Bette Davis

Bette Davis had four spouses. She married Harmon Nelson in 1932. However, Nelson was not as successful as Bette in his career and this had a negative repercussion on their married life. They ultimately divorced in 1938.

In 1940, Bette married Arthur Farnsworth, an innkeeper from New England. Unfortunately, while walking along in Hollywood, he had a fall and died two days later on 5th August, 1943 from head injury.

Bette next met William Grant Sherry. The couple got married in 1945 and had a daughter called Barbara Davis Hyman. This marriage too did not last long. They divorced in 1945. Her relationship with her daughter too deteriorated in later years. Ultimately, Bette disinherited her.

In 1935, Bette Davis won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her role of a troubled actress in ‘Dangerous’.

In 1939, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in ‘Jezebel’. In this movie she played the part of Julie Marsden, a spoiled and strong willed girl.

In 1951, Bette won Cannes Best Actress for her Role in All About Eve.

In 1978, Bette won Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie for her role in ‘Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter’.

For her outstanding contribution to the world of entertainment Bette won Golden Globe Cecil B. De Mille Award in 1974 and AFI Life Achievement Award in 1977.

Bette Davis’ performance in the movies ‘Of Human Bondage’ and ‘Dangerous’ garnered her rave reviews. She received an Oscar nomination for the former and won an Oscar Award for the Best Actress for the latter. Her performance as the spoiled Southern belle in the movie ‘Jezebel’ was also highly appreciated and earned her, her second Oscar Award.‘A Lonely Life’ is the first autobiography written by Bette Davis. The book, published in 1962, talks about the most important part of her acting career as honestly as possible.‘This 'N That’ is her second memoir. It has been co-authored by Michael Herskovitz and was first published in 1987. The book mainly talks about her life post 1962. Apart from her acting career of the 1970s and 1980s, it also talks about illness and recovery from a major stroke.

In 1928, Bette Davis started her career as a chorus girl in the play ‘Broadway’ George Cukor's stock theater company. It was only a one-week stint; nonetheless, it was the first paid acting assignment she got.

She made her stage debut in the 1929 play ‘The Earth Between’ at Greenwich Village's Provincetown Playhouse.

In 1929, Bette made her Broadway debut with a role in the comedy ‘Broken Dishes’. She also acted in ‘Solid South’. While acting in these shows, Bette Davis was spotted by a talent scout from Universal Studio and was invited for a screen test.

Accompanied by her mother, Bette set out for Hollywood in 1930. However, she not only failed the initial screen tests, but was also humiliated in every possible way. Yet, she did not give up.

In 1931, she made her film debut in the movie ‘Bad Sisters’. The film failed at the box office. In the same year, she acted in two other films under Universal Studio: ‘Seed’ and ‘Waterloo Bridge’.