Bette Davis
Acting
🎂 1908-04-05
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.
Cast credits(209)
Constant Doyle
1957
Self
1962
Self - Co-Host
1961
Ella Lindstrom
1957
Self - Presenter
1956
Celia Miller
1962
Self - Presenter
1944
Etta Stone
1955
Self
1956
Self (archive footage)
1993
Marie Hoke
1955
Self
1953
Self
1950
Miss Fox
1955
Self - Guest
1968
Self
1974
1956
Dolley Madison
1952
Mrs. Wilfred Ellis
1957
Self
1978
Sarah Whitney
1959
Bessie Grindel
1968
Self (archive footage)
2013
Self (from All About Eve [1950]) (archive footage)
1986
Alicia Hull
1956
Marie Van Schuyler
1978
Self (archive footage)
2014
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1983
Self
1971
Apple Annie
1961
Self
1964
Self
1973
Self (archive footage)
1997
Self (archive footage)
1988
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2021
Baby Jane Hudson
1962
(archive footage)
1982
Self
1986
Self
1940
Self
1967
Self (archive footage)
2018
Self (archive footage)
2007
Self - Actor (archive footage)
2024
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2024
Madame Sin
1972
Queen Elizabeth
1939
Regina Hubbard Giddens
1941
Elizabeth Winfield
1981
Margo Channing
1950
(archive footage)
2019
(in "Deception") (archive footage)
1982
Arlene Bradford
1934
1941
Miss Lilly Christabel Moffat
1945
Self
1954
Self
1944
Self (archive footage)
1982
Patricia 'Alabama' Brent
1933
Charlotte Hollis
1964
Mary Dwight Strauber
1937
Self - Actress (archive footage)
2014
Letha Wedge
1978
Self (archive footage)
2017
Self
1983
Mrs. Agnes Hurley
1956
Mrs. Minnie Kennedy, Aimee's mother
1951
Empress Carlotta von Hapsburg
1939
Self
1942
Julie Marsden
1938
Mrs. Gerald Hayden
1964
Self
1944
Libby Strong
1987
Self (segment 'Dangerous') (archive footage)
1943
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1941
Self
1943
Joyce Heath
1935
Linda Gilman
1948
Self
1949
Charlotte Vale
1942
Minnie Kennedy
1976
Judge Meredith
1972
Self
1982
Maggie Patterson Van Allen
1941
Estelle Malone
1980
Miss Burrows
1953
Christine Marlowe
1953
Judith Traherne
1939
Joyce Ramsey (nee Jackson)
1951
Irene Van Buren
1951
Esther McDonald Cimino
1982
Self (archive footage)
2003
Self (archive footage)
1973
Self
1936
Liz
1965
Norma Nelson
1934
1935
Self (uncredited)
1933
Self (archive footage)
1938
Leslie Crosbie
1940
Self (archive footage)
1982
Queen Elizabeth I
1955
Self (archive footage)
1985
Kit Marlowe
1943
Susan Grieve
1948
Louise 'Fluff' Phillips
1937
Countess
1959
Self (archive footage)
1997
Mrs. Aylwood
1980
(archive footage)
1979
Self
1978
Laura Madison
1931
Queen Elizabeth (archive footage)
2005
Self
1936
Aunt Elizabeth
1976
Self (archive footage)
2009
Ruth Westcott
1932
Billie Dupree
1980
Miranda Pierpoint
1989
Mrs. Taggart
1968
Kay Russell
1932
Self (archive footage)
2015
Mrs. Elliott
1973
Widow Fortune
1978
Lucy Mason
1979
Fanny Trellis
1944
Miniature Dwyer
1983
Self
1972
Self
1937
Gabrielle "Gabby" Maple
1936
Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt
1982
Self (archive footage)
2002
Self (archive footage)
2009
Kate Bosworth / Patricia Bosworth
1946
Janet Frobisher
1951
Helen Bauer
1933
Self (archive footage)
2006
Miss Dallas O'Mara
1932
Empress Catherine the Great
1959
Madge Norwood
1932
Self (archive footage)
1996
Marie Hoke
1952
Henriette Deluzy-Desportes
1940
(archive footage)
1984
Joan Martin
1934
Self (archive footage)
2000
Christine Radcliffe
1946
Wanda Fleming
1970
Nanny
1965
Jenny Hartland alias Jane Grey
1933
Carrie Louise Serrocold
1985
Louise Elliott Medlin
1938
Fay Wilson
1932
'A vecchia
1972
(archive footage)
2001
Patricia Berkeley
1934
Mrs. Marie Roark
1935
Dino's Mother
1963
Norma Roberts
1933
(archive footage)
1987
Charlotte Lovell
1939
Bette Davis (uncredited)
1937
Ellen Garfield
1935
Malbro
1932
Guest Performer
1977
Mary Donnell/Mme Al Haines
1937
Bunny O'Hare
1971
Mary Lucy Duffy
1931
Self
1943
Sara Müller
1943
Lynn Mason
1934
Daisy Appleby
1936
Margaret Elliot
1952
Self
1939
Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips
1964
Joyce Arden
1937
Mildred Rogers
1934
Janet Cronin
1931
Valerie Purvis
1936
Miriam A. Brady
1935
Self (archive footage)
2009
Peggy Lowell
1932
Mother
1974
Maggie Cutler
1941
Self
1994
Julie Gardner
1935
Margaret Carter
1931
Self (archive footage)
2001
Rosa Moline
1949
Grace Blair
1932
Joan Winfield
1941
Self [Archive Footage]
1989
Stanley Timberlake Kingsmill
1942
Peggy Gardner
1932
Hannah Loftin
1986
Self (archive footage)
2013
Self (archive footage)
1996
Bette Davis
1940
Margo Channing (archive footage)
2013
Self (archive footage)
2006
Self (archive footage)
2017
Self (archive footage)
2005
1962
Miss Moffat
Self (archive footage)
1994
1943
Ginger
1933
Self
1986
1974
Mother
1943