Bette Davis An American Icon

Ever since I can remember I have been a huge Bette Davis fan. I think it started when I was around 15 and I was flipping through the channels of the television and I came across a black and white movie. I always liked the black and white movies because they had such great story lines and great actors. Each actor had their own style and personality. Seems the actors of today just do not have that style that they had back then. I mean there are plenty of actors that I adore to watch, Meryl Streep being my favorite, but you couldn’t beat the ones from the 30’s and 40’s; the same with the male actors.

The one that stood out for me was Bette Davis, her eyes, her mouth the way she smirked after every sentence was just mesmerizing and she always was so passionate in all her movies. She was almost like a cat, kind of like if she loves you she’s not going to let you know it because she couldn’t be bothered with it.

She was amazing in her portrayal of Elizabeth the virgin queen, she didn’t care how she looked as long as she played the role, and she played it to perfection.

All about Eve was probably my favorite movie, she had so much class that it came across the screen perfectly, Jezebel was also one of my favorites.

I read her biography by a couple different writers but her personal life was not that much interest to me, it was her performances that made such an impression on me.

She did make some thrillers in her later years that were equally as exciting, and she was scary in them; but you could tell she was having a hard time getting older and looking older on screen.

I love that she was a strong woman that basically owned Hollywood back then and had a lot of power and demanded respect she wasn't one to be reckoned with that is for sure.

I think the eyes were also what attracted me to her most of all. I always thought how lucky that someone should be born with such a set of eyes. The eyes of a great actress, of a strong woman, with so much expression.

I have heard that she was known as the first lady of Hollywood and I believe that’s true.

• Being the not so humble person that she was she once said that she considered herself to be the female version of Marlon Brando,
• Her nicknames around the Hollywood circle were "First Lady of the American Screen"The "Fifth Warner Brother" and "Queen of Hollywood"
• Bette Davis was in over one hundred films
• She won two oscars, one for Jezebel and Dangerous
• Bette had two daughters, Barbara, and Margot
• Bette was making $1000 a week at her studio in 1939 which is pretty great for that time.
• Bette was nominated 10 times for an oscar
• The epitaph on her tombstone reads "She did it the hard way."

• In 1983, Bette suffered four strokes and a mastectomy

• It was well known around Hollywood that her real love was director William Wilder who was married and wouldn't leave his wife for Bette.

• Bette was the first woman to be president of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• Bette's feud with Joan Crawford started while she was filming Dangerous and they were both sleeping with the same man, Franchot Tone.

• When Bette Davis discovered that her sister had married an alchoholic she sent them a dozen cases of liquor.

• Bette Davis's grandson was so thrilled that the song, "Bette Davis Eyes", was about his grandmother that Bette sent a thank you note to Kim Carnes the artist that recorded the song.

Quotes by Bette Davis

• "The best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane".

• "If you've never been hated by your child, you've never been a parent".

• "Getting old is not for sissies".

• "I wouldn't piss on Joan Crawford if she were on fire".

• "I'm the nicest goddamn dame that ever lived".

• "Until you're known in my profession as a monster, you're not a star".