her achievements.
In a 2000 review for All About Eve, Roger Ebert noted, "Davis was a character, an icon with a grand style, so even her
excesses are realistic."
A few months before her death in 1989, Davis was one of several actors featured on the cover of Life. In a film
retrospective that celebrated the films and stars of 1939, Life concluded that Davis was the most significant actress of her
era, and highlighted Dark Victory as one of the most important films of the year. Her death made front-page news
throughout the world as the "close of yet another chapter of the Golden Age of Hollywood". Angela Lansbury summed up
the feeling of those of the Hollywood community who attended her memorial service, commenting after a sample from
Davis's films were screened, that they had witnessed "an extraordinary legacy of acting in the twentieth century by a real
master of the craft", that should provide "encouragement and illustration to future generations of aspiring actors".
In 1999, the American Film Institute published its list of the "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars", which was the result of a film
industry poll to determine the "50 Greatest American Screen Legends" in order to raise public awareness and
appreciation of classic film. Of the 25 actresses listed, Davis was ranked at number two, behind Katharine Hepburn.
*****************************************************************************************
Gravesite
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=258
Bette Davis is buried at
Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA
Plot: Court of Remembrance, large white tomb to the left of the entrance.
6300 Forest Lawn Drive Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California USA
Postal Code: 90068
Phone: 800-204-3131
http://www.forestlawn.com
She is not alone in her grave at Forest Lawn; her mother and sister are buried nearby. A few months prior to her death
she said, "You know what they'll write on my tombstone, "she did it the hard way.” This epitaph is emblazoned on her
sarcophagus at Forest Lawn. (bio by: Donald Greyfield)
*****************************************************************************************
Bette Davis Eyes Song
Bette Davis Eyes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Bette Davis Eyes" is the name of a popular song, best known for being performed by Kim Carnes.
The song was written in 1974 by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon. DeShannon recorded the song that same year on
her album New Arrangement. But it was not until 1981, when Kim Carnes recorded her version of the song, that it
became a success. It spent nine non-consecutive weeks on top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (interrupted for one week by
the "Stars on 45 Medley"), and over eight million copies of the album Mistaken Identity (which includes the song) were
sold. The single went on to become the highest seller of the year and won the Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and
Record of the Year.
Bette Davis admitted to being a fan of the song and approached Carnes and the songwriters to thank them for making her
"a part of modern times."
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow performed the song in the movie Duets (2000), and her single release was a hit in some parts of
the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bette_Davis_Eyes
Kim Carnes
Kim Carnes Bette Davis Eyes is one of those songs which, if you're an American who lived through the 1980s, you heard.
If you don't know the song, it must be because you were hiding out in a shack on the top of a mountain in Montana. Prior
to the chart-topping, brain-popping success of Bette Davis Eyes, Carnes was primarily known in the music industry for her
songwriting talents. Together with husband and collaborator Dave Ellington Davis had penned songs for the likes of
Barbara Streisand, Frank Sinatra and Kenny Rogers - not just a high profile bunch, but an artistically diverse group.
"Bette Davis Eyes" was hardly a groundbreaking pop single, but that didn't stop it from becoming one of the most played
tracks of the decade. After reaching the number one spot in the States it stayed there for over two months. The work that
followed saw respectable chart action, but she never reached the top spot again.
Bette Davis Eyes
Her hair is Harlow gold, her lips sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold, she's got Better Davis eyes
She'll turn the music on you, you won't have to think twice
She's pure as New York snow, she got Bette Davis eyes
And she'll tease you, she'll unease you
All the better just to please you
She's precocious, and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
She got Greta Garbo's standoff sighs, she's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll let you take her home, it works her appetite
She'll lay you on the throne, she got Bette Davis eyes
She'll take a tumble on you, roll you like you were dice
Until you come out blue, she's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll expose you, when she snows you
Hope you're pleased with the crumbs she throws you
She's ferocious and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she's a spy, she's got Bette Davis eyes
And she'll tease you, she'll unease you
All the better just to please you
She's precocious, and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she's a spy, she's got Bette Davis eyes...
http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/artists/kimcarnes.htm
*****************************************************************************************
Citizen Squid board comment 11 18 06
_{A lone voice cries out from the darkness}...hello?)_
Never, never, never ask. "So what could go wrong?" LOL
I won't depress everyone with the gory details, ('cause I'm in a playoff battel with Lewis for Most
Positive - LOL).
I DID try the itunes module, and it works beautifully.
Serendipitously, I was planning a lens on Bette Davis (I’m a big fan) so I dropped “Bette Davis Eyes”
in. Have tried multiple times to upload photos to various modules in the lens though _(I’ve got some
real beauties - LOL)_ but alas...
Will try again though _{she said with her never-say-die attitude, holding her keyboard aloft in her
tightly clenched fist, a la Scarlett O’Hara lol}_
Bette Davis was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis April 5th. 1908 in Lowell, Massachusetts.
She was nicknamed "The First Lady of Film."
Her performances in Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938) earned her Oscars. She is best known for
her character Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950).
One of her classmates at John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School in New York was Lucille Ball.
Bette Davis was the first woman to be president of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences
(elected 1941).
She is mentioned by name in Madonna's #1 hit "Vogue."
Nominated for an Academy Award 5 years in a row for movies in 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941 and 1942.
She shares the record for most consecutive nominations with Greer Garson.
www.songfacts.com/songimage.php?id=2289
*******************************************************************
Image with her name written on it
http://enterthelaughter.com/images/JezebelTrailerBetteDavis2.jpg
Image with her holding a cigarette - polka dot background
http://enterthelaughter.com/images/Bette_Davis_eyes.JPG
Image of mausoleum at cemetery
http://enterthelaughter.com/images/bette-davis-cemetery.jpg