Bette Davis

Bette Davis Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: April 5, 1908

Death Date: October 6, 1989

Birth Place: Lowell, Massachusetts

Bette Davis was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis on Apr. 5, 1908 in Lowell, MA, and moved to New York City with her mother and younger sister at age 13. After graduating from prep school, Davis joined George Cukor's Rochester, NY-based stock theater company, through which she accrued parts in productions like "Broadway" and "The Wild Duck" in 1929. That same year, she made her Broadway debut with the play "Broken Dishes." The following year, Davis moved to Hollywood to transition to screen acting; her earliest film roles included "The Bad Sister" (1931) and "Waterloo Bridge" (1931). It was the following year that Davis earned her big break: a role in "The Man Who Would Be God" (1932), which launched her career in earnest. Her next big winner was "Of Human Bondage" (1934), which earned Davis her first Academy Award nomination. Her next nomination and first win came one year later with "Dangerous" (1935). Success followed Davis as she then appeared opposite Humphrey Bogart in "The Petrified Forest" (1936) and in "Marked Woman" (1937), and then won another Oscar for her work in "Jezebel" (1938). The following year was especially fortuitous for Davis, with box office smashes like "Dark Victory" (1939), "The Old Maid" (1939), "Juarez" (1939), and "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" (1939). Likewise, successful pictures to follow included "The Letter" (1940) and "The Little Foxes" (1941). 1943 saw the death of Davis' then-husband Arthur Farnsworth, which led to a slight hiccup in her productivity. Following this, she endured poor reception to a series of her features, namely "A Stolen Life" (1946) and "Beyond the Forest" (1949). However, it was next that perhaps her most iconic role would find her: that of Margo in "All About Eve" (1950). Successes to follow would include "The Star" (1952), "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962), and the family films "Return from Witch Mountain" (1978) and "Watcher in the Woods" (1980). Davis died at age 81 on Oct. 6, 1989 following a battle with cancer.

Credits

The World of Hammer

Actor
Show
1994

Wicked Stepmother

Actor
Miranda Pierpoint
Movie
1989

The Whales of August

Actor
Libby Strong
Movie
1987

As Summers Die

Actor
Hannah Loftin
Movie
1986

Murder With Mirrors

Actor
Carrie Louise Serrocold
Movie
1985

Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano

Guest
Show
1983

Hotel

Guest Star
Laura Trent
Soap
1983

Hotel

Actor
Laura Trent
Movie
1983

Right of Way

Actor
Mini Dwyer
Movie
1983

Little Gloria... Happy at Last

Actor
Show
1982

A Piano for Mrs. Cimino

Actor
Esther McDonald Cimino
Movie
1982

Family Reunion

Actor
Elizabeth Winfield
Show
1981

Posmatrac u Sumi

Actor
Movie
1980

Skyward

Actor
Billie Dupree
Movie
1980

White Mama

Actor
Adele Malone
Movie
1980

The Watcher in the Woods

Actor
Mrs. Aylwood
Movie
1980
52%

Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter

Actor
Lucy Mason
Movie
1979

Mamie blanche

Actor
Movie
1979

Death on the NileStream

Actor
Mrs. Van Schuyler
Movie
1978
78%

The Dark Secret of Harvest Home

Actor
Widow Fortune
Miniseries
1978

Return From Witch Mountain

Actor
Letha
Movie
1978

Burnt Offerings

Actor
Aunt Elizabeth
Movie
1976

The Disappearance of Aimee

Actor
Minnie Kennedy
Movie
1976

Scream, Pretty Peggy

Actor
Mrs. Elliott
Movie
1973

The Scientific Cardplayer

Actor
The Millionairess
Movie
1972

The Judge and Jake Wyler

Actor
Judge Meredith
Movie
1972

Bunny O'Hare

Actor
Bunny O'Hare
Movie
1971

Madame Sin

Actor
Madame Sin
Movie
1971

Connecting Rooms

Actor
Wanda Fleming
Movie
1969

The Dick Cavett ShowStream

Guest
Talk
1968

The Anniversary

Actor
Mrs. Taggart
Movie
1968

The Merv Griffin Show

Guest
Talk
1965

The Nanny

Actor
Nanny
Movie
1965
85%

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte

Actor
Charlotte
Movie
1965

Dead RingerStream

Actor
Margaret DeLorca/Edith Phillips
Movie
1964
100%

Where Love Has Gone

Actor
Mrs. Gerald Hayden
Movie
1964

The Empty Canvas

Actor
Dino's mother
Movie
1964

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonStream

Guest
Talk
1962

The VirginianStream

Guest Star
Celia Miller
Series
1962

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?Stream

Actor
Miss Baby Jane Hudson
Movie
1962
92%

Pocketful of MiraclesStream

Actor
Apple Annie
Movie
1961
50%

The June Allyson Show

Actor
Show
1959

The Scapegoat

Actor
Countess
Movie
1959

Perry MasonStream

Guest Star
Constant Doyle
Series
1957

Wagon TrainStream

Guest Star
Ella Lindstrom
Series
1957

Storm Center

Actor
Alicia Hull
Movie
1956

The Catered AffairStream

Actor
Mrs. Agnes Hurley
Movie
1956
17%

Hour of Stars

Actor
Show
1955

Alfred Hitchcock PresentsStream

Actor
Miss Fox
Series
1955

GunsmokeStream

Guest Star
Etta Stone
Series
1955

The Virgin Queen

Actor
Queen Elizabeth I
Movie
1955

General Electric Theater

Actor
Miss Burrows
Show
1953

Showcase 39

Actor
Show
1952

The Best of This Is Your Life

Guest
Show
1952

I've Got a SecretStream

Guest
Game Show
1952

The Star

Actor
Margaret Elliot
Movie
1952

Phone Call From a Stranger

Actor
Marie Hoke
Movie
1952

Another Man's Poison

Actor
Janet Frobisher
Movie
1951

Payment on Demand

Actor
Joyce Ramsey
Movie
1951

What's My Line?Stream

Guest
Game Show
1950

All About EveStream

Actor
Margo Channing
Movie
1950
99%

Beyond the Forest

Actor
Rosa Moline
Movie
1949

June Bride

Actor
Linda Gilman
Movie
1948

Winter Meeting

Actor
Susan Grieve
Movie
1948

A Stolen Life

Actor
Kate Bosworth/Patricia Bosworth
Movie
1946

A Stolen Life

Producer
Movie
1946

DeceptionStream

Actor
Christine Radcliffe
Movie
1946

The Corn Is Green

Actor
Miss Lilly Moffat
Movie
1945

Hollywood Canteen

Actor
Bette Davis
Movie
1944

Mr. Skeffington

Actor
Fanny Trellis Skeffington
Movie
1944

Old AcquaintanceStream

Actor
Kit Marlowe
Movie
1943

Thank Your Lucky Stars

Self
Movie
1943

Watch on the RhineStream

Actor
Sara Muller
Movie
1943
80%

Now, VoyagerStream

Actor
Charlotte Vale
Movie
1942
91%

In This Our Life

Actor
Stanley Timberlake
Movie
1942

The Bride Came C.O.D.Stream

Actor
Joan Winfield
Movie
1941

The Little FoxesStream

Actor
Regina Giddens
Movie
1941
100%

The Man Who Came to Dinner

Actor
Maggie Cutler
Movie
1941
86%

The Great LieStream

Actor
Maggie Patterson Van Allen
Movie
1941
60%

The LetterStream

Actor
Leslie Crosbie
Movie
1940
100%

All This and Heaven Too

Actor
Henriette Deluzy-Desportes
Movie
1940
83%

Dark VictoryStream

Actor
Judith Traherne
Movie
1939
85%

Juarez

Actor
Empress Carlotta von Hapsburg
Movie
1939

Elizabeth the Queen

Actor
Queen Elizabeth
Movie
1939

The Old Maid

Actor
Charlotte Lovell
Movie
1939

The Sisters

Actor
Louise Elliott Medlin
Movie
1938

JezebelStream

Actor
Julie
Movie
1938
96%

That Certain Woman

Actor
Mary Donnell
Movie
1937

It's Love I'm After

Actor
Joyce Arden
Movie
1937

Marked Woman

Actor
Mary Dwight Strauber
Movie
1937

The Battling Bellhop

Actor
Louise "Fluff" Phillips
Movie
1937

The Petrified Forest

Actor
Gabrielle "Gabby" Maple
Movie
1936

Satan Met a Lady

Actor
Valerie Purvis
Movie
1936

The Golden Arrow

Actor
Daisy Appleby
Movie
1936

Front Page Woman

Actor
Ellen Garfield
Movie
1935

Special Agent

Actor
Julie
Movie
1935

Bordertown

Actor
Mrs. Marie Roark
Movie
1935

The Girl From 10th Avenue

Actor
Miriam A. Brady
Movie
1935

Dangerous

Actor
Joyce Heath
Movie
1935

Housewife

Actor
Patricia Berkeley
Movie
1934

Of Human BondageStream

Actor
Mildred Rogers
Movie
1934
50%

The Big Shakedown

Actor
Norma Nelson
Movie
1934

Fog Over Frisco

Actor
Arlene Bradford
Movie
1934

Jimmy the Gent

Actor
Miss Joan Martin
Movie
1934

Fashions

Actor
Lynn Mason
Movie
1934

Parachute Jumper

Actor
Patricia "Alabama" Brent
Movie
1933

20,000 Years in Sing Sing

Actor
Fay Wilson
Movie
1933

The Working Man

Actor
Jenny
Movie
1933

Ex-Lady

Actor
Helen Bauer
Movie
1933

Bureau of Missing Persons

Actor
Norma Roberts
Movie
1933

Cabin in the Cotton

Actor
Madge Norwood
Movie
1932

The Menace

Actor
Peggy Lowell
Movie
1932

So Big

Actor
Miss Dallas O'Mara
Movie
1932

The Man Who Played God

Actor
Grace Blair
Movie
1932

Way Back Home

Actor
Mary Lucy
Movie
1932

The Dark Horse

Actor
Kay Russell
Movie
1932

Hell's House

Actor
Peggy Gardner
Movie
1932

Three on a Match

Actor
Ruth Wescott
Movie
1932

Bad Sister

Actor
Laura Madison
Movie
1931

Waterloo Bridge

Actor
Janet Cronin
Movie
1931

Seed

Actor
Margaret Carter
Movie
1931

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