Bette Davis

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The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition

Bette Davis

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Bette Davis , 1908-89, American film actress, b. Lowell, Mass., as Ruth Elizabeth Davis. One of the most durable stars of the American screen, she made her debut in 1931. With a strikingly artificial yet emotionally compelling acting style and distinctive features that gave her an unconventional beauty, Davis was difficult to promote as a romantic figure. Her successful early roles included Of Human Bondage (1934) and Dangerous (1935, Academy Award). Frustrated at the lack of better roles, she broke her contract with Warner Brothers and lost a subsequent court case in which the standard seven-year contract binding a performer to one studio was upheld. But Davis found her niche as the troubled woman in search of romance in such films as Jezebel (1938), for which she won another Academy Award, and The Little Foxes (1941). Among her other outstanding films are Dark Victory (1939), Now, Voyager (1942), and the superb All about Eve (1950). When her popularity began to decline in the 1950s, she responded by accepting offbeat, even bizarre, roles in The Catered Affair (1955), Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1961), and other 1960s films. With fellow screen legend Lillian Gish , she gave a graceful valedictory performance in The Whales of August (1987).

Bibliography: See her autobiography (1962); biographies by J. Vermilye (1972), C. Higham (1981), B. Leaming (1992), J. Spada (1993), C. Chandler (2006), and E. Sikov (2007).

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Davis, Bette

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | © World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Davis, Bette (1908–89) US film actress. She is remembered for her intense character portrayals and evocative screen presence. She won two best actress Academy Awards for Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938). Other films include All About Eve (1950) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). She was the first woman to receive (1977) a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article The unpublished Bette Davis--until now.(TALES FROM THE CRYPT)(Interview)
Magazine article from: Interview; 9/1/2006
Free Article Mary Elizabeth "Bette" (Witt) Davis, 84.(DEATHS)
Newspaper article from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA); 7/14/2007
Free Article The Girl Who Walked Home Alone.(The Girl Who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis, A Personal Biography)(Brief article)(Book review)
Magazine article from: The Bookwatch; 6/1/2007

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The unpublished Bette Davis--until now.(TALES FROM THE CRYPT)(Interview)
Magazine article from: Interview; 9/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...VINCENT PRICE, ANN SOTHERN, AND BETTE DAVIS--GOT TOGETHER IN THE TWILIGHT OF...REMAINED LARGER THAN LIFE. In 1987, Bette Davis came to New York to promote her...films were melodramas, but then Bette Davis was melodrama, both onscreen and... Read more
Mary Elizabeth "Bette" (Witt) Davis, 84.(DEATHS)
Newspaper article from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA); 7/14/2007; 197 words ; DUDLEY Mary Elizabeth Bette (Witt) Davis, 84, of Joshua Place, died Friday, July 13th in...Webster after a long illness. Her husband Ralph Davis Sr. died in 1962. She leaves twin sons, Ralph Davis Jr. of Dudley and Stephen Davis of Camden, MO... Read more
The Girl Who Walked Home Alone.(The Girl Who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis, A Personal Biography)(Brief article)(Book review)
Magazine article from: The Bookwatch; 6/1/2007; 127 words ; ...The Girl Who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis, A Personal Biography is a recommended...those which aren't overstocked on Bette Davis coverage's already. Film biographer Charlotte Chandler interviewed Davis extensively in the last decade of... Read more
Bette, Bette, quite contrary.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
Magazine article from: Interview; 11/1/2006; ; 73 words ; ...previously unpublished) interview with the late, great Bette Davis in your September issue. My goodness, what a pistol she...think about things. But then again, love her or hate her, Davis was one of a kind. H. BENDER Santa Barbara, CA Read more
The divine Miss M: from her days singing torch songs in one of the most legendary bathhouses in New York City to all the big challenges, big battles, big songs, and big moments that have followed, she has never stopped being true to her roots and never stopped being Bette.(Interview)
Magazine article from: Interview; 3/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; ANTONY: Hi, Bette! BETTE MIDLER: Hi, Antony! Hi, Ingrid! INGRID SISCHY: Antony's talking to us from Australia, Bette. BM: I know. I was there last May. I had a great time. Are...Who Live on the Hill on that new Peggy Lee album of yours [Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook, Sony], I was ... Read more
Actor Davis Roberts, 76, memorialized in Chicago. (Obituary)
Magazine article from: Jet; 8/16/1993; 307 words ; ...services were held recently in Chicago for veteran actor Davis Roberts, who appeared in more than 120 feature films, television...Charles, in Chicago. The actor's real name was Robert A. Davis, but he changed it to Davis Roberts in the 1950s when he learned that another actor...the stage actors union, ... Read more
A rose is a rose is a Rose McGowan. (actress)(Cover Story)(Interview)
Magazine article from: Interview; 3/1/1997; ; 700+ words ; ...brittle glamour and imperious moods of Bette Davis, although with a fiercely modern...could even better the formidable Bette. In fact, who'd bet against it? Whichever...Generation (1995). With her Bette Davis eyes, rasp, and sneer, and her exaggerated... Read more
Eve gets an encore. (the Buzz).(All About Eve adapted for the stage by playwright David Rambo)(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine); 4/1/2003; 146 words ; IT WAS BETTE DAVIS herself who inspired out playwright David...the background, says Rambo, when he heard Davis say in an archived interview that Eve was...DeWitt, Angela Lansbury as Birdie, and, in Davis's great role as Margo Channing, another... Read more
Is there a solution?(Z and lung cancer)
Magazine article from: National Review; 6/5/2006; ; 668 words ; ...saw the listing for the story of Bette Davis, coming on at 9 P.M. This was appealing...fifteen, I fancied my future as Mr. Bette Davis--though that was a contingent romance...at home watching a close-up of Bette Davis inhaling deeply and even licentiously... Read more
Las Reinas Chulas en el vicio.
Magazine article from: Proceso; 9/24/2006; ; 628 words ; En este mes Las Reinas Chulas celebran con la obra Bette Davis en este lugar no cabes el primer aniversario de su Teatro...ido fortaleciendo para ahora ofrecemos este scketch de Bette Davis interpretado por Marisol Gasé, el cual logra mantener... Read more

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