Bette Davis
American actress (1908-1989) · United States · Actors · Died at 81
Bette Davis is read about 4,809 times a day, in 90 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?The eyes, the cigarette, the clipped acid delivery - she made a career out of playing women no one else would touch. Bette Davis didn't soften for the camera; she leaned into the sharpness, the bitterness, the unsympathetic, and Hollywood had no choice but to watch.
A life in dates
The Whales of AugustFilm, 1987Libby Strong1983“May each of my grandsons know, at an early age, what his life's ambition is -- and may he be successful in his pursuit of that goal.”In their words16 November 1983Cathy Collison (November 16, 1983) "Savitch Remembered Crim In Will", Detroit Free Press, p. 14D.Crystal AwardAward1980
The Watcher in the WoodsFilm, Mrs. Aylwood1979Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a MovieAward1978
The Kennedy Center HonorsSeries1977AFI Life Achievement AwardAwardSaturn Award for Best Supporting ActressAward1974
Dinah!Series1972
The Scopone GameFilm, 'A vecchia1968
It Takes a ThiefSeries, Bessie Grindel1965
The NannyFilm, Nanny1962“To look back is to relax one's vigil.”In their wordsThe Lonely Life (1962)“The act of sex, gratifying though it may be, is God's joke on humanity. It is man's last desperate stand at superintendency.”In their wordsThe Lonely Life: An Autobiography (1962), p. 251; quoted in part by Walter Winchell in "Pass the Worm Pills" Cincinnati Enquirer (January
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?Film, 1962Baby Jane Hudson1961
The Mike Douglas ShowSeries1959
The DuPont Show with June AllysonSeries, Sarah Whitney
The ScapegoatFilm, 1959Countess1956
The Dinah Shore Chevy ShowSeries1953
The OscarsSeries1952
The Ford Television TheatreSeries, Dolley Madison1949
Beyond the ForestFilm, Rosa Moline1944
Golden Globe AwardsSeries
Mr. SkeffingtonFilm, 1944Fanny Trellis1942
In This Our LifeFilm, Stanley Timberlake Kingsmill1940
All This, and Heaven TooFilm, Henriette Deluzy-Desportes1939Academy Award for Best ActressAward1937
Kid GalahadFilm, Louise 'Fluff' Phillips1936Academy Award for Best ActressAward1934
Of Human BondageFilm, Mildred Rogers1931“That picture clinched my future as far as Universal was concerned. They felt that as I had not emerged as a glamour girl after being worked over by , I had no possibilities.”In their wordsOn Seed (1931); op. cit., p. 117
Waterloo BridgeFilm, 1931Janet Cronin1908Born5 April 1908Also in Deutsch
Photos 8
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In their own words 10
, I love my profession. I would never stop. Relax? I relax when I work. It's my life.
In the beginning was the Word,' and you must not be tempted with a script just because you have a great part.
I think Mr. Reagan has done very well under very difficult circumstances. He's had terrific problems physically and he's managed them very well. But my God, the witch hunt today!
Filmography 40
SHScotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
LMListen to Me MarlonTAThe Whales of August
DPDead Men Don't Wear PlaidTWThe Watcher in the Woods
DNDeath on the Nile
RMReturn from Witch Mountain
BOBurnt OfferingsTGThe Scopone Game
TAThe AnniversaryTNThe Nanny
HCHush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
DRDead RingerWJWhat Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
PMPocketful of MiraclesTSThe Scapegoat
TAThe Catered Affair
AEAll About EveBFBeyond the Forest
ALA Stolen LifeMSMr. Skeffington
WRWatch on the Rhine
NVNow, VoyagerILIn This Our Life
TFThe Little Foxes
TDThe Man Who Came to Dinner
TLThe Great Lie
TLThe LetterATAll This, and Heaven Too
DVDark Victory
TEThe Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
TMThe Old Maid
JEJezebel
MWMarked WomanKGKid Galahad
TFThe Petrified ForestOBOf Human Bondage
TMThree on a Match
YS20,000 Years in Sing SingWBWaterloo Bridge229 credits on file
Television 24
IPIntimate Portrait
LLLate Night with David Letterman
HOHotelTHThe Kennedy Center HonorsDIDinah!
TSThe Dick Cavett ShowITIt Takes a Thief
TCThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TSThe Merv Griffin Show
TVThe VirginianTSThe Mike Douglas ShowTAThe DuPont Show with June Allyson
PMPerry Mason
WTWagon Train
TATony AwardsTSThe Dinah Shore Chevy Show
GUGunsmoke
APAlfred Hitchcock Presents
THThe 20th Century Fox HourTOThe OscarsTTThe Ford Television Theatre
WLWhat's My Line?GAGolden Globe AwardsAwards
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Ruth Elizabeth Davis came to Hollywood in 1930 after Broadway, but Universal saw nothing in her. Warner Bros. took a chance in 1932, and two years later she broke through as a vulgar waitress in Of Human Bondage - a performance so raw the Academy left her off the ballot, then handed her the Oscar the next year for Dangerous as if in apology. She fought the studio in court in 1936, lost, and somehow that defiance launched the best decade of her life: Jezebel in 1938 brought a second Oscar, then five straight Best Actress nominations through 1942. The late '40s dimmed her, but All About Eve in 1950 - a fading Broadway star clinging to the spotlight - reminded everyone what she could do. A grim late-career turn arrived in 1962 with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, playing a psychotic has-been in full grotesque commitment. She kept working into her eighties, through four marriages, studio wars, and years of illness, racking up over a hundred credits before breast cancer stopped her in 1989.
In common with Bette
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