Bette Davis
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self (archive footage)
1962
Series
Perry Mason
Constant Doyle
1957
Series
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Co-Host
1961
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956
Series
Wagon Train
Ella Lindstrom
1957
Series
Wagon Train
Madame Elizabeth McQueeny
1957
Series
The Virginian
Celia Miller
1962
Series
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
Series
Hotel
Laura Trent
1982
Series
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
Series
What's My Line?
Self
1950
Series
Gunsmoke
Etta Stone
1955
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Series
Intimate Portrait
Self (archive footage)
1993
Series
Telephone Time
1956
Film '72
Self
1971
Series
Late Night with David Letterman
Self - Guest
1982
Series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Miss Fox
1955
Series
Dinah!
Self
1974
Film
Death on the Nile
Marie Van Schuyler
1978
Series
The Ford Television Theatre
Dolley Madison
1952
Series
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
1956
Series
Suspicion
Mrs. Wilfred Ellis
1957
Series
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Marie Hoke
1955
Series
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self
1978
Series
It Takes a Thief
Bessie Grindel
1968
Series
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Self
1967
Series
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Sarah Whitney
1959
V.I.P. Schaukel
Self
1971
Series
The World of Hammer
Self (archive footage)
1994
Film
All About Eve
Margo Channing
1950
Series
The Hollywood Palace
Self
1964
Series
Reflets de Cannes
Self
1954
Series
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self
1973
Series
Talking Pictures
Self (archive footage)
2013
Film
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Baby Jane Hudson
1962
Film
Mr. Skeffington
Fanny Trellis
1944
Film
Now, Voyager
Charlotte Vale
1942
Film
Murder with Mirrors
Carrie Louise Serrocold
1985
Film
Pocketful of Miracles
Apple Annie
1961
Film
Mickey's 50
Self
1978
Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Mrs. Minnie Kennedy, Aimee's mother
1951
Film
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Charlotte Hollis
1964
Series
General Electric Theater
Miss Burrows
1953
Series
General Electric Theater
Christine Marlowe
1953
Film
The Watcher in the Woods
Mrs. Aylwood
1980
Series
Family Reunion
Elizabeth Winfield
1981
Film
Jezebel
Julie Marsden
1938
Film
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(in "Deception") (archive footage)
1982
Film
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Self (archive footage)
2013
Film
Burnt Offerings
Aunt Elizabeth
1976
Series
Little Gloria... Happy at Last
Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt
1982
Film
Dead Ringer
Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips
1964
Film
June Bride
Linda Gilman
1948
Film
Return from Witch Mountain
Letha Wedge
1978
Film
Housewife
Patricia Berkeley
1934
Film
Juarez
Empress Carlotta von Hapsburg
1939
Film
Front Page Woman
Ellen Garfield
1935
Film
Marked Woman
Mary Dwight Strauber
1937
Series
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Irene Van Buren
1951
Film
Of Human Bondage
Mildred Rogers
1934
Series
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home
Widow Fortune
1978
Film
The Little Foxes
Regina Hubbard Giddens
1941
Film
Night of 100 Stars
Self
1982
Film
The Scapegoat
Countess
1959
Film
Morceaux de Cannes
2021
Film
Dark Victory
Judith Traherne
1939
Film
Frank Capra's American Dream
Self (archive footage)
1997
Film
The Letter
Leslie Crosbie
1940
Film
Special Agent
Julie Gardner
1935
Film
Kid Galahad
Louise 'Fluff' Phillips
1937
Film
The Nanny
Nanny
1965
Film
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2018
Film
Complicated Women
Self (archive footage)
2003
Film
A Stolen Life
Kate Bosworth / Patricia Bosworth
1946
Film
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Maggie Cutler
1941
Film
Directed by William Wyler
Self
1986
Film
South of Reno
1988
Film
The Petrified Forest
Gabrielle "Gabby" Maple
1936
Film
Satan Met a Lady
Valerie Purvis
1936
Film
John Paul Jones
Empress Catherine the Great
1959
Film
Breakdowns of 1936
Self
1936
Laugh-In
Guest Performer
1977
Film
In This Our Life
Stanley Timberlake Kingsmill
1942
Film
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Self (archive footage)
1988
Film
The Fabulous Allan Carr
Self (archive)
2017
Film
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Fay Wilson
1932
Film
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
1982
Film
Phone Call from a Stranger
Marie Hoke
1952
Film
The Bride Came C.O.D.
Joan Winfield
1941
Film
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
Self (archive footage)
2006
Film
Breakdowns of 1942
Self
1942
Film
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1983
Film
Madonna: Madame X
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2021
Film
Breakdowns of 1941
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1941
Film
The Whales of August
Libby Strong
1987
Film
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Queen Elizabeth
1939
Film
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Self
1940
Film
The Catered Affair
Agnes Hurley
1956
Film
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Self (archive footage)
1995
Film
The Bad Sister
Laura Madison
1931
Film
The Great Lie
Maggie Patterson Van Allen
1941
Film
Listen to Me Marlon
Self (archive footage)
2015
Film
All This, and Heaven Too
Henriette Deluzy-Desportes
1940
Film
Breakdowns of 1949
Self
1949
Film
Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood
(archive footage)
1987
Film
Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis
Self (archive footage)
1996
Film
The Virgin Queen
Queen Elizabeth I
1955
Film
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Queen Elizabeth (archive footage)
2005
Film
All About Bette
Self
1994
Film
The Scopone Game
'A vecchia
1972
Film
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano
Self
1983
Bette Davis
Self
1972
Film
Hollywood Canteen
Self
1944
Film
The Disappearance of Aimee
Minnie Kennedy
1976
Film
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Self (archive footage)
2009
Film
Wicked Stepmother
Miranda Pierpoint
1989
Film
Three on a Match
Ruth Westcott
1932
Film
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
Mother
1974
Film
The Anniversary
Mrs. Taggart
1968
Film
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
1984
Film
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Self - Actress (archive footage)
2014
Film
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
Self (archive footage)
1996
Film
Waterloo Bridge
Janet Cronin
1931
Film
Breakdowns of 1938
Self (archive footage)
1938
Film
Jimmy the Gent
Joan Martin
1934
Film
The Judge and Jake Wyler
Judge Meredith
1972
Film
The Old Maid
Charlotte Lovell
1939
Film
The Working Man
Jenny Hartland alias Jane Grey
1933
Film
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
Self (archive footage)
1985
Film
Way Back Home
Mary Lucy Duffy
1931
Film
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Self
1943
Film
Deception
Christine Radcliffe
1946
Film
Scream, Pretty Peggy
Mrs. Elliott
1973
Film
Winter Meeting
Susan Grieve
1948
Film
Another Man's Poison
Janet Frobisher
1951
Film
Family Reunion
Elizabeth Winfield
1981
Film
Breakdowns of 1937
Self
1937
Film
Miss Moffat
Miss Moffat
1974
Film
Storm Center
Alicia Hull
1956
Film
Watch on the Rhine
Sara Müller
1943
Film
Footsteps on the Ceiling
Margo Channing (archive footage)
2013
Film
Jezebel: Legend of the South
Self (archive footage)
2006
Film
Where Love Has Gone
Mrs. Gerald Hayden
1964
Film
The Sisters
Louise Elliott Medlin
1938
Film
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Self (archive footage)
1997
Film
Mike Wallace Is Here
(archive footage)
2019
Film
Bunny O'Hare
Bunny O'Hare
1971
Film
The Empty Canvas
Dino's Mother
1963
Film
The Star
Margaret Elliot
1952
Film
Payment on Demand
Joyce Ramsey (nee Jackson)
1951
Film
Beyond the Forest
Rosa Moline
1949
Film
Old Acquaintance
Kit Marlowe
1943
Film
Madame Sin
Madame Sin
1972
Film
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Self (archive footage)
2001
Film
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Self (archive footage)
1982
Film
It's Love I'm After
Joyce Arden
1937
Film
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
archive footage
1986
Film
Show-Business at War
Self
1943
Film
Just Around the Corner
Ginger
1933
Film
Ex-Lady
Helen Bauer
1933
Film
Marilyn at the Movies
Self (archive footage)
2011
Film
The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert
Self (archive footage)
2005
Film
Showbiz Goes to War
(archive footage)
1982
Film
Fashions of 1934
Lynn Mason
1934
Film
Breakdowns of 1939
Self
1939
Film
Dangerous
Joyce Heath
1935
Film
Right of Way
Miniature Dwyer
1983
Film
Bordertown
Mrs. Marie Roark
1935
Film
Fog Over Frisco
Arlene Bradford
1934
Film
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Self (archive footage)
2007
Film
The Big Shakedown
Norma Nelson
1934
Film
So Big!
Miss Dallas O'Mara
1932
Film
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Self
1936
Film
The Golden Arrow
Daisy Appleby
1936
Film
White Mama
Estelle Malone
1980
Film
Breakdowns of 1944
Self
1944
Film
The Rich Are Always with Us
Malbro
1932
Film
Vito
Self (archive)
2011
Film
That Certain Woman
Mary Donnell
1937
Film
A Dream Comes True
1935
Film
The Corn Is Green
Miss Lilly Christabel Moffat
1945
Film
Parachute Jumper
Patricia 'Alabama' Brent
1933
Film
The 42nd Street Special
Self (uncredited)
1933
Film
Connecting Rooms
Wanda Fleming
1970
Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette
Marie Van Schuyler
1978
Film
The Horror Show
(archive footage)
1979
Film
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
Self (archive footage)
2009
Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell
Self (archive footage)
1995
Film
Bureau of Missing Persons
Norma Roberts
1933
Film
The Cabin in the Cotton
Madge Norwood
1932
Film
A Day at Santa Anita
Bette Davis (uncredited)
1937
Film
Bette and Joan
Self (archive footage)
2017
Film
Skyward
Billie Dupree
1980
Film
The Girl from 10th Avenue
Miriam A. Brady
1935
Film
The Voice That Thrilled the World
Self (segment 'Dangerous') (archive footage)
1943
Film
The Man Who Played God
Grace Blair
1932
Film
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino
Esther McDonald Cimino
1982
Film
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
Self (archive footage)
2006
Film
The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor
Self (archive footage)
1973
Film
The Dark Horse
Kay Russell
1932
Film
Hell's House
Peggy Gardner
1932
Film
Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn
Self (archive footage)
2015
Film
Shining Victory
1941
If I Forget You
Bette Davis
1940
Film
Showbiz Ballyhoo
Self (archive footage)
1982
Film
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
Self (archive footage)
2000
Film
Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Self (archive footage)
2002
Film
Hairway to the Stars
Self [Archive Footage]
1989
Film
Seed
Margaret Carter
1931
Film
The Menace
Peggy Lowell
1932
Series
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
Mother
1974
Film
Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter
Lucy Mason
1979
Film
How Real is 'The Star'?
Self (archive footage)
2005
Film
As Summers Die
Hannah Loftin
1986
Film
Bette Davis: Larger Than Life
Self (archive footage)
2017
Film
This Is Joan Collins
Self (Archive Footage)
2022
Film
The Decorator
Liz
1965
Film
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
Self (archive footage)
1994
A Present with a Future
Mother
1943
Film
Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis
Self (archive footage)
2009
Film
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning"
1936
Film
Stars on Horseback
1943
Bride of Trailer Camp
(archive footage)
2001
Film
Bette Davis at the Cinémathèque Française
Self
1986