BETTE DAVIS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Bette Davis born, Ruth Elizabeth Davis, on April 15th, 1908 in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA.  Her parents got divorced when she was just a child and she was raised by her mother with her sister.  Even as a young child, she always wanted to be the center of attention. 

Bette and her sister were sent to boarding school at the Cushing Academy where she graduated from.  She tried to enroll at Eva LeGallienne's Manhattan Civic Repertory, but was denied admittance.  So instead she attended the John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School.  Her first stage performance was in the off Broadway play, "The Earth Between" (1923).  A couple years later she finally had the opportunity to work on Broadway in, "Broken Dishes" (1929). 

In the 1930's Davis was hired by Universal and her first  performance in the movie, "Bad Sister" (1931) didn't impress.  She finally found success when she signed a contract with Warner Brothers in 1932.  Under her contract, she appeared in, "The Man who Played God" (1932) and  when Warner Brothers loaned her to RKO in 1934 for her role in, "Of Human Bondage" (1934) it lead to her first Academy Award nomination.  Two other films also made during this decade, "Dangerous" (1935) and "Jezebel" (1938) won her an actresses highest honor, the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Davis wanted out of her contract with Warner Brothers as she felt they were not casting her in rolls that suited her.  She threatened to move to England, but was sued by Warner Brothers.  There was a major legal battle, and she did not win, however, once she returned back to Warner Brothers she did get cast in better roles. 

Davis made many successful 40's films and by 1942, she was the highest paid woman in America.   Her films were  beginning to get weaker than the last and by the time her Warner Brothers contract had ended in 1949 the movies were disappointing.  However, her film career did receive a boost from her performance as Margo Channing, in, "All About Eve" (1950). and another of her most memorable roles in, "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" (1962) where she received another Oscar Nomination.   

For decades, Bette Davis was one of Hollywood's greatest leading ladies.   She continued to work in films such as, "Burnt Offerings" (1976) and "Death of The Nile" (1979).  She even won an Emmy for "Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter".  Also, in 1977, she was the first woman to be honored with the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Into the 80's, Davis worked in films and TV even though a stroke had impaired her appearance and mobility.  She also authored "This N That" during her recovery from the stroke.  Her last book was, "Bette Davis, The Lonely Life".

Davis's personal life was as dramatic as her acting. She was married four times. She had a daughter, B.D., with her third husband, William Grant Sherry. She adopted two children, Margot and Michael, while married to her fourth husband, Gary Merrill.
 
Bette Davis passed away, October 6, 1989 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France following a long battle with breast cancer, and after having suffered at least one serious stroke.  She was often referred to as, 'The First Lady of the American Screen'.  Her career consisted of roles in over 100 films and she was also the first woman to be president of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.  Michael Merrill, Bette's son, and Kathryn Sermak, Bette's personal assistant, are now the executors of her estate. In her memory, they created The Bette Davis Foundation, which provides financial assistance to young actors and actresses.

Bette Davis has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in recognition for her contributions to the Motion Picture Industry.

Filmography

1931   Bad Sister
1932   Cabin in the Cotton
1932   The Man Who Played God
1934   Of Human Bondage
1934   Bordertown
1935   Dangerous
1936   The Petrified Forest
1936   Golden Arrow
1937   Marked Woman
1937   Kid Galahad
1937   It's Love I'm After
1937   That Certain Woman
1938   Jezebel
1938   The Sisters
1939   Dark Victory
1939   Juarez
1939   The Old Maid
1939   The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
1940   All This and Heaven Too
1940   The Letter
1941   The Great Lie
1941   The Little Foxes
1941   The Bride Came COD
1941   The Man Who Came to Dinner
1942   In This Our Life
1942   Now Voyager
1943   Watch on the Rhine
1943   Old Acquaintance
1944   Mr Skeffington
1945   The Corn Is Green
1946   A Stolen Life
1947   Deception
1948   Winter Meeting
1948   June Bride
1950   All About Eve
1951   Payment on Demand
1951   Another Man's Poison
1952   Phone Call from a Stranger
1952   The Star
1955   The Virgin Queen
1956   Storm Center
1956   The Catered Affair 
1959   John Paul Jones
1959   The Scapegoat
1961   Pocketful of Miracles
1962   Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
1964   Dead Ringer
1964   Where Love Has Gone
1964   Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1965   The Nanny
1967   The Anniversary
1969   Connecting Rooms
1971   Bunny O'Hare
1976   Burnt Offerings
1979   Death on the Nile
1980   Watcher in the Woods
1987   The Whales of August
1989   Wicked Stepmother