| "She's going to stay here... is that what you wanted?" Ahh...I will never forget the first time I saw Watcher in the Woods. I was about 10 and it scared the bejebus outta me. But it is one hellofa film!! A classic, like Bette herself! If ever an actress lit up the screen with so much persona and beauty, it was Bette. Her eyes alone could paint the screen, and she's the only actress in history who's eyes have spawned a number one hit song. She was fiesty, downright bitchy sometimes, and very opinionated (When Bette learned that her new brother-in-law was a recovering alcoholic, she sent the couple a dozen cases of liquor for a wedding present.), but man could she work the camera!! This is her story .... She was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis on April 5, 1908 in Lowell, Massachusetts. Her parents divorced when she was a child, and she was raised by her mother, Ruthie. From the very begginings, she demanded attention. Everyone she was around, and everywhere she went. This was a pattern that continued her entire life. In fact, before she died, she made this statement..."I don't want anyone sending money to any little charity instead of flowers. I want millions of flowers�I want everyone to weep. Copiously". It was a well known fact she did not get along with Joan Crawford, and the way it was publisized was hillarious. During the making of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? , Bette had a Coca-Cola machine installed on the set due to Joan Crawford's affiliation with Pepsi. (Joan was the widow of Pepsi's CEO.) Joan got her revenge by putting weights in her pockets when Davis had to drag Crawford across the floor during certain scenes. In 1962, while touring the talk show circuit to promote What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Davis told one interviewer that when she and Joan Crawford were first suggested for the leads, Warner studio head Jack Warner replied: "I wouldn't give a plugged nickel for either of those two old broads." Recalling the story, Davis laughed at her own expense. The following day, she reportedly received a telegram from Crawford: "In future, please do not refer to me as an old broad!" She made her broadway debut in "Broken Dishes" and she also appeared in "Solid South." Late in 1930 she was hired by Universal. When she arrived in Hollywood, the studio representative who went to meet her train left without her because he could find no one who looked like a movie star. Later, when she landed a gig at Warner Brothers, CEO Harry Warner quipped, "tell whoever hired this girl he's fired. Look at her! She's got about as much sex appeal as Slim Summerville!" Bette needed only to get in front of a camera to show what she was made of...pure talent, and audiences loved her. It didn't take long for her carrer to skyrocket. She related to the audience, and became a legend in her own time. She lived in this prestigious Hollywood home. Bette was married four times, her last to actor Gary Merrill which lasted ten years, longer than any of the previous three. Never faultering on her work, she continued to light up the screen right up until the end. She walked out of her last film, "Wicked Stepmother," which was released posthumously in 1989 with her still included. Bette died, at age 81, on October 6, 1989 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, following a long battle with breast cancer, and after having suffered at least one serious stroke. She died at "The American Hospital in Paris". She is interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. On her tombstone is written, "She did it the hard way." RIP Miss Davis. Visit her grave here. TRIVIA: When she first came to Hollywood as a contract player, Universal Pictures wanted to change her name to Bettina Dawes. She informed the studio that she refused to go through life with a name that sounded like "Between the Drawers". After the song "Bette Davis Eyes" became a hit single, Ms. Davis wrote letters to singer Kim Carnes and songwriters Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon and asked how did they know so much about her. One of the reasons Davis loved the song is that her granddaughter heard it and thought her grandmother was "cool" for having a hit song written about her. While Bette Davis was the star pupil at John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School in New York, another of her classmates was sent home because she was "too shy". It was pronounced that this girl would never make it as an actress. It was Lucille Ball. Discipline is a symbol of caring to a child. He needs guidance. If there is love, there is no such thing as being too tough with a child. A parent must also not be afraid to hang himself. If you have never been hated by your child, you have never been a parent. (Bette on children) |
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| Bette Davis Actress legend!! |
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