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