Bette Davis

Acting · 2.8 popularity

Age

118

Movies

183

Born: April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989
From: Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
Website: Visit site

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.

Works

183 films

Death on the Nile

19787.1

All About Eve

19508.1

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

19627.9

Mr. Skeffington

19446.8

Pocketful of Miracles

19617.3

Now, Voyager

19427.4

June Bride

19487.1

Jezebel

19387.0

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

19826.7

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte

19647.3

The Watcher in the Woods

19805.9

Return from Witch Mountain

19785.9

Front Page Woman

19355.9

Burnt Offerings

19766.5

Juarez

19396.5

Marked Woman

19376.6

Dead Ringer

19646.9

Of Human Bondage

19346.5

Dark Victory

19396.9

The Scapegoat

19596.8

Special Agent

19356.2

Morceaux de Cannes

20212.0

The Little Foxes

19417.5

Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored

20135.5

Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady

19826.0

Kid Galahad

19377.1

Housewife

19347.3

In This Our Life

19426.9

The Letter

19407.3

John Paul Jones

19596.0

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

20185.9

Directed by William Wyler

1986

The Nanny

19657.0

The Petrified Forest

19367.1

Complicated Women

20036.9

The Man Who Came to Dinner

19417.0

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

20097.5

A Stolen Life

19466.4

Frank Capra's American Dream

19976.3

Breakdowns of 1941

19417.0

Jimmy the Gent

19346.4

Wicked Stepmother

19894.6

Mickey's 50

19789.0

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies

19958.0

Night of 100 Stars

19825.8

20,000 Years in Sing Sing

19326.4

The Bride Came C.O.D.

19417.0

The Bad Sister

19315.6

All This, and Heaven Too

19407.2

Breakdowns of 1942

19426.0

Bette Davis

1972

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

19888.2

Satan Met a Lady

19365.8

Breakdowns of 1949

19496.0

The Adventures of Errol Flynn

20057.7

South of Reno

19884.9

Murder with Mirrors

19856.5

The Great Lie

19417.0

The Catered Affair

19567.2

Breakdowns of 1938

19385.8

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

19396.3

Phone Call from a Stranger

19526.4

Hollywood Canteen

19447.3

Waterloo Bridge

19316.9

The Disappearance of Aimee

19768.7

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

19837.0

The Fabulous Allan Carr

20174.5

Going Hollywood: The '30s

19849.0

Hello Mother, Goodbye!

19746.0

Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood

19876.4

Beyond the Forest

19496.7

Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis

19968.0

Listen to Me Marlon

20157.5

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

19406.3

The Old Maid

19397.1

Three on a Match

19326.3

The Anniversary

19686.6

All About Bette

19947.5

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

19975.1

Breakdowns of 1944

19446.5

So Big!

19325.7

Stardust: The Bette Davis Story

20066.6

The Virgin Queen

19557.0

Watch on the Rhine

19436.9

Breakdowns of 1936

1936

Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire

20147.2

Footsteps on the Ceiling

2013

Dangerous

19356.6

Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!

19826.0

The Whales of August

19877.0

The Working Man

19336.5

Winter Meeting

19486.6

The Scopone Game

19727.4

Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers

19852.0

Madonna: Madame X

20217.8

Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano

19837.8

The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert

20057.5

Another Man's Poison

19516.8

Where Love Has Gone

19646.1

Deception

19466.7

Thank Your Lucky Stars

19436.2

Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies

20018.5

Mike Wallace Is Here

20196.5

Parachute Jumper

19335.9

Payment on Demand

19516.3

Storm Center

19566.9

It's Love I'm After

19377.1

Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend

19867.4

The Star

19527.2

Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)

19366.0

Madame Sin

19727.2

Bette Davis: Larger Than Life

20176.0

The Horror Show

19793.4

Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette

19787.0

The Empty Canvas

19636.0

The Sisters

19386.0

The Judge and Jake Wyler

19722.5

Miss Moffat

1974

Bureau of Missing Persons

19335.7

Bordertown

19355.9

Showbiz Goes to War

198210.0

Old Acquaintance

19437.1

Way Back Home

19316.3

Joan Crawford: Always the Star

19967.5

The Corn Is Green

19457.2

A Dream Comes True

19356.3

Breakdowns of 1937

19376.0

Breakdowns of 1939

19396.5

The 42nd Street Special

19335.6

Right of Way

19837.5

Vito

20116.9

The Big Shakedown

19345.9

Just Around the Corner

19336.0

The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka

20094.0

The Voice That Thrilled the World

19436.0

Jezebel: Legend of the South

20067.0

Scream, Pretty Peggy

19736.2

That Certain Woman

19375.6

Show-Business at War

19437.0

Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell

19952.0

Fashions of 1934

19346.6

Marilyn at the Movies

2011

The Rich Are Always with Us

19325.3

Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema

20074.3

Ex-Lady

19336.3

Family Reunion

19818.0

The Golden Arrow

19366.3

Bunny O'Hare

19715.8

White Mama

19808.0

A Piano for Mrs. Cimino

19827.6

Fog Over Frisco

19346.4

Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn

20159.0

The Dark Horse

19327.4

Connecting Rooms

19705.6

Bette and Joan

2017

The Menace

19325.6

A Day at Santa Anita

19376.0

The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor

19736.5

As Summers Die

19866.7

Backstory: 'All About Eve'

20009.0

Skyward

19807.1

If I Forget You

19406.3

The Cabin in the Cotton

19326.3

The Girl from 10th Avenue

19356.8

This Is Joan Collins

20227.5

The Man Who Played God

19327.2

Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter

19799.4

Showbiz Ballyhoo

1982

Hairway to the Stars

19897.0

Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition

20066.7

Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

20024.5

Bride of Trailer Camp

2001

Shining Victory

19416.1

Seed

19316.5

How Real is 'The Star'?

20056.0

The Decorator

19656.0

Hell's House

19325.3

Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill

1994

A Present with a Future

19437.0

Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning"

1936

Stars on Horseback

19435.0

Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis

2009

Bette Davis at the Cinémathèque Française

1986