Bette Davis

Bette Davis
Davis in 1935
Born	Ruth Elizabeth Davis (1908-04-05)April 5, 1908 Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	October 6, 1989(1989-10-06) (aged 81) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1929–1989
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Harmon Oscar Nelson ​ ​ (m. 1932; div. 1938)​ Arthur Farnsworth ​ ​ (m. 1940; died 1943)​ William Grant Sherry ​ ​ (m. 1945; div. 1950)​ Gary Merrill ​ ​ (m. 1950; div. 1960)​
Children	3, including B. D. Hyman
Signature

Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (/ˈbɛti/; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress for stage, movies, and television. She was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. She was nicknamed "The Queen of Hollywood" or the "First Lady of the American Screen" and "The Fifth Warner Brother" during her career. She is thought to be one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood. She was able to play many mean and cynical characters. She also played in many different movie genres. Her most successful roles were ones in romantic dramas.^[1] She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice. Davis had the most Academy Award nominations for acting (with 10) until Katharine Hepburn took her place with twelve. She was the first woman to have a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. In 1999, Davis was second on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema.

Bette Davis was in over 100 films across 60 years. Some of the most popular movies were^[2][3] Of Human Bondage (1934), Marked Woman (1937), Jezebel (1938), Dark Victory (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), Now, Voyager (1942), Watch on the Rhine (1943), Mr. Skeffington (1944), All About Eve (1950), The Virgin Queen (1955), The Catered Affair (1956), Pocketful of Miracles (1961), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Death on the Nile (1978) and The Whales of August (1987).

In 1981 Kim Carnes sang the hit song "Bette Davis Eyes".^[4] Davis liked the song. Carnes gave Davis a gold record. Davis hung the gold record on a wall.^[5]

The Kennedy Center honored Davis in 1987.^[6] She died of breast cancer in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.

1. ↑ Michele Bourgoin, Suzanne (1998). Encyclopedia of World Biography. Gale. p. 119. ISBN 0787622214.
2. ↑ "18 Best Bette Davis Movies - IMDb". IMDb.com. 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
3. ↑ "The Top 20 Movies Starring Bette Davis - Flickchart". FlickChart.com. 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
4. ↑ Huey, Steve (July 20, 1945). "( Kim Carnes > Biography )". allmusic. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
5. ↑ Bubbeo, Daniel (2001). The Women of Warner Brothers: The Lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies, with Filmographies for Each. McFarland. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-7864-1137-5.
6. ↑ "List of Kennedy Center Honorees". Kennedy-center.org. Retrieved January 7, 2010.