Bette Davis - ©Theda Bara

The actress I bring in this post is Bette Davis, an American who acted in cinema, television and theater, always brilliantly, especially in films where her talent elevated her to greatness, being recognized and revered for her ability to play unsympathetic characters, in roles of evil and embittered women, which other actresses refused to play.

Bette Davis won the Oscar for best actress on two occasions 1936 and 1939, for her performance in the films: “Dangerous” (1935), playing Joyce Heath and “Jezebel” (1938), playing Julie Marsden, a spoiled young woman engaged to Preston Dillard, played by the actor Henry Fonda (1905-1982), a successful banker.

The actress has several posthumous biographies, but the most complete is: “Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis” (2007).

There is a song about the actress: “Bette Davis Eyes” (1974), by American singer-songwriters Jackie DeShannon (1941-) and Donna Terry Weiss (1944-) Grammy winners in (1982) with this composition, which conveys an idea of not being able to trust the character, not even in the face of her seductive gaze and her exuberant beauty. Now ask yourself how the actress felt about the song: she loved it!

Bette Davis has two stars on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, on Hollywood Boulevard: 6225, Cinema category and 6335 TV category.

Born Ruth Elizabeth Davis on April 5, 1908, Lowell, Massachusetts, United States, died October 6, 1989, American Hospital of Paris, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, aged 81.

The actress was married four times. Her first marriage was to musician Harmon Oscar Nelson Jr. (1907-1975) from 1932 to 1938; her second marriage was to the American politician Arthur L. Farnsworth (1908-1943) from 1940 to 1943, who died at the age of 35, leaving the actress a widow; her third marriage was to the painter William Grant Sherry (1914-2003) from 1945 to 1950; from whom he separated to marry the American film, theater and television actor Gary Merrill (1915-1990) in the same year, who also separated from his wife Barbara Leeds (1917-1979). Bette and Gary's union lasted ten years, from 1950 to 1960, after this marriage the actress never married again.

The actress had three children: American singer and pastor Barbara Davis Hyman (1947-), daughter of William Grant Sherry; Margot Merrill (1951-2022) and musician Michael Merrill (1952-), both children of Gary Merrill.