Do you know that Bette Davis thought she was unattractive? You can be sure that this view was not shared by her millions of fans through the years. There are a lot of information and details about the acting career and life of Bette Davis that are still unknown. Let me share with you some more of the fascinating facts about this incomparable star. She is one of the most esteemed and most often impersonated Hollywood legends. This actress appeared in more than a hundred films and television movies. She has also made guest appearances in over 50 shows. Bette was nominated for the Academy Awards nine times and won two of them between 1934 and 1962. She won the Best Actress Award for her role as a drunken performer in the 1935 movie, Dangerous. And her portrayal of the prima donna "headstrong" character in Jezebel (1938) won another Best Actress Award for her.
With her line, "Fasten your seatbelts", Bette Davis took second place at the American Film Institute's list of top 100 movie lines. Her lines " It's going to be a bumpy night.", "Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon", " We have the stars."; and "What a dump" from All about Eve, Now, Voyager, and Beyond the Forest respectively, were also included in the list.
She was cast in roles that she found unacceptable for many years. She took off to England when the casting continued to displease her. She only returned to the U.S. when Jack Warner (of Warner Bros.) sued her for breach of contract. Of course, she began getting much finer roles after her return to honor the remainder of her contract. Bette Davis married four times, bore one child and adopted two more. She also wrote three autobiographies that lean on each other as chronologies and updates of each other.
Bette Davis also had her rivalries, specifically those with fellow star, Joan Crawford. Joan was then widow to Pepsi Cola president and CEO Alfred Steele, during the filming of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. She so disliked Joan that she commissioned a Coca Cola machine to be brought to the set. Joan returned the favor by weighting her pockets for scenes in which Bette's character had to lift and drag Joan's.
Have you seen that particular movie? If you have, then you have seen that beyond the stunning performance, was a palatable disdain that fed or carried the character acting. I also know that you have seen the best in pain, repression, suppression, elation, and liberation in Bette Davis' acting and eyes if you have seen any of Bette's other films.