Davis, Bette (bĕt`ē), 1908–89, American film actress, b. Lowell, Mass., as Ruth Elizabeth Davis. One of the most durable stars of the American screen, she made her debut in 1931. With compelling and distinctive features, she was difficult to promote as a romantic figure. Her successful early roles included Of Human Bondage (1934) and Dangerous (1935), for which she won an Academy Award. Frustrated at the lack of better roles, she broke her contract with Warner Brothers and lost a subsequent court case in which the standard seven-year contract binding a performer to one studio was upheld. But Davis found her niche as the troubled woman in search of romance in such films as Jezebel (1938), for which she won another Academy Award, and The Little Foxes (1941). When her popularity began to decline in the 1950s, she responded by accepting offbeat, even bizarre, roles in The Catered Affair (1955) and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1961). With fellow screen legend Lillian Gish Dorothy Gish, 1898–1968, was also an actress, who co-starred with Lillian in such films as Hearts of the World (1918) and Griffith's Orphans of the Storm (1921) and did a good deal of work on the stage.
..... Click the link for more information. , she gave a graceful valedictory performance in The Whales of August (1987).

Bibliography

See her autobiography (1962); biography by J. Vermilye (1972).

Davis, Bette

in full Ruth Elizabeth Davis

(born April 5, 1908, Lowell, Mass, U.S.—died Oct. 6, 1989, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) U.S. film actress. She played small parts onstage before going to Hollywood in 1931. After a series of minor roles, she established her reputation with Of Human Bondage (1934) and Dangerous (1935, Academy Award). Known for her intense characterizations of strong women, she gave electrifying performances in films such as The Petrified Forest (1936), Jezebel (1938, Academy Award), Dark Victory (1939), The Little Foxes (1941), Now, Voyager (1942), and All About Eve (1950). Her later films include What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and The Whales of August (1987).

Davis, Bette See Davis, (Ruth Elizabeth) Bette.

Davis, (Ruth Elizabeth) Bette (1908–89) film actress; born in Lowell, Mass. After studying drama she was fired from a stock company in Rochester, N.Y., and then appeared with the Provincetown Players off-Broadway in 1928. She made her Broadway debut in Broken Dishes (1929), and her Hollywood debut in Bad Sister (1931). By 1932 she was becoming known as a dedicated actress with an electrifying style. Able to bring an emotional honesty to the screen, she became a prime box-office attraction between 1935 and 1946 and was nominated for an Oscar ten times, winning it twice in Dangerous (1935) and in Jezebel (1938). An independent woman, she fought her studio for better parts, and got them. Married and divorced four times, she was still active until 1978.