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