Bette Davis

Celebrity

  • Birth Name: Ruth Elizabeth Davis
  • Birth Place: Lowell, MA
  • Date of Birth / Zodiac Sign: 04/05/1908, Aries
  • Date of Death: 10/06/1989
  • Profession: Actor
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Bette Davis Fast Facts:
  • Classmate of Lucille Ball at the John Murray Anderson-Robert Milton Dramatics School.
  • Fought the studio contract system by signing with a British film company in 1936 to make two films in London. 
  • Claimed to have coined the name "Oscar" for the Academy Awards, saying she named it after first husband Harmon Oscar Nelson Jr.
  • After her career flagged in the 1940s, made a spectacular comeback in the 1950 film All About Eve.
  • Took out a "job wanted" ad in Variety in 1961. 
  • Had a legendary feud with Joan Crawford, her costar in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
  • Daughter Barbara wrote a "tell-all" book in 1985 about her called My Mother's Keeper. Davis responded two years later with an autobiography called This 'N That.
  • Her epitaph reads, "She did it the hard way."
  • Bette Davis Relationships:
  • William Wyler - Ex-significant Other
  • Gary Merrill - Ex-husband
  • Barbara Davis - Sister
  • William Grant Sherry - Ex-husband
  • Ruth Favor Davis - Mother
  • Harmon Oscar Nelson Jr. - Ex-husband
  • Margot Merrill - Daughter
  • Arthur Farnsworth - Husband (deceased)
  • Michael Merrill - Son
  • Barbara D. Merrill - Daughter
  • Harlow Morrell Davis - Father
  • Bette Davis Awards:
  • 1979 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special - Winner
  • 1963 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
  • 1974 Emmy: Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement - Nominee
  • 1935 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Winner
  • 1940 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
  • 1941 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
  • 1942 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
  • 1944 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
  • 1962 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
  • 1980 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special - Nominee
  • 1938 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Winner
  • 1939 Oscar: Best Actress - Nominee
  • 1950 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
  • 1952 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
  • 1983 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Special - Nominee
  • 1951 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
  • 1962 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
  • 1974 Golden Globe: Cecil B. DeMille Award - Winner
  • 1934 Oscar: Best Actress - Nominee
  • 1963 BAFTA Awards: Best Foreign Actress - Nominee
  • 1986 César Awards: Honorary César - Winner
  • College:
  • Attended John Murray Anderson-Robert Milton Dramatics School, New York, NY
Stardust The Bette Davis Story, Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, William Wyler courtesy Warner Bros.
Stardust The Bette Davis Story, Bette Davis, Howard Hughes courtesy The Bette Davis Collection at Boston University
Stardust The Bette Davis Story, Bette Davis, B.D. Hyman courtesy The Bette Davis Collection at Boston University
more Bette Davis photos (5 total photos)
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