Person Biography:
Ruth Elizabeth Davis, known professionally as Bette Davis, was born on April 5, 1908, in Lowell, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Ruth Augusta Favor and Harlow Morrell Davis, a patent attorney. Her parents divorced when she was 10, and she and her sister were raised by their mother.
Davis's early interest was dance, but she discovered the stage and gave up dancing for acting. She attended Cushing Academy and was refused admittance to Eva Le Gallienne's Manhattan Civic Repertory. She then enrolled in John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School and was the star pupil.
Davis made her Broadway debut in 1929 and her film debut in 1931. She signed a seven-year deal with Warner Brothers Pictures in 1932 and became a star after her appearance in "The Man Who Played God" (1932). She received her first Oscar for her role in "Dangerous" (1935) and her second Academy Award win for her work in "Jezebel" (1938).
Davis was known for her strong and complex roles, and she was often at odds with the studios and directors. She was suspended without pay for turning down a role she deemed unworthy of her talent and sued to get out of her contract, but lost. She continued to work in films throughout the 1940s and 1950s, but her career eventually came to a standstill.
Davis made a huge comeback in the 1960s with her roles in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962) and "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" (1964). She received an Oscar nomination for her role in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" and won a Best Actress Emmy for "Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter" (1979).
Davis was married four times and had one daughter, Barbara Davis Hyman. She died on October 6, 1989, at the age of 81, due to metastasized breast cancer.
