Photo: Studio Publicity / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Bette Davis is, to me, the gold standard of screen acting. Two Best Actress Oscars only hint at her reach across crime melodramas, period pieces, and television. What I admire is not the hardware but her refusal to be merely likeable; she played sardonic, difficult, unsympathetic women and dared audiences to keep watching. That fearlessness gave us characters with real spines. She was still collecting honors the year she died, working until the end with a ferocity few possess. For me, she represents the actor's craft stripped of vanity and pursued as a lifelong vocation worth honoring.
Overview
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was known for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, alt…
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Bette Davis
- Name (Japanese)
- ベティ・デイヴィス
- Reading
- べてぃ・でいゔぃす
- Born
- April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Monkey
- Origin
- Lowell, Massachusetts, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- autobiographer / character actor / stage actor / film actor / television actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Emmy Award
- Laurel Awards
- New York Film Critics Circle
- 1977 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
- Volpi Cup for Best Actress
- 1989 Donostia Award
- 1936 Academy Award for Best Actress
- 1939 Academy Award for Best Actress
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Autobiographer — see all → · Character actor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.