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.
Known For
The Little Foxes
(1941)
Regina Hubbard Giddens
Death on the Nile
(1978)
Marie Van Schuyler
Dead Ringer
(1964)
Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips
All About Eve
(1950)
Margo Channing
Pocketful of Miracles
(1961)
Apple Annie
Jezebel
(1938)
Julie Marsden
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
(1962)
Baby Jane Hudson
Of Human Bondage
(1934)
Mildred Rogers
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(1982)
(in "Deception") (archive footage)
Now, Voyager
(1942)
Charlotte Vale
Return from Witch Mountain
(1978)
Letha Wedge
Marked Woman
(1937)
Mary Dwight Strauber
The Nanny
(1965)
Nanny
The Letter
(1940)
Leslie Crosbie
Jimmy the Gent
(1934)
Joan Martin
Burnt Offerings
(1976)
Aunt Elizabeth
Full Filmography
Acting
Waterloo Bridge
(1931)
Janet Cronin
Seed
(1931)
Margaret Carter
Way Back Home
(1931)
Mary Lucy Duffy
The Bad Sister
(1931)
Laura Madison
The Man Who Played God
(1932)
Grace Blair
The Menace
(1932)
Peggy Lowell
So Big!
(1932)
Miss Dallas O'Mara
The Cabin in the Cotton
(1932)
Madge Norwood
The Rich Are Always with Us
(1932)
Malbro
The Dark Horse
(1932)
Kay Russell
Three on a Match
(1932)
Ruth Westcott
Hell's House
(1932)
Peggy Gardner
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
(1932)
Fay Wilson
Ex-Lady
(1933)
Helen Bauer
Parachute Jumper
(1933)
Patricia 'Alabama' Brent
Just Around the Corner
(1933)
Ginger
The Working Man
(1933)
Jenny Hartland alias Jane Grey
The 42nd Street Special
(1933)
Self (uncredited)
Bureau of Missing Persons
(1933)
Norma Roberts
Housewife
(1934)
Patricia Berkeley
The Big Shakedown
(1934)
Norma Nelson
Fashions of 1934
(1934)
Lynn Mason
Jimmy the Gent
(1934)
Joan Martin
Of Human Bondage
(1934)
Mildred Rogers
Fog Over Frisco
(1934)
Arlene Bradford
The Girl from 10th Avenue
(1935)
Miriam A. Brady
Bordertown
(1935)
Mrs. Marie Roark
Special Agent
(1935)
Julie Gardner
Dangerous
(1935)
Joyce Heath
A Dream Comes True
(1935)
Front Page Woman
(1935)
Ellen Garfield
Satan Met a Lady
(1936)
Valerie Purvis
Breakdowns of 1936
(1936)
Self
The Petrified Forest
(1936)
Gabrielle "Gabby" Maple
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
(1936)
Self
The Golden Arrow
(1936)
Daisy Appleby
Breakdowns of 1937
(1937)
Self
Marked Woman
(1937)
Mary Dwight Strauber
Kid Galahad
(1937)
Louise 'Fluff' Phillips
It's Love I'm After
(1937)
Joyce Arden
A Day at Santa Anita
(1937)
That Certain Woman
(1937)
Mary Donnell/Mme Al Haines
The Sisters
(1938)
Louise Elliott Medlin
Breakdowns of 1938
(1938)
Self (archive footage)
Jezebel
(1938)
Julie Marsden
The Old Maid
(1939)
Charlotte Lovell
Breakdowns of 1939
(1939)
Self
Dark Victory
(1939)
Judith Traherne
Juarez
(1939)
Empress Carlotta von Hapsburg
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
(1939)
Queen Elizabeth
All This, and Heaven Too
(1940)
Henriette Deluzy-Desportes
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
(1940)
Self
If I Forget You
(1940)
Bette Davis
The Letter
(1940)
Leslie Crosbie
The Little Foxes
(1941)
Regina Hubbard Giddens
The Great Lie
(1941)
Maggie Patterson Van Allen
The Bride Came C.O.D.
(1941)
Joan Winfield
The Man Who Came to Dinner
(1941)
Maggie Cutler
Shining Victory
(1941)
Breakdowns of 1941
(1941)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
In This Our Life
(1942)
Stanley Timberlake Kingsmill
Now, Voyager
(1942)
Charlotte Vale
Breakdowns of 1942
(1942)
Self
A Present with a Future
(1943)
Mother
The Voice That Thrilled the World
(1943)
Self (segment 'Dangerous') (archive footage)
Old Acquaintance
(1943)
Kit Marlowe
Watch on the Rhine
(1943)
Sara Müller
Thank Your Lucky Stars
(1943)
Self
Show-Business at War
(1943)
Self
Stars on Horseback
(1943)
Hollywood Canteen
(1944)
Self
Mr. Skeffington
(1944)
Fanny Trellis
Breakdowns of 1944
(1944)
Self
The Corn Is Green
(1945)
Miss Lilly Christabel Moffat
A Stolen Life
(1946)
Kate Bosworth / Patricia Bosworth
Deception
(1946)
Christine Radcliffe
Winter Meeting
(1948)
Susan Grieve
June Bride
(1948)
Linda Gilman
Beyond the Forest
(1949)
Rosa Moline
Breakdowns of 1949
(1949)
Self
All About Eve
(1950)
Margo Channing
Payment on Demand
(1951)
Joyce Ramsey (nee Jackson)
Another Man's Poison
(1951)
Janet Frobisher
Phone Call from a Stranger
(1952)
Marie Hoke
The Star
(1952)
Margaret Elliot
The Virgin Queen
(1955)
Queen Elizabeth I
Storm Center
(1956)
Alicia Hull
The Catered Affair
(1956)
Mrs. Agnes Hurley
Stranded
(1957)
Mrs. Beatrice Enter
John Paul Jones
(1959)
Empress Catherine the Great
The Scapegoat
(1959)
Countess
Pocketful of Miracles
(1961)
Apple Annie
The Andy Williams Christmas Show
(1962)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
(1962)
Baby Jane Hudson
The Empty Canvas
(1963)
Dino's Mother
Where Love Has Gone
(1964)
Mrs. Gerald Hayden
Hollywood and the Stars
(1964)
(archive footage)
Dead Ringer
(1964)
Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
(1964)
Charlotte Hollis
The Nanny
(1965)
Nanny
The Decorator
(1965)
Liz
The Love Goddesses
(1965)
(archive footage)
The Anniversary
(1968)
Mrs. Taggart
Connecting Rooms
(1970)
Wanda Fleming
Bunny O'Hare
(1971)
Bunny O'Hare
Madame Sin
(1972)
Madame Sin
The Scopone Game
(1972)
'A vecchia
The Judge and Jake Wyler
(1972)
Judge Meredith
Scream, Pretty Peggy
(1973)
Mrs. Elliott
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
(1974)
The Disappearance of Aimee
(1976)
Minnie Kennedy
Burnt Offerings
(1976)
Aunt Elizabeth
Return from Witch Mountain
(1978)
Letha Wedge
Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette
(1978)
Marie Van Schuyler (archive footage)
Death on the Nile
(1978)
Marie Van Schuyler
The Horror Show
(1979)
(archive footage)
Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter
(1979)
Lucy Mason
Skyward
(1980)
Billie Dupree
White Mama
(1980)
Estelle Malone
The Watcher in the Woods
(1980)
Mrs. Aylwood
Family Reunion
(1981)
Elizabeth Winfield
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino
(1982)
Esther McDonald Cimino
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
(1982)
Self (archive footage)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(1982)
(in "Deception") (archive footage)
Showbiz Goes to War
(1982)
(archive footage)
Night of 100 Stars
(1982)
Self
Right of Way
(1983)
Miniature Dwyer
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano
(1983)
Self
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
(1983)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(1984)
(archive footage)
Terror in the Aisles
(1984)
Baby Jane Hudson (Archive Footage)
Murder with Mirrors
(1985)
Carrie Louise Serrocold
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
(1985)
Self (archive footage)
As Summers Die
(1986)
Hannah Loftin
Directed by William Wyler
(1986)
Self
Bette Davis at the Cinémathèque Française
(1986)
Herself
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
(1986)
Self (from All About Eve [1950]) (archive footage)
Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood
(1987)
(archive footage)
The Whales of August
(1987)
Libby Strong
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
(1988)
Self (archive footage)
Wicked Stepmother
(1989)
Miranda Pierpoint
Hairway to the Stars
(1989)
Self [Archive Footage]
All About Bette
(1994)
Self
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
(1994)
Self (archive footage)
Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis
(1996)
Self (archive footage)
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
(1996)
Self (archive footage)
Frank Capra's American Dream
(1997)
Self (archive footage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
(1997)
Self (archive footage)
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
(2000)
Self (archive footage)
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
(2001)
Self (archive footage)
Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
(2002)
Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
(2003)
Self (archive footage)
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
(2005)
Queen Elizabeth (archive footage)
The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert
(2005)
Self (archive footage)
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
(2006)
Self (archive footage)
Jezebel: Legend of the South
(2006)
Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
(2006)
Self (archive footage)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
(2007)
Self (archive footage)
Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis
(2009)
Self (archive footage)
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
(2009)
Self (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
(2009)
Self (archive footage)
Footsteps on the Ceiling
(2013)
Margo Channing (archive footage)
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
(2013)
Self (archive footage)
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
(2014)
Self - Actress (archive footage)
And the Oscar Goes To...
(2014)
Self (archive footage)
Listen to Me Marlon
(2015)
Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan
(2017)
Self (archive footage)
Bette Davis - Größer als das Leben
(2017)
(archive footage)
Always at The Carlyle
(2018)
Self (archive footage)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
(2018)
Self (archive footage)
Mike Wallace Is Here
(2019)
(archive footage)
Madonna: Madame X
(2021)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
AFI Life Achievement Award: 50th Anniversary Special
(2023)
Self (archive footage)
Production
Costume & Make-Up