Research topic: Bette Davis

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 compelling and distinctive features, she was difficult to promote as a romantic figure. Her successful early roles included Of Human Bondage (1934) and Dangerous (1935), for which she won an 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... Read more