Bette Davis
Acting
Born: April 5, 1908 · Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
Died: October 6, 1989 (aged 81)
Highest Rated
Biography
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, 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 her roles in romantic dramas. 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 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 ladies, known for her forceful and intense style. Davis gained a reputation as a perfectionist who could be highly combative, and 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 won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, was the first person to accrue 10 Academy Award nominations for acting, and was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. Her career went through several periods of eclipse, 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, but she continued acting until shortly before her death from breast cancer, with more than 100 films, television and theater roles to her credit. In 1999, Davis was placed second, after Katharine Hepburn, on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of all time.
Known for
All About My Mother
1999
All About Eve
1950
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962
Death on the Nile
1978
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964
Burnt Offerings
1976
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
The Letter
1940
Return from Witch Mountain
1978
Now, Voyager
1942
Jezebel
1938
Photos (18)
Movies (117)
Death on the Nile
Marie Van Schuyler
Of Human Bondage
Mildred Rogers
All About Eve
Margo Channing
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Baby Jane Hudson
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(in "Deception") (archive footage)
The Watcher in the Woods
Mrs. Aylwood
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Charlotte Hollis
Now, Voyager
Charlotte Vale
Mr. Skeffington
Fanny Trellis
The Letter
Leslie Crosbie
Pocketful of Miracles
Apple Annie
Jezebel
Julie Marsden
The Little Foxes
Regina Hubbard Giddens
Dead Ringer
Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips
Return from Witch Mountain
Letha Wedge
Burnt Offerings
Aunt Elizabeth
Dark Victory
Judith Traherne
The Scapegoat
Countess
Housewife
Patricia Berkeley
The Petrified Forest
Gabrielle "Gabby" Maple
John Paul Jones
Empress Catherine the Great
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Queen Elizabeth
A Stolen Life
Kate Bosworth / Patricia Bosworth
All This, and Heaven Too
Henriette Deluzy-Desportes
The Corn Is Green
Miss Lilly Christabel Moffat
June Bride
Linda Gilman
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Fay Wilson
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Maggie Cutler
The Great Lie
Maggie Patterson Van Allen
Juarez
Empress Carlotta von Hapsburg
Murder with Mirrors
Carrie Louise Serrocold
Watch on the Rhine
Sara Müller
The Old Maid
Charlotte Lovell
In This Our Life
Stanley Timberlake Kingsmill
Special Agent
Julie Gardner
The Nanny
Nanny
The Working Man
Jenny Hartland alias Jane Grey
The Virgin Queen
Queen Elizabeth I
Marked Woman
Mary Dwight Strauber
Phone Call from a Stranger
Marie Hoke
Wicked Stepmother
Miranda Pierpoint
The Whales of August
Libby Strong
Three on a Match
Ruth Westcott
The Catered Affair
Agnes Hurley
The Anniversary
Mrs. Taggart
Kid Galahad
Louise 'Fluff' Phillips
The Scopone Game
'A vecchia
Satan Met a Lady
Valerie Purvis
Storm Center
Alicia Hull
The Bad Sister
Laura Madison
Jimmy the Gent
Joan Martin
Madame Sin
Madame Sin
Mike Wallace Is Here
(archive footage)
The Man Who Played God
Grace Blair
Deception
Christine Radcliffe
The Sisters
Louise Elliott Medlin
Front Page Woman
Ellen Garfield
The Disappearance of Aimee
Minnie Kennedy
Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter
Lucy Mason
Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood
(archive footage)
Waterloo Bridge
Janet Cronin
Way Back Home
Mary Lucy Duffy
Dangerous
Joyce Heath
The Bride Came C.O.D.
Joan Winfield
The Horror Show
(archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
archive footage
Bordertown
Mrs. Marie Roark
Payment on Demand
Joyce Ramsey (nee Jackson)
Another Man's Poison
Janet Frobisher
Parachute Jumper
Patricia 'Alabama' Brent
Old Acquaintance
Kit Marlowe
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
1982
Where Love Has Gone
Mrs. Gerald Hayden
Right of Way
Miniature Dwyer
The Judge and Jake Wyler
Judge Meredith
Bureau of Missing Persons
Norma Roberts
It's Love I'm After
Joyce Arden
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Queen Elizabeth (archive footage)
Scream, Pretty Peggy
Mrs. Elliott
The Cabin in the Cotton
Madge Norwood
Beyond the Forest
Rosa Moline
As Summers Die
Hannah Loftin
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino
Esther McDonald Cimino
Ex-Lady
Helen Bauer
The Big Shakedown
Norma Nelson
The Empty Canvas
Dino's Mother
The Star
Margaret Elliot
The Girl from 10th Avenue
Miriam A. Brady
Fog Over Frisco
Arlene Bradford
Bunny O'Hare
Bunny O'Hare
The Golden Arrow
Daisy Appleby
The Menace
Peggy Lowell
Fashions of 1934
Lynn Mason
Miss Moffat
Miss Moffat
That Certain Woman
Mary Donnell
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
Mother
Showbiz Goes to War
(archive footage)
White Mama
Estelle Malone
So Big!
Miss Dallas O'Mara
South of Reno
1988
Shining Victory
1941
The Rich Are Always with Us
Malbro
The Dark Horse
Kay Russell
Connecting Rooms
Wanda Fleming
Skyward
Billie Dupree
A Dream Comes True
1935
Footsteps on the Ceiling
Margo Channing (archive footage)
Family Reunion
Elizabeth Winfield
Just Around the Corner
Ginger
Hell's House
Peggy Gardner
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
The Decorator
Liz
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning"
1936
Seed
Margaret Carter
A Day at Santa Anita
Bette Davis (uncredited)
Stars on Horseback
1943
Winter Meeting
Susan Grieve
TV Shows (22)
Perry Mason
Constant Doyle · 1 eps
Wagon Train
Ella Lindstrom · 1 eps
Wagon Train
Madame Elizabeth McQueeny · 1 eps
The Virginian
Celia Miller · 1 eps
Hotel
Laura Trent · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Etta Stone · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Miss Fox · 1 eps
Telephone Time
1 eps
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Marie Hoke · 1 eps
The Ford Television Theatre
Dolley Madison · 1 eps
It Takes a Thief
Bessie Grindel · 1 eps
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Sarah Whitney · 1 eps
Suspicion
Mrs. Wilfred Ellis · 1 eps
Family Reunion
Elizabeth Winfield · 2 eps
General Electric Theater
Miss Burrows · 1 eps
General Electric Theater
Christine Marlowe · 1 eps
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Irene Van Buren · 1 eps
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home
Widow Fortune · 2 eps
Little Gloria... Happy at Last
Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt · 2 eps
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Mrs. Minnie Kennedy, Aimee's mother · 1 eps
1939: Secrets of Hollywood's Golden Year
1 eps
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
Mother · 1 eps
Self / Appearances (79)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · 5 eps
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter · 1 eps
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Co-Host · 1 eps
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter · 1 eps
The Merv Griffin Show
Self · 1 eps
Late Night with David Letterman
Self - Guest · 2 eps
Intimate Portrait
Self (archive footage) · 1 eps
The Oscars
Self · 5 eps
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest · 7 eps
What's My Line?
Self · 5 eps
Dinah!
Self · 1 eps
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self · 1 eps
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self · 1 eps
The World of Hammer
Self (archive footage) · 2 eps
The Hollywood Palace
Self · 1 eps
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Self · 1 eps
Talking Pictures
Self (archive footage) · 1 eps
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self · 3 eps
Reflets de Cannes
Self · 1 eps
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Canteen
Self
Morceaux de Cannes
Self (archive footage)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
The Fabulous Allan Carr
Self (archive)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Self (archive footage)
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Self - Actress (archive footage)
Night of 100 Stars
Self
Madonna: Madame X
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
This Is Joan Collins
Self (Archive Footage)
Directed by William Wyler
Self
Listen to Me Marlon
Self (archive footage)
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Self
Frank Capra's American Dream
Self (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1941
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
Self (archive footage)
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
Self (archive footage)
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Self (archive footage)
Vito
Self (archive)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Self (archive footage)
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Self
Show-Business at War
Self
Breakdowns of 1942
Self
Breakdowns of 1937
Self
Breakdowns of 1944
Self
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
Self (archive footage)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Self (archive footage)
Mickey's 50
Self
The Voice That Thrilled the World
Self (segment 'Dangerous') (archive footage)
Complicated Women
Self (archive footage)
All About Bette
Self
Breakdowns of 1938
Self (archive footage)
Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Self (archive footage)
The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor
Self (archive footage)
Hairway to the Stars
Self [Archive Footage]
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Self
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
Self (archive footage)
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Self (archive footage)
The 42nd Street Special
Self (uncredited)
Breakdowns of 1936
Self
Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn
Self (archive footage)
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan
Self (archive footage)
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano
Self
Marilyn at the Movies
Self (archive footage)
The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert
Self (archive footage)
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Self (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1949
Self
Bette Davis: Larger Than Life
Self (archive footage)
Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis
Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
Self (archive footage)
Showbiz Ballyhoo
Self (archive footage)
Jezebel: Legend of the South
Self (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1939
Self
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
Self (archive footage)
Bette Davis at the Cinémathèque Française
Self
How Real is 'The Star'?
Self (archive footage)
Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis
Self (archive footage)