Bette Davis

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

Davis, the ingenue

Her first professional stage performance was The Earth Between, Off-Broadway in 1923. Her first Broadway performance was in 1929, in the comedy Broken Dishes and later in Solid South. The next year, she was hired by Universal Studios, but they felt she was not star material, and in 1932, they let her sign with Warner Brothers. Her first starring role was in The Man Who Played God, and she became a star in Of Human Bondage. The Motion Picture Academy failed to nominate Davis for this tour de force, and such was the outrage that she received many write-in votes from disgruntled Academy members.

Related Topics:
Off-Broadway - 1923 - Broadway - 1929 - Universal Studios - 1932 - Warner Brothers - The Man Who Played God - Of Human Bondage

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A much-publicised legal battle with Warners to stop them from putting her in inferior movies led to a dramatic improvement in the quality of her films (although she lost the case). She went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938), and was able to name her own roles, with the exception of Gone with the Wind in 1939.

Related Topics:
Academy Award for Best Actress - Dangerous - 1935 - Jezebel - 1938 - Gone with the Wind - 1939

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~