# 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 |
|  |

Bette Davis in 1932
**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. 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 *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". Davis liked the song. Carnes gave Davis a gold record. Davis hung the gold record on a wall.

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

## Academy Awards

Davis in the trailer for *Dark Victory* (1939). She was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in this movie.
Davis had many Academy Awards in her life. She also had many Oscar milestones.

She was the first person to earn five Academy Award nominations in a row for acting. All of these nominations were in the Best Actress category (1938–1942). Her record has only been matched by one other person. Greer Garson also earned five nominations in a row in the Best Actress category (1941–1945). In three of these years, both actresses were nominated.

In 1962, Bette Davis was the first person to have 10 Academy Award nominations for acting. Since then, only 3 people have had more nominations than her. Meryl Streep (with 21 nominations and three wins), Katharine Hepburn (12 nominations and 4 wins), and Jack Nicholson (12 nominations and 3 wins). Laurence Olivier also matched her (10 nominations and 1 win).

Steven Spielberg bought two of Davis's Oscars. The first Oscar was sold for $207,500. The oscar was for the movie *Dangerous* (1935). The second Oscar was sold for $578,000. That Oscar was for the movie *Jezebel* (1938).

| Year | Category | Film | Result |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1934 | Best Actress | *Of Human Bondage* | Nominated (Write-in) |
| 1935 | *Dangerous* | Won |
| 1938 | *Jezebel* |
| 1939 | *Dark Victory* | Nominated |
| 1940 | *The Letter* |
| 1941 | *The Little Foxes* |
| 1942 | *Now, Voyager* |
| 1944 | *Mr. Skeffington* |
| 1950 | *All About Eve* |
| 1952 | *The Star* |
| 1962 | *What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?* |

## Important movies

* *Bad Sister* (1931)
* *20,000 Years in Sing Sing* (1932)
* *The Cabin in the Cotton* (1932)
* *The Man Who Played God* (1932)
* *The Rich Are Always with Us* (1932)
* *So Big!* (1932)
* *Three on a Match* (1932)
* *Of Human Bondage* (1934)
* *Bordertown* (1935)
* *Dangerous* (1935)
* *The Petrified Forest* (1936)
* *Kid Galahad* (1937)
* *Marked Woman* (1937)
* *Jezebel* (1938)
* *Dark Victory* (1939)
* *Juarez* (1939)
* *The Old Maid* (1939)
* *The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex* (1939)
* *All This, and Heaven Too* (1940)
* *The Letter* (1940)
* *The Bride Came C.O.D.* (1941)
* *The Great Lie* (1941)
* *The Little Foxes* (1941)
* *The Man Who Came to Dinner* (1941)
* *In This Our Life* (1942)
* *Now, Voyager* (1942)
* *Old Acquaintance* (1943)
* *Watch on the Rhine* (1943)
* *Mr. Skeffington* (1944)
* *The Corn Is Green* (1945)
* *Deception* (1946)
* *A Stolen Life* (1946)
* *June Bride* (1948)
* *Beyond the Forest* (1949)
* *All About Eve* (1950)
* *Another Man's Poison* (1951)
* *Payment on Demand* (1951)
* *The Star* (1952)
* *Phone Call from a Stranger* (1952)
* *The Catered Affair* (1956)
* *Storm Center* (1956)
* *Pocketful of Miracles* (1961)
* *What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?* (1962)
* *Dead Ringer* (1964)
* *Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte* (1964)
* *The Nanny* (1965)
* *The Anniversary* (1968)
* *Connecting Rooms* (1970)
* *Burnt Offerings* (1976)
* *The Disappearance of Aimee* (1976~TV)
* *Death on the Nile* (1978)
* *Return from Witch Mountain* (1978)
* *Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter* (1979~TV)
* *The Watcher in the Woods* (1980)
* *White Mama* (1980~TV)
* *Little Gloria... Happy at Last* (1982~TV)
* *A Piano for Mrs. Cimino* (1982~TV)
* *Right of Way* (1983~TV)
* *As Summers Die* (1986~TV)
* *The Whales of August* (1987)
* *Wicked Stepmother* (1989)

## Other websites

* Official website - operated by the Estate of Bette Davis
* Bette Davis on IMDb
* Bette Davis at AllMovie
* Bette Davis at Rotten Tomatoes
* Bette Davis at the TCM Movie Database
* Bette Davis at the American Film Institute Catalog
* Bette Davis at the Internet Broadway Database
* Bette Davis at *Playbill* Vault
* Bette Davis at *TV Guide*
* Portraits from "The Little Foxes", 1941 Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine by Ned Scott
* Kathryn Sermak recounts living with Bette Davis, interview October, 2017, News-Sentinel, accessed October 25, 2017.

| Non-profit organization positions |
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| Preceded by Walter Wanger |  **President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences** 1941 | Succeeded by Walter Wanger |