Preview

How Is Bette Davis Justified

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
877 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Is Bette Davis Justified
Bette Davis was a strong, independent women in a film industry dominated by men. She was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis on April 5th, 1908, in Lowell Massachusetts. Her parents, Ruth Augusta and Harlow Morrell Davis, divorced right before her tenth birthday; leaving her and her younger sister to be raised by their mother. They were both sent to attend the boarding school Cushing Academy. Upon graduation, and a refused admittance to Eva Le Gallienne's Manhattan Civic Repertory, Bette enrolled in John Murray Anderson's Dramatic school where she was the star pupil. She made her Broadway debut, in 1929, in "Broken Dishes". Soon after she moved to Hollywood, after being hired by Universal, where she made her first film "Way back Home" (1931). Although …show more content…
"Warner Bros. felt their seven-year deal with Bette was more than justified. They had a genuine start on their hands" (IMDB.com). With so much success Bette started pushing for better and more meaningful roles. Although, it took a battle with Warner Brothers before they took her more seriously. After a lawsuit she was offered a new contract and her roles improved drastically. Yet by the time her contract ended in 1949 her films had gone downhill. Bette made a dramatic comeback in 1950 and continued to act until she hit a standstill, her career was resuscitated yet again in 1962. Throughout her six decade career, Bette was married four times, three of which ended in divorce, and she made it quite clear that her career came first. She also had a daughter and adopted two children. Bette passed away October 6th, 1989 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France due to breast …show more content…
In a career spanned out over six decades, she appeared in over 100 films and is remembered for the many famous roles she played. She had undeniable talent, but it wasn't until her appearance in "The Man Who Played God" (1932) that she became a star. More smashing hits followed, such as "Of Human Bondage" (1934) and "Dangerous" (1935). Despite her success and roles in famous movies, Bette continued pushing for better parts. It clearly paid off since her next big film, "Jezebel" (1938), won her more recognition. "Although she earned a reputation of being difficult to work with, Bette set a new precedent for woman" (Bettedavis.com). After each picture getting weaker than the last in the 40's her huge comeback came in 1950 with her role in "All About Eve". But soon after she hit a standstill before making yet another comeback in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" (1962). Her last big film, "Strangers: the Story of a Mother and Daughter" (1962), was just another one of her famous works. Throughout her film career, Bette earned countless awards for the complex roles she played and deserved all the fame she

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Glenda Farrell was born in Enid, Oklahoma on June 30, 1901 (as confirmed by both the 1910 and 1920 censuses, and later by the Social Security Administration when she was issued SSN 573-03-9877). However, her date of birth is almost always listed as June 30, 1904, because like many actresses of her time, she shaved a few years off of her real age. Her parents were Charles Farrell, a horse and dog trader of Irish and Cherokee descent, and Wilhemina Farrell, who was of Alsatian (French/German) descent. Wilhemina must have once had aspirations of acting, because she knew from the beginning that she wanted her daughter to be an actress. When Glenda was still very young, the Farrells moved to Wichita, Kansas, where she made her stage debut as Little Eva in Uncle Tom’s Cabin and received a formal education at the Mount Carmel Catholic Academy. The family later moved to San Diego, California. There, she joined the Virginia Brissac Stock Company.…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After being singled out in the waiting room and given a script, she ended up winning the part of Julia Tate. Soon after, she starred in another movie, Time After Time, and met her future husband Malcolm McDowell. Which was a short-lived marriage, but her only children Lilly and Charlie McDowell came from it.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Unit 14 Vocabulary

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Though her career in the movies had many ups and downs over the years, it reached its apogee when she won an Academy Award.…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    His parents divorced and divided their property, both sisters died (Dakota - in a car accident, Jennifer Adamson - of a drug overdose), his marriage with Rachel Miner and romance with Mila Kunis were unsuccessful.…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bessie Coleman Role Model

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Bessie Coleman was born January 26, 1892 in Atlanta, Texas to a poor family of sharecroppers. She was one of thirteen children of Susan and George Coleman. According to Roni Morales:…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marilyn Monroe was born on June 1, 1926, Her mother was admitted into a mental hospital when she was young, so she was in foster homes most of her childhood, until she moved in with a family friend. When she was 16 she got married she got married to 21 year old Jimmy Dougherty. She worked on an assembly line in a factory when Jimmy left for war. She was noticed by a photographer as she was working in the factor and shortly after was offered any modeling opportunities. She then divorced her husband and signed a contract with Twentieth Century Fox. She…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ada Cowart was a religious woman who had deep belief in God and God’s laws. In the accident, she had lost her husband (Ray Cowart), “part” of her son (Dax Cowart) but she never lost her religious faith. She admitted that sometimes she had feelings that it would have been best if her son had died with her husband rather to see him suffering this way. However, as a mother, she believed that she couldn’t give up the life of her son and should be there to hold on to that life regardless of his son’s wishes. The natural tendency for a mother to help and protect her child helped Ada Cowart to do whatever was possible to keep Dax alive. Ada’s strong belief not only provided her support but it was one of the reasons why she made the choice against…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    2. When Temple was just three years old her mother enrolled her in dance classes and started to capitalize on her natural talents. While she was enrolled in dance classes her mother got her a contract with the company Educational Pictures.…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was born on June 7, 1917, in Topeka, Kansas, the first child of David Anderson Brooks and Keziah Wims. Her mother was a former school teacher who had chosen that field because she could not afford to attend medical school. (Family lore held that her paternal grandfather had escaped slavery to join Union forces during the American Civil War.)When Brooks was six weeks old, her family moved to Chicago, Illinois during the Great Migration; from then on, Chicago was her hometown.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From acting in high school plays to becoming the first African-American woman to win a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Viola Davis’ acting career has come a long way. Davis has captivated audiences for a while now with her unique brand of talent and has worked her way into becoming one of Hollywood’s top actresses.…

    • 60 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ruby Bridges

    • 2345 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Ruby Nell Bridges was born on September 8, 1954, in Tylertown, Mississippi, and grew up on the farm her parents and grandparents sharecropped in Mississippi. When she was 4 years old, her parents, Abon and Lucille Bridges, moved to New Orleans, hoping for a better life in a bigger city. Her father got a job as a gas station attendant and her mother took night jobs to help support their growing family. Soon, young Ruby had two younger brothers and a younger sister. The fact that Ruby Bridges was born the same year that the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision desegregated the schools is a notable coincidence to her early journey into civil rights activism. When Ruby was in kindergarten, she was one of many African-American students in New Orleans who were chosen to take a test determining whether or not she could attend a white school. It is said the test was written to be especially difficult so that students would have a hard time passing. The idea was if all the African-American children failed the test, New Orleans schools might be able to stay segregated for a while longer. She lived a mere five blocks from an all-white school, but attended kindergarten several miles away in an all-black segregated school…

    • 2345 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    His first significant job was working in the air force. Even though this was his dream as a kid, this was obviously not the career he had imagined later saying, “You are not in love with this; you are in love with the idea of this.”(Biography.com editors,n.d.). He made a big break in his career when he landed a part in an all African American production called “Hello, Dolly!” Starring Pearl Bailey (Biography.com editors,n.d.). He also won an Oscar playing a volatile pimp named “Fast Black” in the movie “Street Smart” (Biography.com…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Theda Clara Bow Biography

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Theda Bara was born on July 29, 1890 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She had a traditional childhood with her parents. After she graduated, she went on to New York to work on Broadway and…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Norma Jeane never had the pleasure of knowing her father, and Gladys her mother started showing signs of mental illness early in the actress childhood. Gladys was eventually placed into a mental institution. During Norma Jeane’s childhood, she spent the greatest part in foster care or orphanages. In 1937, a close family friend and her husband took care of Norma Jeane for a period of approximately 3 years. When The Godard’s were transferred due to Doc Goddard’s job in 1942, they could not afford to take Norma Jeane with them (Bio True Story, 2012). Norma Jeane had no desire in which to return to the orphanages or foster care, her only option left was marriage. In June of 1942, Norma Jeane Mortenson married her then boyfriend Jimmy Dougherty. Jimmy was a member of the merchant marines, whom was sent to the South Pacific shortly after the marriage. Jimmy returned in 1946, to find that his wife had carved out a career as a model (Bio True Story, 2012).…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Fred Astaire

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Fred Astaire died in 1987 from pneumonia at the age of 88. His unparalleled skill as a dancer leads many critics to cite him as the best dancer ever to come out of…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics