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.
Acted in
Faye
2024
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Faye
2024
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Madonna: Madame X
2021
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mike Wallace Is Here
2019
as (archive footage)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
2018
as Self (archive footage)
Always at The Carlyle
2018
as Self (archive footage)
Bette Davis: Larger Than Life
2017
as Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan
2017
as Self (archive footage)
Listen to Me Marlon
2015
as Self (archive footage)
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
2014
as Self - Actress (archive footage)
And the Oscar Goes To...
2014
as Self (archive footage)
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013
as Self (archive footage)
Talking Pictures
2013
as Self (archive footage)
Footsteps on the Ceiling
2013
as Margo Channing (archive footage)
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
2009
as Self (archive footage)
Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis
2009
as Self (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009
as Self (archive footage)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007
as Self (archive footage)
Jezebel: Legend of the South
2006
as Self (archive footage)
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
2006
as Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
2006
as Self (archive footage)
The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert
2005
as Self (archive footage)
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
2005
as Queen Elizabeth (archive footage)
Complicated Women
2003
as Self (archive footage)
Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
2002
as Self (archive footage)
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
2001
as Self (archive footage)
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
2000
as Self (archive footage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
1997
as Self (archive footage)
Frank Capra's American Dream
1997
as Self (archive footage)
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
1996
as Self (archive footage)
Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis
1996
as Self (archive footage)
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
1994
as Self (archive footage)
All About Bette
1994
as Self
Intimate Portrait
1993
as Self (archive footage)
Wicked Stepmother
1989
as Miranda Pierpoint
Hairway to the Stars
1989
as Self [Archive Footage]
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1988
as Self (archive footage)
The Whales of August
1987
as Libby Strong
Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood
1987
as (archive footage)
As Summers Die
1986
as Hannah Loftin
Directed by William Wyler
1986
as Self
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
1986
as Self (from All About Eve [1950]) (archive footage)
Bette Davis at the Cinémathèque Française
1986
as Herself
Murder with Mirrors
1985
as Carrie Louise Serrocold
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
1985
as Self (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
as (archive footage)
Right of Way
1983
as Miniature Dwyer
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano
1983
as Self
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Showbiz Goes to War
1982
as (archive footage)
Little Gloria... Happy at Last
1982
as Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982
as (in "Deception") (archive footage)
Night of 100 Stars
1982
as Self
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino
1982
as Esther McDonald Cimino
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982
as Self (archive footage)
Family Reunion
1981
as Elizabeth Winfield
Skyward
1980
as Billie Dupree
The Watcher in the Woods
1980
as Mrs. Aylwood
White Mama
1980
as Estelle Malone
Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter
1979
as Lucy Mason
The Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978
as Self
Death on the Nile
1978
as Marie Van Schuyler
Return from Witch Mountain
1978
as Letha Wedge
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home
1978
as Widow Fortune
Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette
1978
as Marie Van Schuyler (archive footage)
Laugh-In
1977
as Self
The Disappearance of Aimee
1976
as Minnie Kennedy
Burnt Offerings
1976
as Aunt Elizabeth
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
1974
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
1974
as Mother
Scream, Pretty Peggy
1973
as Mrs. Elliott
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
as Self
The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor
1973
as Self (archive footage)
Bette Davis
1972
as Self
The Judge and Jake Wyler
1972
as Judge Meredith
The Scopone Game
1972
as 'A vecchia
Madame Sin
1972
as Madame Sin
Bunny O'Hare
1971
as Bunny O'Hare
Connecting Rooms
1970
as Wanda Fleming
The Anniversary
1968
as Mrs. Taggart
It Takes a Thief
1968
as Bessie Grindel
The Nanny
1965
as Nanny
The Decorator
1965
as Liz
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964
as Charlotte Hollis
Where Love Has Gone
1964
as Mrs. Gerald Hayden
Hollywood and the Stars
1964
as (archive footage)
Dead Ringer
1964
as Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips
The Hollywood Palace
1964
as Self
The Empty Canvas
1963
as Dino's Mother
The Andy Williams Christmas Show
1962
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962
as Baby Jane Hudson
The Virginian
1962
as Celia Miller
Pocketful of Miracles
1961
as Apple Annie
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as Sarah Whitney
The Scapegoat
1959
as Countess
John Paul Jones
1959
as Empress Catherine the Great
Suspicion
1957
as Mrs. Wilfred Ellis
Perry Mason
1957
as Constant Doyle
Wagon Train
1957
as Ella Lindstrom
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956
as Self
Storm Center
1956
as Alicia Hull
The Catered Affair
1956
as Mrs. Agnes Hurley
Telephone Time
1956
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Presenter
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
as Marie Hoke
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Miss Fox
Gunsmoke
1955
as Etta Stone
The Virgin Queen
1955
as Queen Elizabeth I
Reflets de Cannes
1954
as Self
The Oscars
1953
as Self
General Electric Theater
1953
as Miss Burrows
General Electric Theater
1953
as Christine Marlowe
The Star
1952
as Margaret Elliot
The Ford Television Theatre
1952
as Dolley Madison
Phone Call from a Stranger
1952
as Marie Hoke
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Mrs. Minnie Kennedy, Aimee's mother
Another Man's Poison
1951
as Janet Frobisher
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Irene Van Buren
Payment on Demand
1951
as Joyce Ramsey (nee Jackson)
All About Eve
1950
as Margo Channing
What's My Line?
1950
as Self - Mystery Guest
Breakdowns of 1949
1949
as Self
Beyond the Forest
1949
as Rosa Moline
June Bride
1948
as Linda Gilman
Winter Meeting
1948
as Susan Grieve
Deception
1946
as Christine Radcliffe
A Stolen Life
1946
as Kate Bosworth / Patricia Bosworth
The Corn Is Green
1945
as Miss Lilly Christabel Moffat
Breakdowns of 1944
1944
as Self
Hollywood Canteen
1944
as Self
Mr. Skeffington
1944
as Fanny Trellis
A Present with a Future
1943
as Mother
Old Acquaintance
1943
as Kit Marlowe
The Voice That Thrilled the World
1943
as Self (segment 'Dangerous') (archive footage)
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943
as Self
Watch on the Rhine
1943
as Sara Müller
Show-Business at War
1943
as Self
Stars on Horseback
1943
Breakdowns of 1942
1942
as Self
Now, Voyager
1942
as Charlotte Vale
In This Our Life
1942
as Stanley Timberlake Kingsmill
The Man Who Came to Dinner
1941
as Maggie Cutler
Breakdowns of 1941
1941
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Little Foxes
1941
as Regina Hubbard Giddens
The Bride Came C.O.D.
1941
as Joan Winfield
Shining Victory
1941
The Great Lie
1941
as Maggie Patterson Van Allen
The Letter
1940
as Leslie Crosbie
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
1940
as Self
All This, and Heaven Too
1940
as Henriette Deluzy-Desportes
If I Forget You
1940
as Bette Davis
Breakdowns of 1939
1939
as Self
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
1939
as Queen Elizabeth
The Old Maid
1939
as Charlotte Lovell
Juarez
1939
as Empress Carlotta von Hapsburg
Dark Victory
1939
as Judith Traherne
Breakdowns of 1938
1938
as Self (archive footage)
The Sisters
1938
as Louise Elliott Medlin
Jezebel
1938
as Julie Marsden
Breakdowns of 1937
1937
as Self
It's Love I'm After
1937
as Joyce Arden
That Certain Woman
1937
as Mary Donnell/Mme Al Haines
Kid Galahad
1937
as Louise 'Fluff' Phillips
A Day at Santa Anita
1937
Marked Woman
1937
as Mary Dwight Strauber
Breakdowns of 1936
1936
as Self
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
1936
as Self
Satan Met a Lady
1936
as Valerie Purvis
The Golden Arrow
1936
as Daisy Appleby
The Petrified Forest
1936
as Gabrielle "Gabby" Maple
A Dream Comes True
1935
Dangerous
1935
as Joyce Heath
Special Agent
1935
as Julie Gardner
Front Page Woman
1935
as Ellen Garfield
The Girl from 10th Avenue
1935
as Miriam A. Brady
Bordertown
1935
as Mrs. Marie Roark
Housewife
1934
as Patricia Berkeley
Of Human Bondage
1934
as Mildred Rogers
Fog Over Frisco
1934
as Arlene Bradford
Jimmy the Gent
1934
as Joan Martin
Fashions of 1934
1934
as Lynn Mason
The Big Shakedown
1934
as Norma Nelson
Bureau of Missing Persons
1933
as Norma Roberts
Ex-Lady
1933
as Helen Bauer
The Working Man
1933
as Jenny Hartland alias Jane Grey
The 42nd Street Special
1933
as Self (uncredited)
Parachute Jumper
1933
as Patricia 'Alabama' Brent
Just Around the Corner
1933
as Ginger
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
1932
as Fay Wilson
Three on a Match
1932
as Ruth Westcott
The Cabin in the Cotton
1932
as Madge Norwood
The Dark Horse
1932
as Kay Russell
The Rich Are Always with Us
1932
as Malbro
So Big!
1932
as Miss Dallas O'Mara
The Man Who Played God
1932
as Grace Blair
Hell's House
1932
as Peggy Gardner
The Menace
1932
as Peggy Lowell
Way Back Home
1931
as Mary Lucy Duffy
Waterloo Bridge
1931
as Janet Cronin
Seed
1931
as Margaret Carter
The Bad Sister
1931
as Laura Madison