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Bette Davis

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Bette Davis: Biography

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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