Bette Davis

This article is about Bette Davis the actress; there is also a singer named Betty Davis.

Davis, the icon

In 1977, Davis became the first woman to receive the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 1979 she won a Best Actress Emmy. She wrote a biography, The Lonely Life, in the 1960s, and Mother Goddam in 1975.

Related Topics:
1977 - American Film Institute - 1979 - Emmy - 1960s - 1975

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Davis's only biological child was by her third husband, William Grant Sherry, B.D. Hyman (born Barbara Davis Sherry, named after Davis's sister). In 1985, Hyman wrote a tell-all book, My Mother's Keeper, in which she savaged her mother and Gary Merrill, her adoptive father. Davis admitted that her career always came first, and, although she married four times and had several affairs, including ones with George Brent and William Wyler, many who knew both her and her daughter claimed the book was largely fiction and that Davis, although difficult, was really a loving mother and grandmother. Davis adopted two other children with Merrill, Margot, who was confined to special education schools for most of her life due to a brain injury, and Michael, with whom both Davis and Merrill maintained close relationships throughout their lives. Michael never confirmed nor denied the claims Hyman made in the book. She currently hosts a weekly half-hour show on the Christian cable network World Harvest Television.

Related Topics:
1985 - My Mother's Keeper - Gary Merrill - Adoptive - George Brent - William Wyler - Special education - Brain injury - World Harvest Television

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Davis wrote another book, This 'N' That, in the late 1980s, and Bette Davis, The Lonely Life, which appeared the year after her death, updating what had happened since her first biography had been published. She died on October 6, 1989 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, following a long battle with breast cancer, and after having suffered several strokes. She is interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. On her tombstone is written: "She did it the hard way."

Related Topics:
October 6 - 1989 - Neuilly-sur-Seine - France - Breast cancer - Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery - Los Angeles, California

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She walked out of her last film, "Wicked Stepmother", which was released posthumously in 1989 with her still included. She is also credited with many famous quotes about acting often about Hollywood and rivals like Crawford and Hepburn.

Related Topics:
1989 - Hollywood

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After the song "Bette Davis Eyes" became a hit in 1981, Davis wrote letters to songwriters Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon and singer Kim Carnes to thank them and to ask them how they knew so much about her. One of the reasons Davis loved the song is that her grandson thought she was now "cool" because she had a hit song written about her.

Related Topics:
Bette Davis Eyes - 1981 - Donna Weiss - Jackie DeShannon - Kim Carnes

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On July 19, 2001, Steven Spielberg purchased Davis's Oscar for Jezebel at a Christie's auction and returned it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Related Topics:
July 19 - 2001 - Steven Spielberg - Christie's

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The actress and singer Bette Midler (born 1945), whose birth name is Bette Davis Midler, is named after Bette Davis. However, Midler pronounces her first name as one syllable, not two.

Related Topics:
Bette Midler - 1945

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