Bette Davis
Known for Acting · 223 credits
- Born
- 1908-04-05
- Died
- 1989-10-06
- Place of birth
- Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
- Also known as
- Ruth Elizabeth Davis
Biography
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 Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self / Self (archive footage)
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
as Self - Co-Host
Perry Mason
1957
as Constant Doyle
Late Night with David Letterman
1982
as Self - Guest
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
Wagon Train
1957
as Ella Lindstrom / Madame Elizabeth McQueeny
TV Shows (41)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self / Self (archive footage)
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
as Self - Co-Host
Perry Mason
1957
as Constant Doyle
Late Night with David Letterman
1982
as Self - Guest
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
Wagon Train
1957
as Ella Lindstrom / Madame Elizabeth McQueeny
Golden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Presenter
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
as Self - Guest
What's My Line?
1950
as Self
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Presenter
The Virginian
1962
as Celia Miller
Intimate Portrait
1993
as Self (archive footage)
Dinah!
1974
as Self
Gunsmoke
1955
as Etta Stone
Hotel
1982
as Laura Trent
The World of Hammer
1994
as Self (archive footage)
Film '72
1971
as Self
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Miss Fox
Suspicion
1957
as Mrs. Wilfred Ellis
The Oscars
1953
as Self
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956
as Self
Telephone Time
1956
It Takes a Thief
1968
as Bessie Grindel
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978
as Self
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
as Marie Hoke
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as Sarah Whitney
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
1967
as Self
The Ford Television Theatre
1952
as Dolley Madison
The Hollywood Palace
1964
as Self
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971
as Self
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
as Self
Reflets de Cannes
1954
as Self
Talking Pictures
2013
as Self (archive footage)
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Mrs. Minnie Kennedy, Aimee's mother
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Irene Van Buren
Family Reunion
1981
as Elizabeth Winfield
General Electric Theater
1953
as Miss Burrows / Christine Marlowe
Little Gloria... Happy at Last
1982
as Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home
1978
as Widow Fortune
Laugh-In
1977
as Guest Performer
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
1974
as Mother
Movies (182)
Death on the Nile
1978
as Marie Van Schuyler
All About Eve
1950
as Margo Channing
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962
as Baby Jane Hudson
June Bride
1948
as Linda Gilman
Mr. Skeffington
1944
as Fanny Trellis
The Scapegoat
1959
as Countess
Pocketful of Miracles
1961
as Apple Annie
Juarez
1939
as Empress Carlotta von Hapsburg
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982
as (in "Deception") (archive footage)
Bette Davis
1972
as Self
Housewife
1934
as Patricia Berkeley
Burnt Offerings
1976
as Aunt Elizabeth
Return from Witch Mountain
1978
as Letha Wedge
The Watcher in the Woods
1980
as Mrs. Aylwood
Directed by William Wyler
1986
as Self
Special Agent
1935
as Julie Gardner
The Little Foxes
1941
as Regina Hubbard Giddens
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964
as Charlotte Hollis
Jezebel
1938
as Julie Marsden
The Bad Sister
1931
as Laura Madison
Dark Victory
1939
as Judith Traherne
John Paul Jones
1959
as Empress Catherine the Great
The Letter
1940
as Leslie Crosbie
All This, and Heaven Too
1940
as Henriette Deluzy-Desportes
The Whales of August
1987
as Libby Strong
Phone Call from a Stranger
1952
as Marie Hoke
Satan Met a Lady
1936
as Valerie Purvis
Jimmy the Gent
1934
as Joan Martin
The Nanny
1965
as Nanny
Waterloo Bridge
1931
as Janet Cronin
The Catered Affair
1956
as Agnes Hurley
The Scopone Game
1972
as 'A vecchia
Kid Galahad
1937
as Louise 'Fluff' Phillips
Murder with Mirrors
1985
as Carrie Louise Serrocold
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hello Mother, Goodbye!
1974
as Mother
The Man Who Came to Dinner
1941
as Maggie Cutler
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
2018
as Self (archive footage)
The Bride Came C.O.D.
1941
as Joan Winfield
Listen to Me Marlon
2015
as Self (archive footage)
Front Page Woman
1935
as Ellen Garfield
Morceaux de Cannes
2021
Breakdowns of 1942
1942
as Self
All About Bette
1994
as Self
Of Human Bondage
1934
as Mildred Rogers
Miss Moffat
1974
as Miss Moffat
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
1932
as Fay Wilson
Hollywood Canteen
1944
as Self
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
2005
as Queen Elizabeth (archive footage)
Madonna: Madame X
2021
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Dead Ringer
1964
as Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips
The Anniversary
1968
as Mrs. Taggart
A Stolen Life
1946
as Kate Bosworth / Patricia Bosworth
Wicked Stepmother
1989
as Miranda Pierpoint
Night of 100 Stars
1982
as Self
The Virgin Queen
1955
as Queen Elizabeth I
The Disappearance of Aimee
1976
as Minnie Kennedy
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
1939
as Queen Elizabeth
Breakdowns of 1941
1941
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mickey's 50
1978
as Self
The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert
2005
as Self (archive footage)
Frank Capra's American Dream
1997
as Self (archive footage)
The Petrified Forest
1936
as Gabrielle "Gabby" Maple
The Great Lie
1941
as Maggie Patterson Van Allen
Just Around the Corner
1933
as Ginger
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
2014
as Self - Actress (archive footage)
Marked Woman
1937
as Mary Dwight Strauber
Vito
2011
as Self (archive)
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
1982
As Summers Die
1986
as Hannah Loftin
Payment on Demand
1951
as Joyce Ramsey (nee Jackson)
Bette and Joan
2017
as Self (archive footage)
Now, Voyager
1942
as Charlotte Vale
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943
as Self
Old Acquaintance
1943
as Kit Marlowe
Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette
1978
as Marie Van Schuyler
Fashions of 1934
1934
as Lynn Mason
Three on a Match
1932
as Ruth Westcott
The Working Man
1933
as Jenny Hartland alias Jane Grey
Watch on the Rhine
1943
as Sara Müller
Dangerous
1935
as Joyce Heath
The Big Shakedown
1934
as Norma Nelson
The Man Who Played God
1932
as Grace Blair
The Dark Horse
1932
as Kay Russell
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1988
as Self (archive footage)
It's Love I'm After
1937
as Joyce Arden
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
2006
as Self (archive footage)
The Old Maid
1939
as Charlotte Lovell
The Cabin in the Cotton
1932
as Madge Norwood
Fog Over Frisco
1934
as Arlene Bradford
Bordertown
1935
as Mrs. Marie Roark
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
2009
as Self (archive footage)
Mike Wallace Is Here
2019
as (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1944
1944
as Self
Breakdowns of 1938
1938
as Self (archive footage)
The Fabulous Allan Carr
2017
as Self (archive)
Breakdowns of 1949
1949
as Self
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009
as Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
2003
as Self (archive footage)
The Empty Canvas
1963
as Dino's Mother
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
1997
as Self (archive footage)
Where Love Has Gone
1964
as Mrs. Gerald Hayden
That Certain Woman
1937
as Mary Donnell
Footsteps on the Ceiling
2013
as Margo Channing (archive footage)
Showbiz Goes to War
1982
as (archive footage)
Madame Sin
1972
as Madame Sin
Show-Business at War
1943
as Self
The Corn Is Green
1945
as Miss Lilly Christabel Moffat
The 42nd Street Special
1933
as Self (uncredited)
Another Man's Poison
1951
as Janet Frobisher
Parachute Jumper
1933
as Patricia 'Alabama' Brent
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
1985
as Self (archive footage)
Ex-Lady
1933
as Helen Bauer
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
1986
as archive footage
Breakdowns of 1937
1937
as Self
Bunny O'Hare
1971
as Bunny O'Hare
Beyond the Forest
1949
as Rosa Moline
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995
as Self (archive footage)
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
1940
as Self
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013
as Self (archive footage)
About Bette Davis
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… With 223 credits spanning from 1931 to 2022, Bette Davis has appeared in 182 films and 41 TV shows.
Fans searching for Bette Davis movies, Bette Davis filmography, or the latest projects starring Bette Davis can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Bette Davis Movies
- Death on the Nile (1978) — as Marie Van Schuyler
- All About Eve (1950) — as Margo Channing
- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) — as Baby Jane Hudson
- June Bride (1948) — as Linda Gilman
- Mr. Skeffington (1944) — as Fanny Trellis
Where to Watch Bette Davis Films
Most Bette Davis movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Bette Davis, check our movies catalogue and browse page.