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.
Michael Merrill, Bette's son, and Kathryn Sermak, Bette's personal assistant and friend, are now the executors of her estate. In her memory, they have created The Bette Davis Foundation, which provides financial assistance to promising young actors and actresses.
Did Bette Davis give birth to any of her children?
In 1947, at the age of 39, Davis gave birth to daughter Barbara Davis Sherry (known as B.D.), and later wrote in her memoir that she became absorbed in motherhood and considered ending her career.
How much was Bette Davis paid for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Even though she liked the part of Baby Jane, Bette played hardball when negotiating with the director and asked for two things: top billing and more money than Crawford. Davis received $60,000 for the role.
Eventually, Davis became a huge star, overtaking Crawford. By the 1940s both stars were employed by the same studio, Warner Bros., where they had adjoining dressing rooms.
Here's Who Inherited Bette Davis' Fortune After Her Death
How old were Betty Davis and Joan Crawford 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.
What did Bette Davis daughter say about her in her book?
My Mother's Keeper is a 1985 memoir by B. D. Hyman, the daughter of actress Bette Davis, in which she alleges that Davis was a bullying, alcoholic mother.
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.
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.
Michael and Margo Merrill were adopted while Davis was married to actor Gary Merrill. Kathryn Sermack, a friend and secretary who lived with Davis in her Los Angeles apartment, also gets about half her estate.
A funeral was held at Campbell Funeral Home, New York, on May 13, 1977. In her will, which had been signed on October 28, 1976, Crawford bequeathed to her two youngest children, Cindy and Cathy, $77,500 each from her $2 million estate.
Davis could be remarkably kind about other actors: She admired her friends Joan Blondell and Olivia de Havilland, worshiped Italian actor Anna Magnani, and admitted to being jealous of Katharine Hepburn (both were staunch, driven Yankees, and both would have affairs with Howard Hughes).
She left $77,500 each to her two younger daughters, Cathy and Cynthia. She also bequeathed money to several other people and numerous charities. Cathy also inherited all of Joan's property including the Oscar for Mildred Pierce. In 1993, Cathy sold Joan's Academy Award at auction for $426,732.
Now, thanks to some 1956 archive footage from the U.C.L.A. Film & Television Archive, we can see what happened when Queen Elizabeth met some of the biggest stars of the day, including Joan Crawford, Anita Ekberg, and Marilyn Monroe.
Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Barbara Davis Hyman (née Sherry) (1947–) is an American author and pastor, the first child of film star Bette Davis.
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."
' Unsurprisingly, tales from the Dangerous set did reach Joan, and Miss Crawford was quick to marry Mr. Tone. Ever after, Bette claimed that Joan Crawford stole Franchot Tone from her. Joan's marriage to Bette's co-star went down in flames four years later, but the Crawford-Davis feud went on … and on … and on.
