Davis was at the peak of her career in the late 1930s and early-to-mid 1940s, at a time when she was one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood and turned down parts she found inferior.
In the early 1940s, Davis' popularity continued to grow with such films as "All This and Heaven Too" (1940), "The Letter" (1940), and "The Little Foxes" (1941), plus her roles as a timid spinster who blossoms into a vital woman of the world in the melodramatic "Now, Voyager" (1942).
To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labor, to be given a chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life. The money is the gravy.
Davis won Oscars on her first two nominations for “Dangerous” in 1935 and “Jezebel” in 1938. Strangely Davis won for arguably the two least acclaimed and remembered films of her 10 nominations. The other bids were for: “Dark Victory” (1939), “The Letter” (1940), “The Little Foxes” (1941), “Now, Voyager” (1942), “Mr.
9 Famous Stars who died today November 29th, Actors | Rest In Peace
How old were Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in Baby Jane?
Aldrich's 1962 Hollywood adaptation of Henry Farrell's gothic novel would star Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, both then in their mid 50s, as quarrelling sisters, confined to the living tomb of a Los Angeles mansion that's filled with skeletons and a noxious resentment that lingers in the air.
On May 10, 1977, Joan Crawford died from a heart attack at her New York City apartment. At the time, outlets reported Bette's response to her colleague's death as they quoted her: "You should never say bad things about the dead, only good… Joan Crawford is dead? Good."
Some suggest Davis's eyes were the result of the autoimmune thyroid condition, Graves' disease. Swelling the muscles around the eyes and surrounding tissues, the condition pushes the eyeballs forward, causing them to protrude, limiting their movement.
How much money did Bette Davis have when she died?
Davis's net worth at the time of her death was $2 Million after adjusting for taxes and inflation. According to her last will and testament, Bette's estate was worth $1 Million. The bulk of the estate was left to her adopted son, Michael Merrill. The other beneficiary was her close friend and assistant Kathryn Sermack.
It was recorded by DeShannon that year but made popular by American singer Kim Carnes in 1981 when it spent nine non-consecutive weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
“I think it's more like Chubby Checker.” The audience laughed—though they had occasionally heard Davis sing in movies (like 1943's Thank Your Lucky Stars), the cigarette-puffing leading lady was far better known for her croak than her croon.
How old was Bette Davis when she played Queen Elizabeth?
Bette Davis (31 at the time the movie was made) was less than half the actual age of Queen Elizabeth was at the time of the events of the film. Queen Elizabeth was 63 in 1596. Errol Flynn was only one year younger than she, although Essex was 32 years younger than Elizabeth.
Bette Davis, the actress known for playing strong, independent women, had deep blue eyes. Her signature eyes made her famous. However, during the era of black and white cinematography, those blue eyes often tended to be photograph in black and white and appeared brown or hazel.
She never forgave Bede. Mother and daughter remained estranged through 1989, when Davis was told her breast cancer, in remission for five years, had “exploded,” and she had just days to live.
Married four times, Davis eloquently conveyed the vicissitudes of stardom in her autobiographies, The Lonely Life (1962) and This 'n' That (1987). She also provided running commentary for Whitney Stine's account of her film career, Mother Goddam: The Story of the Career of Bette Davis (1974).
They were accentuated by blue eye shadow and layers of false lashes with brown, not black, mascara. I was to learn later that Bette customarily took this kind of care with her appearance when meeting someone for the first time.
Betty was inspired to become an actress after seeing Rudolph Valentino in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and Mary Pickford in Little Lord Fauntleroy, and changed the spelling of her name to “Bette” after Honoré de Balzac's La Cousine Bette.
Bette Davis, longtime rival of Crawford, denounced the book, stating, "I was not Miss Crawford's biggest fan, but, wisecracks to the contrary, I did and still do respect her talent. What she did not deserve was that detestable book written by her daughter. I've forgotten her name. Horrible."
Davis starred in her final film Wicked Stepmother, although she felt that the script was poor. The film had production problems, with Davis often quarreling with Larry Cohen, and she withdrew from the film shortly after production began. After fifty-eight years of acting, she made her final appearance.
It is revealed that Tina left Bette partly because she could not cope with Bette's controlling nature, and did not attend Kit's funeral after she died of a drug overdose, something which Bette never forgave Tina for.
