Bette Davis
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1908-04-05
Place of Birth
Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
Bette Davis
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.
Also Known For
Pocketful of Miracles
Dec 18, 1961
All About Eve
Nov 09, 1950
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
Jan 01, 1985
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Oct 31, 1962
The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert
Jun 18, 2005
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Dec 15, 1964
Jezebel
Mar 26, 1938
Death on the Nile
Sep 29, 1978
The Watcher in the Woods
Apr 17, 1980
Murder with Mirrors
Feb 20, 1985
Dead Ringer
Feb 19, 1964
Deception
Oct 26, 1946
Marked Woman
Apr 10, 1937
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
May 21, 1982
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Dec 24, 1941
Bordertown
Jan 23, 1935
Now, Voyager
Oct 22, 1942
The Horror Show
Feb 06, 1979
Dark Victory
Apr 20, 1939
Burnt Offerings
Oct 18, 1976
Satan Met a Lady
Jul 22, 1936
Wicked Stepmother
Feb 03, 1989
Beyond the Forest
Oct 21, 1949
The Bride Came C.O.D.
Jul 12, 1941
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Dec 24, 1932
Return from Witch Mountain
Mar 10, 1978
Three on a Match
Oct 29, 1932
Mr. Skeffington
May 25, 1944
The Cabin in the Cotton
Sep 26, 1932
The Virgin Queen
Jul 22, 1955
Winter Meeting
Apr 07, 1948
A Stolen Life
May 01, 1946
The Corn Is Green
Mar 29, 1945
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Sep 25, 1943
In This Our Life
May 08, 1942
The Little Foxes
Aug 29, 1941
All This, and Heaven Too
Jul 05, 1940
The Great Lie
Apr 05, 1941
Of Human Bondage
Jul 20, 1934
The Old Maid
Aug 16, 1939
Storm Center
Jul 31, 1956
Hollywood Canteen
Dec 15, 1944
Breakdowns of 1938
Dec 31, 1938
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Feb 25, 1983
Shining Victory
May 30, 1941
A Dream Comes True
Dec 31, 1935
A Day at Santa Anita
May 22, 1937
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Nov 11, 1939
The Petrified Forest
Feb 08, 1936
The Nanny
Oct 07, 1965
The Letter
Nov 21, 1940
Watch on the Rhine
Aug 27, 1943
The Whales of August
Oct 14, 1987
Fog Over Frisco
Jun 02, 1934
Breakdowns of 1941
Nov 14, 1941
Showbiz Goes to War
Dec 31, 1982
Jimmy the Gent
Mar 09, 1934
Dangerous
Dec 25, 1935
Special Agent
Sep 14, 1935
Kid Galahad
May 29, 1937
Bureau of Missing Persons
Sep 16, 1933
Ex-Lady
May 15, 1933
Where Love Has Gone
Nov 02, 1964
Another Man's Poison
Nov 20, 1951
Fashions of 1934
Feb 14, 1934
Old Acquaintance
Nov 27, 1943
John Paul Jones
Jun 16, 1959
Payment on Demand
Feb 03, 1951
Madame Sin
Jan 15, 1972
The Scopone Game
Aug 28, 1972
Phone Call from a Stranger
Feb 01, 1952
Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood
Jun 26, 1987
The Empty Canvas
Dec 04, 1963
Bette and Joan
Jan 01, 2017
The Star
Dec 11, 1952
The Anniversary
Feb 07, 1968
Waterloo Bridge
Sep 01, 1931
Juarez
Jun 10, 1939
The Dark Horse
Jun 16, 1932
The Working Man
Apr 20, 1933
The Big Shakedown
Jan 06, 1934
That Certain Woman
Aug 30, 1937
Bunny O'Hare
Oct 18, 1971
So Big!
Apr 30, 1932
It's Love I'm After
Oct 08, 1937
The Rich Are Always with Us
May 19, 1932
June Bride
Oct 29, 1948
The Catered Affair
Jun 14, 1956
The Sisters
Oct 14, 1938
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Apr 05, 2005
Hairway to the Stars
Jan 01, 1989
The Scapegoat
Aug 06, 1959
The Man Who Played God
Feb 09, 1932
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Jul 27, 2018
The Bad Sister
Mar 29, 1931
Front Page Woman
Jul 11, 1935
Hell's House
Jan 30, 1932
Parachute Jumper
Jan 28, 1933
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
Sep 09, 2000
Way Back Home
Nov 13, 1931
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Jan 01, 1982
Scream, Pretty Peggy
Nov 24, 1973
Right of Way
Nov 21, 1983
Housewife
Aug 11, 1934
Madonna: Madame X
Sep 23, 2021
The Girl from 10th Avenue
Jun 01, 1935
The Golden Arrow
May 23, 1936
The Menace
Jan 29, 1932
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
Apr 19, 1986
The Disappearance of Aimee
Nov 17, 1976
Just Around the Corner
Jan 17, 1933
Connecting Rooms
May 01, 1970
Seed
May 14, 1931
White Mama
Mar 05, 1980
Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter
May 13, 1979
Skyward
Nov 20, 1980
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Jan 01, 1984
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino
Feb 03, 1982
The Decorator
Jun 09, 1965
Bette Davis at the Cinémathèque Française
Jan 01, 1986
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
Sep 13, 1994
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
Jan 01, 2006
Jezebel: Legend of the South
May 30, 2006
A Present with a Future
Dec 01, 1943
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Jan 29, 2013
As Summers Die
May 18, 1986
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
May 03, 2006
The Andy Williams Christmas Show
Dec 20, 1962
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
Sep 30, 1996
Mike Wallace Is Here
Jul 26, 2019
Always at The Carlyle
May 11, 2018
Family Reunion
Oct 11, 1981
The Judge and Jake Wyler
Dec 02, 1972
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Oct 07, 2001
Breakdowns of 1936
Dec 30, 1936
All About Bette
Jul 17, 1994
Faye
May 15, 2024
The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor
Jan 01, 1973
Faye
May 15, 2024
Listen to Me Marlon
Jul 29, 2015
Breakdowns of 1937
Dec 31, 1937
Breakdowns of 1939
Dec 31, 1939
Breakdowns of 1944
Dec 31, 1944
Breakdowns of 1949
Dec 31, 1949
Show-Business at War
May 21, 1943
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Jul 31, 1940
If I Forget You
May 01, 1940
Complicated Women
May 06, 2003
Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Dec 04, 2002
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Oct 01, 1988
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Sep 11, 1936
Bette Davis: Larger Than Life
Dec 18, 2017
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
May 15, 1974
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Jul 02, 2009
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano
Nov 02, 1983
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
May 23, 2007
Stars on Horseback
Apr 23, 1943
The Voice That Thrilled the World
Oct 16, 1943
Frank Capra's American Dream
Jan 01, 1997
And the Oscar Goes To...
Feb 01, 2014
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Nov 01, 1997
Directed by William Wyler
May 01, 1986
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Sep 20, 2014
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
Oct 17, 2009
Breakdowns of 1942
Dec 31, 1942
Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis
Sep 26, 1996
Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis
Sep 11, 2009
Footsteps on the Ceiling
Jan 01, 2013
The 42nd Street Special
Feb 20, 1933
Night of 100 Stars
Mar 08, 1982
Bette Davis
Dec 17, 1972
Miss Moffat
Mickey's 50
Nov 19, 1978
Bride of Trailer Camp
Jan 01, 2001
Perry Mason
Sep 21, 1957
Gunsmoke
Sep 10, 1955
General Electric Theater
Feb 01, 1953
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Dec 24, 1951
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Oct 02, 1955
The Hollywood Palace
Jan 04, 1964
The Virginian
Sep 19, 1962
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Oct 05, 1951
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Oct 05, 1955
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Oct 05, 1956
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Apr 02, 1973
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home
Jan 23, 1978
Telephone Time
Apr 08, 1956
The Oscars
Mar 19, 1953
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Sep 21, 1959
The Kennedy Center Honors
Dec 28, 1978
Talking Pictures
Jan 05, 2013
Wagon Train
Sep 18, 1957
Intimate Portrait
Nov 14, 1993
General Electric Theater
Feb 01, 1953
Little Gloria... Happy at Last
Oct 24, 1982
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
May 15, 1974
V.I.P. Schaukel
May 09, 1971
It Takes a Thief
Jan 09, 1968
The Dick Cavett Show
Jun 06, 1968
What's My Line?
Feb 02, 1950
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Oct 01, 1962
Tony Awards
Apr 01, 1956
Suspicion
Sep 30, 1957
The Ford Television Theatre
Oct 02, 1952
Reflets de Cannes
Mar 25, 1954
The Mike Douglas Show
Dec 11, 1961
Golden Globe Awards
Jan 20, 1944
Dinah!
Oct 21, 1974
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Feb 05, 1967