Bette biography davis
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 |
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| Children | 3, including B. D. Hyman |
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; 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. 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 wereOf Human Bondage (1934), Marked Woman (1937), Jezebel (1938), Dark Victory (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxe (1908-1989) American actress Bette Davis was born on April 5, 1908, in Lowell, Massachusetts. After a brief theater career, she became one of the biggest stars in the Hollywood studio system, appearing in nearly 100 films before her death in 1989. Davis is still considered an icon for her performances in such films as All About Eve and Dark Victory, as well as for her larger-than-life persona both on and off the silver screen. Davis was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis on April 5, 1908, in Lowell Massachusetts, to Ruth (Favor) and Harlow Morrell Davis. When she was seven years old, her father divorced her mother, who was left to raise Bette and younger daughter Barbara on her own. As a teen, Davis began acting in school productions at the Cushing Academy in Massachusetts. After a stint in summer stock theater in Rochester, New York, Davis moved to New York City, where she attended the John Murray Anderson/Robert Milton School of Theatre and Dance. Lucille Ball was one of her classmates. Davis began to audition for theater parts in New York, and in 1929 she made her stage début at Greenwich Village's Provincetown Playhouse in The Earth Between. Later that year, at the age of 21, she made her first Broadway appearance in the comedy Broken Dishes. A screen test landed Davis a contract with Hollywood's Universal Pictures, where she was assigned a small role in the film Bad Sister (1931), followed by similar minor parts in a few more movies. She moved to Warner Brothers in 1932, after gaining notice in that studio's production of The Man Who Played God. Following this breakthrough, Davis would go on to make 14 films over the next three years. In 1934, Warner Brothers loaned Davis to RKO Pictures for Of Human Bondage, a drama based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Davis received her first Academy Award nomination for her performance as the vulgar, American actress (1908–1989) For other people with similar names, see Betty Davis. Bette Davis Davis in 1935 Ruth Elizabeth Davis Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S. Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Harmon Oscar Nelson Arthur Farnsworth William Grant Sherry Gary Merrill Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was known for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, was the first person to accrue ten Academy Award nominations (and one write-in) for acting, and was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. In 1999, Davis was placed second on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema. 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 had he Bette Davis: A Biography
The biography is very slow to get going. Leaming wants to set a tone as to the matriarchal line, starting with Bette's grandmother, who refused her mother, Ruthie, an opportunity to work on the stage, thus "causing" Ruthie to feed all her artistic dreams into Bette's career. There's a very convoluted and snail-like stretch of armchair psychology here, and elsewhere in the book, regarding motivations and behaviors, that grows quite tiresome. There are a lot of conclusions that Leaming draws regarding Davis' behavior, and the meanings of certain things in her scrapbooks, which made me think "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but whatever."
The other problem I had with the book itself is the minute study of how Bette will curl her fingers in a certain scene of a certain film and how it harks back to something she studied in dance class ten years before. A bit of this is fine, but to go on for three pages regarding Davis' arm movements in one scene from "Jezebel" is just the tiniest bit ridiculous. However, I'll move on to what I learned about Bette herself.
Unlike some who make up fantasies about what they'd like a person's life to reflect, write a novel and call it biography, Barbara Leaming really dug deep into the primary sources. When the primary source conflicted with an interviewee's recollection, or with Bette's memoirs, she used the primary source. Excellent use of materials, and marvelous cooperation from many of Bette's intimates, including two of her children, even though those children knew that they might not be seen in the best light. When Leaming gets into these documents, she really gets to the truth of Bette Davis' life and ca Bette Davis
Who Was Bette Davis?
Early Life
Broadway Debut and Early Film Career
Career Highlights
Bette Davis
Born
(1908-04-05)April 5, 1908Died October 6, 1989(1989-10-06) (aged 81) Resting place Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills Occupation Actress Years active 1929–1989 Works Full list Political party Democratic Spouses Children 3, including B. D. Hyman Awards Full list