page_title: Bette Davis
section_title: 1961–1970: Renewed success
hierarchical_section_title: Bette Davis / Life and career / 1961–1970: Renewed success
caption_attribution_description: Screenshot taken from the original trailer for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962), featuring Bette Davis
context_page_description: Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress. With a career spanning 60 years and 100 acting credits, she is regarded as one of the greatest actresses in film history. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical films, suspense horror, and occasional comedies, although her greater successes were in romantic dramas. A recipient of two Academy Awards, she was the first thespian to accrue ten nominations.
  After appearing in Broadway plays, the 22-year old Davis moved to Hollywood in 1930. After some unsuccessful films, she had her critical breakthrough playing a vulgar waitress in Of Human Bondage, although, contentiously, she was not among the three nominees for the Academy Award for Best Actress that year. The next year, her strong performance as a down-and-out actress in Dangerous did land her her first Best Actress nomination, and she won the award.
context_section_description: In 1961, Davis opened in the Broadway production The Night of the Iguana to mostly mediocre reviews, and left the production after four months due to "chronic illness". She then joined Glenn Ford and Ann-Margret for the Frank Capra film Pocketful of Miracles (1961) (a remake of Capra's 1933 film, Lady for a Day), based on a story by Damon Runyon. Exhibitors protested her star billing as they considered it would negatively impact the box office performance and, despite the appearance of Ford, the film failed at the box office.
  She accepted her next role, in the Grand Guignol horror film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), after Joan Crawford showed interest in the script and considered Bette for the part of Jane. Bette believed it could appeal to the same audience that had recently made Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) a success. She negotiated a deal that would pay her 10 percent of the worldwide gross profits in addition to her salary. The film became one of the year's big successes.
  Davis and Joan Crawford played two aging sisters, former actresses forced by circumstance to share a decaying Hollywood mansion. The director, Robert Aldrich, explained that Davis and Crawford were each aware of how important the film was to their respective careers, and commented: "It's proper to say that they really detested each other, but they behaved absolutely perfectly.". There were stories that Davis and Crawford would purposely annoy each other on set. One such story describes Joan Crawford putting heavy weights in her pockets to make it hard for Bette to drag her on the floor in one scene. But of course there is no proof of these claims.
  After filming was completed, their public comments against each other allowed the tension to develop into a lifelong feud. When Davis was nominated for an Academy Award, Crawford contacted the other Best Actress nominees (who were unable to attend the ceremonies) and offered to accept the award on their behalf, should they win. When Anne Bancroft was announced as winner, Crawford accepted the award on Bancroft's behalf. Despite their dislike for one another, they spoke highly of each others’ talent in acting. Joan said Bette was a “fascinating actress” but they were never able to become friends as they only worked on the one film together. Bette also said Joan was a good, professional actress, but cared a lot about the way she looked, and her vanity. Their feud was eventually turned into the 2017 limited series Feud by Ryan Murphy.
  Davis also received her only BAFTA nomination for this performance. Daughter Barbara (credited as B.D. Merrill) played a small role in the film, and when Davis and she visited the Cannes Film Festival to promote it, she met Jeremy Hyman, an executive for Seven Arts Productions. After a short courtship, she married Hyman at the age of 16, with Davis' permission.
  In October 1962, it was announced that four episodes of the CBS-TV series Perry Mason would feature special guest stars who would cover for Raymond Burr during his convalescence from surgery. A Perry Mason fan, Davis was the first of the guest stars. "The Case of Constant Doyle" began filming on December 12, 1962, and aired January 31, 1963.
  In 1962, Davis appeared as Celia Miller on the TV western The Virginian in the episode titled "The Accomplice."
  In September 1962, Davis placed an advertisement in Variety under the heading of "Situations wanted – women artists", which read: "Mother of three – 10, 11, & 15 – divorcee. American. Thirty years experience as an actress in Motion Pictures. Mobile still, and more affable than rumor would have it. Wants steady employment in Hollywood. (Has had Broadway.)" Davis said that she intended it as a joke, and she sustained her comeback over the course of several years.
  Dead Ringer (1964) was a crime drama in which she played twin sisters. The film was an American adaptation of the Mexican film La Otra, starring Dolores del Río. Where Love Has Gone (1964) was a romantic drama based on a Harold Robbins novel. Davis played the mother of Susan Hayward, but filming was hamp
caption: Davis received her final Academy Award nomination for her role as demented Baby Jane Hudson in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
exif: {}