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Bette Davis

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bette Davis
Davis in 1935
Born
Ruth Elizabeth Davis

(1908-04-05)April 5, 1908
DiedOctober 6, 1989(1989-10-06) (aged 81)
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
OccupationActress
Years active1929–1989
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
  • Harmon Oscar Nelson
    (m. 1932; div. 1938)
  • Arthur Farnsworth
    (m. 1940; died 1943)
  • William Grant Sherry
    (m. 1945; div. 1950)
  • (m. 1950; div. 1960)
Children3, including B. D. Hyman
Signature
Bette Davis in 1932

Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (/ˈbɛti/; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress for stage, movies, and television. She was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. She was nicknamed "The Queen of Hollywood" or the "First Lady of the American Screen" and "The Fifth Warner Brother" during her career. She is thought to be one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood. She was able to play many mean and cynical characters. She also played in many different movie genres. Her most successful roles were ones in romantic dramas.[1] She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice. Davis had the most Academy Award nominations for acting (with 10) until Katharine Hepburn took her place with twelve. She was the first woman to have a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. In 1999, Davis was second on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema.

Bette Davis was in over 100 films across 60 years. Some of the most popular movies were[2][3] Of Human Bondage (1934), Marked Woman (1937), Jezebel (1938), Dark Victory (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), Now, Voyager (1942), Watch on the Rhine (1943), Mr. Skeffington (1944), All About Eve (1950), The Virgin Queen (1955), The Catered Affair (1956), Pocketful of Miracles (1961), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Death on the Nile (1978) and The Whales of August (1987).

In 1981 Kim Carnes sang the hit song "Bette Davis Eyes".[4] Davis liked the song. Carnes gave Davis a gold record. Davis hung the gold record on a wall.[5]

The Kennedy Center honored Davis in 1987.[6] She died of breast cancer in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.

Academy Awards

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Davis in the trailer for Dark Victory (1939). She was given an Oscar for her performance in this movie.

Davis had many Academy Awards in her life. She also had many Oscar milestones.

She was the first person to earn five Academy Award nominations in a row for acting. All of these nominations were in the Best Actress category (1938–1942).[7] Her record has only been matched by one other person. Greer Garson also earned five nominations in a row in the Best Actress category (1941–1945). In three of these years, both actresses were nominated.[7]

In 1962, Bette Davis was the first person to have 10 Academy Award nominations for acting. Since then, only 3 people have had more nominations than her. Meryl Streep (with 21 nominations and three wins), Katharine Hepburn (12 nominations and 4 wins), and Jack Nicholson (12 nominations and 3 wins). Laurence Olivier also matched her (10 nominations and 1 win).[8]

Steven Spielberg bought two of Davis's Oscars. The first Oscar was sold for $207,500. The oscar was for the movie Dangerous (1935). The second Oscar was sold for $578,000. That Oscar was for the movie Jezebel (1938).[9][10]

Year Category Film Result
1934 Best Actress Of Human Bondage Nominated (Write-in)
1935 Dangerous Won
1938 Jezebel
1939 Dark Victory Nominated
1940 The Letter
1941 The Little Foxes
1942 Now, Voyager
1944 Mr. Skeffington
1950 All About Eve
1952 The Star
1962 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Important movies

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References

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  1. Michele Bourgoin, Suzanne (1998). Encyclopedia of World Biography. Gale. p. 119. ISBN 0787622214.
  2. "18 Best Bette Davis Movies - IMDb". IMDb.com. 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  3. "The Top 20 Movies Starring Bette Davis - Flickchart". FlickChart.com. 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  4. Huey, Steve (July 20, 1945). "( Kim Carnes > Biography )". allmusic. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  5. Bubbeo, Daniel (2001). The Women of Warner Brothers: The Lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies, with Filmographies for Each. McFarland. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-7864-1137-5.
  6. "List of Kennedy Center Honorees". Kennedy-center.org. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Persons With Acting Nominations in 3 or More Consecutive Years" (PDF). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. March 1, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  8. "Persons with 5 or More Acting Nominations" (PDF). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 22, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  9. "Classic Movie Scrapbook: Dangerous." Reel Classics.com. Accessed May 24, 2008.
  10. "Spielberg buys Bette Davis' Oscar." BBC.co.uk. July 20, 2001. Accessed May 24, 2008.

Other websites

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Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by
Walter Wanger
President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences[broken anchor]
1941
Succeeded by
Walter Wanger