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Betty Joan Perske (born on September 16, 1924), better known as Lauren Bacall, is a Golden Globe- and Tony Award winning, as well as Academy Award-nominated, American film and stage actress. Known for her husky voice and sultry looks, she became a fashion icon and role model for women early in her career. Today, she is considered a legendary actress, partly due to the longevity of her career. She is best known for being a film noir leading lady in films such as The Big Sleep (1946) and Dark Passage (1947), as well as a comedienne, as seen in 1953's How to Marry a Millionaire.
CareerEarly lifeBorn in New York City as Betty Joan Perske, Bacall was the only child of Jewish immigrants, William Perske (a relative of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres) and Natalie Weinstein-Bacal.[1] Her father was a salesman and her mother was a secretary and they divorced when she was six years old. Bacall no longer saw her father and formed a bond with her mother, whom she took with her to California when she became a movie star. Bacall studied dancing for thirteen years, taking lessons at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. During this time, she became a theater usher and worked as a fashion model. As Betty Bacall, she made her acting debut on Broadway in 1942, in Johnny Two by Four. According to her autobiography, Bacall met her idol Bette Davis at Davis's hotel. Years later, Davis visited Bacall backstage to congratulate her on her performance in Applause, a musical based on Davis's turn in All About Eve. Bacall became a part-time fashion model. Howard Hawks's wife Slim spotted her on the cover of Harper's Bazaar and showed the photo to her husband, who invited Bacall to Hollywood for a screen test. The breakthroughImage:Lauren bacall - to have and have not.jpg Lauren Bacall in her first film, To Have and Have Not
To Have and Have Not catapulted Bacall to instant stardom. Her turn in the film has later been acknowledged as one of the most powerful on-screen debuts in film history. On the set, Bacall met Humphrey Bogart. Bogart, who was married to Mayo Methot, initiated a relationship with Bacall some weeks into shooting and they began to see each other off set. The 20-year old Bacall made worldwide headlines on a visit to the National Press Club in Washington D.C. on 10 February 1945. Her press agent (Charlie Enfield, chief of publicity at Warner Bros.) asked her to sit on the piano which was being played by then Vice-President of the United States Harry S. Truman. The photos of the incident caused controversy[1]. After To Have and Have Not, Bacall was seen opposite Charles Boyer in the critically panned Confidential Agent (1945). Then, she appeared with Bogart in three more pictures: the film noir The Big Sleep (1946), the thriller Dark Passage (1947), and John Huston's melodramatic suspense film Key Largo (1948). She was also cast with Gary Cooper in the adventure tale Bright Leaf (1950). 1950sBacall kept turning down scripts she didn't find interesting. This earned her a reputation for being difficult to deal with. Yet, she continued to get favorable reviews for her leads in a string of significant films. In Young Man with a Horn (1950), co-starring Doris Day and Kirk Douglas, Bacall played a two-faced femme fatale, with more than a hint of lesbianism to her character. This film is often considered the first big-budget jazz film. In 1953 Bacall starred in the colorful comedy How to Marry a Millionaire, a runaway hit that saw her teaming up with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable. Bacall garnered positive notes for her turn as the witty gold-digger, Schatze Page. According to her autobiography, Bacall refused to press her hand- and footprints in the cemented forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre at the Los Angeles premiere of the film. Written on the Wind, directed by Douglas Sirk in 1956, is now considered a classic tear-jerker. Teaming up with Rock Hudson, Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack, Bacall delivered a performance as a determined soap opera woman. Bacall states in her autobiography that she didn't think much of the role. While struggling at home with Bogart's severe illness, Bacall starred with Gregory Peck in the 1957 slapstick comedy Designing Woman for rave reviews [2]. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli. 1960s and 1970sImage:Lauren bacall - murder on the orient express.jpg Lauren Bacall in Murder on the Orient Express In the 1960s, Bacall's movie career waned, and she was only seen in a handful of films. Her saving grace, however, was on Broadway. Her Broadway roles included Goodbye, Charlie (1959), Cactus Flower (1965), Applause (1970) and Woman of the Year (1981). She won Tony Awards for her performances in Applause and Woman of the Year. The few movies she shot during this period were mainly all-star vehicles such as Sex and the Single Girl (1964) with Henry Fonda and Natalie Wood, Harper (1966) with Paul Newman and Janet Leigh, as well as Murder on the Orient Express (1974), with the likes of Ingrid Bergman, Albert Finney and Sean Connery. For her work in the Chicago theatre, she won the Sarah Siddons Award in 1972 and again in 1984. She also frequently appeared on London's West End. In 1976, Bacall co-starred with John Wayne in his last picture, The Shootist. During the filming, the two created a bond, even though Wayne was politically conservative and Bacall was a liberal. Bacall and Wayne had previously been cast together in 1955's Blood Alley. Later careerDuring the 1980s, Bacall appeared in the poorly received star vehicle The Fan (1981) as well as some star-studded features such as Robert Altman's HealtH (1980) and Michael Winner's Appointment with Death (1988). In 1997, Bacall was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), for which she had already won a Golden Globe. Most Oscar prediction polls predicted she was a lock to win so the audience and fellow nominees were shocked when the award went to Juliette Binoche for The English Patient. Bacall calmly made it clear to interviewers she was not upset over the loss. She received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997. In 1999, she was voted one of the 25 most significant female movie stars in history by the American Film Institute. Since then, her movie career has seen a new renaissance and she has attracted respectful notices for her performances in high-profile projects such as Dogville (2003) with Nicole Kidman, The Limit (2003) with Claire Forlani, and Birth (2004), again with Kidman. In March 2006, she was seen at the 78th Annual Academy Awards introducing a film montage dedicated to the film noir genre. She also did a cameo appearance on The Sopranos in April 2006. In September 2006, Bacall was awarded the first Katharine Hepburn Medal, which recognizes "women whose lives, work and contributions embody the intelligence, drive and independence of the four-time-Oscar-winning actress," by Bryn Mawr College's Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center. Bacall is currently the spokesperson for the Tuesday Morning discount chain. Commercials show her in a limousine waiting for the store to open at the beginning of one of their sales events. Personal lifeOn May 21, 1945, Bacall married Humphrey Bogart. Their wedding and honeymoon took place at Malabar Farm, Mansfield, Ohio (the country home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Bromfield, a close friend of Bogart). The wedding was held in the Big House. Bacall was 20 and Bogart was 45. They remained married until Bogart's death from cancer in 1957. Bogart usually called Bacall "Baby", even when referring to her in conversations with other people. During the filming of The African Queen in 1951, Bacall and Bogart became great friends of Bogart's co-star Katharine Hepburn and her partner Spencer Tracy. Bacall also began to mix in non-acting circles, becoming friends with the historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and the journalist Alistair Cooke. In 1952, she gave campaign speeches for Democratic Presidential contender Adlai Stevenson. Shortly after Bogart's death in 1957, Bacall had a relationship with singer and actor Frank Sinatra. In her autobiography, Bacall stated that the relationship began after Bogart's death; knowing of Sinatra's reputation as a womanizer, Bacall knew that he was unlikely to be a faithful partner. She told Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in an interview that she had ended the romance. However, in her autobiography, she wrote that Sinatra abruptly ended the relationship, having become angry that the story of his proposal to Bacall had reached the press. Bacall and her friend Swifty Lazar had run into the gossip columnist Louella Parsons, to whom Lazar had spilled the beans. Sinatra then cut Bacall off and went to Las Vegas. Bacall was later married to the actor Jason Robards from 1961 to 1969. The divorce was mainly due to Robards' alcoholism, according to Bacall's autobiography. Bacall had two children with Bogart and one child with Robards. Her children with Bogart are Stephen Bogart, a news producer, documentary film maker and author, and daughter Leslie Bogart, a nurse. Sam Robards, her son with Robards, is an actor. Bacall has written two autobiographies, Lauren Bacall By Myself (1978) and Now (1994). In 2005, she updated and renamed them by the title By Myself and Then Some. See also: the Bogart and Bacall section in the Humphrey Bogart article. QuotesBacall is known for speaking out her mind and her sarcastic remarks on her colleagues and peers. She has also delivered some of the most iconic lines in movie history. Movie QuotesFrom To Have and Have Not (1945): "You know you don't have to act with me, Steve. You don't have to say anything and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow." From The Big Sleep (1946): Humphrey Bogart: "What's wrong with you?" Lauren Bacall: "Nothing you can't fix." From How to Marry a Millionaire (1953): "Look at that old fellow, what's his name, in The African Queen. Absolutely crazy about him!" (in reference to her then-husband, Bogart) On Harry S. Truman's Piano-PlayingFrom an interview with Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne:
On Howard HawksOf Mr. Hawks, Bacall told Larry King on CNN:
On Frank SinatraShe told Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne:
She said of Sinatra to Larry King:
On Being a DemocratFrom the Larry King interview:
On Tom CruiseFrom the 8 August 2005 issue of Time Magazine:
References in popular culture
Filmography
Selected stage appearances
Television work
Books by Lauren BacallAwards and nominations
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (At 1724 Vine Street) See alsoFootnotes
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