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Bette Davis: Roles
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Bette Davis had been appearing in minor romantic roles for six years when it occurred to John Cromwell to cast her as the vile Mildred Rogers in 'Of Human Bondage' (1934), a brilliantly vicious tale of misdirected love. 'Bette the bitch' was born, and though that film did not win the Best Actress Oscar, she was to win it twice in the next five years, for her feisty southern belle in 'Jezebel' and as an alcoholic actress in 'Dangerous'.
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Film diva Bette Davis becomes the 14th inductee into the Legends of Hollywood series on the 100th anniversary of the year of her birth. A consummate actress with a magnetic screen presence, Davis (1908-1989) played a wide variety of powerful and complex roles during her six-decade career. Her riveting performances, acclaimed by critics and fans alike, resulted in 10 Academy Award nominations for best actress; she won twice for her starring roles in Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938). Artist Michael Deas of Brooklyn Heights, NY, based his painting for the stamp on a black-and-white still of Davis made during the filming of All About Eve (1950). The selvage, or margin, photograph is a black-and-white still from Jezebel. Deas worked under the direction of Richard Scheaff of Scottsdale, AZ.
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Bette Davis's career, which spanned some 60 years, included 86 films and 15 television movies. In addition to the countless honors and awards, she earned the respect and admiration of audiences and colleagues alike. She was best known for playing strong and often scheming characters. Her large, expressive eyes, exaggerated mannerisms, distinctive voice and diction, and ubiquitous cigarettes became her trademarks. She is often credited with broadening the range of roles available to actresses as well. Her fans can still recite her most memorable lines, such as when Davis, portraying an aging stage legend in All About Eve, (1950) tells her guests to "fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"
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Often referred to as "The First Lady of the American Screen," Bette Davis created a new kind of screen heroine. She was a liberated woman in an industry dominated by men. She was known as an actress that could play a variety of difficult and powerful roles, and because of this she set a new standard for women on the big screen. Independent off-screen as well, her battles with studio bigwigs were legendary. With a career spanning six decades, few in the history of film rival her longevity and appeal.
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Through the 1940s and 1950s, most of Bette Davis' films were not particularly successful, with a few exceptions, such as the classic All About Eve, in which Davis played an aging diva. However, she came back into the public eye with her role in 1962's Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, a creepy psychological thriller that pitted Davis against a long-time rival, Joan Crawford. The film is recognized today as a cult classic.
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Bette's career took a dramatic turn in 1934 when she was lent to RKO to play opposite Leslie Howard in OF HUMAN BONDAGE, and on account of her good reviews, she began to get better parts. The following year, she made DANGEROUS (1935), for which she won a Best Actress Oscar, the first of ten times she would be nominated. In 1936 Bette challenged the studio system and went to London to make pictures with a British company. After Warner Bros. successfully sued her, she returned to Hollywood and signed a new contract offering her even better roles. She won the second of her two Best Actress awards for William Wyler's JEZEBEL in 1938 (... starring Henry Fonda), and made four notable films in 1939 including DARK VICTORY with Humphrey Bogart, JUAREZ, THE OLD MAID and THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX.
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