• Legendary actress Bette Davis starred in over 100 films and TV series during the course of her 50+ year career in entertainment. She was the first actor to receive 10 Oscar nominations, and is one of only three actresses in history to reach that milestone. She also served as the first female President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

• Fast Facts

  1. Born April 5, 1908 in Lowell, Massachusetts
  2. Passed on a number of classic films, including Mildred Pierce and The African Queen
  3. First woman to win a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute
  4. Died October 6, 1989

• Early Career

  After studying acting and dance in New York City (at one point, alongside Lucille Ball), Davis started acting as part of George Cukor's theater company. After appearing in a few Broadway shows, she was invited to Hollywood for a screen test.

  In 1930, Davis arrived in Los Angeles, and took on a number of small roles in films. She received her first real attention for Of Human Bondage in 1934, based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Controversially, she was not nominated for an Oscar for her role that year, which led to a change in the voting rules for the acting categories.

  In 1936, convinced that her contract Warner Bros. was holding back her career, Davis violated said contract and agreed to make some films in Europe. Davis was eventually sued by the studio, and lost.

• Peak Years

  Once back in Hollywood, Davis started to get more roles in more prominent films, including Jezebel, Marked Woman, Now, Voyager and The Little Foxes, and began to receive significant critical praise.

  A number of bad career choices and personal tragedies (including the mysterious death of her first husband, Arthur Farnsworth) had caused her career to take a downturn, but it was salvaged in 1950 with her performance as Margo Channing in the backstage drama All About Eve.

• Comeback

  After a string of commercial and critical flops throughout the 1950s, Davis had more success in the 1960s, particularly with the cult classic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, in which she co-starred with longtime rival Joan Crawford. She continued appearing in films in the '70s, and started doing television work as well.

• Health Problems and Death

  In 1983, Davis was diagnosed with breast cancer. From then until her death in October 6, 1989, she would suffer from ill health, and public appearances became less and less consistent. Her final completed performance was in the 1987 drama The Whales of August.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Joan Crawford | All About Eve | Greta Garbo | Edward G Robinson | Claude Rains

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