
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, though her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas. After appearing in Broadway plays, Davis moved to Hollywood in 1930, but her early films for Universal Studios were unsuccessful. She joined Warner Bros. in 1932 and established her career with several critically acclaimed performances. In 1937, she attempted to free herself from her contract and although she lost a well-publicized legal case, it marked the beginning of the most successful period of her career. Until the late 1940s, she was one of American cinema's most celebrated leading ladies, known for her forceful and intense style. Davis gained a reputation as a perfectionist who could be highly combative, and confrontations with studio executives, film directors and costars were often reported. Her forthright manner, clipped vocal style and ubiquitous cigarette contributed to a public persona which has often been imitated and satirized. Davis was the co-founder of the Hollywood Canteen, and was the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, was the first person to accrue 10 Academy Award nominations for acting, and was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. Her career went through several periods of eclipse, and she admitted that her success had often been at the expense of her personal relationships. Married four times, she was once widowed and thrice divorced, and raised her children as a single parent. Her final years were marred by a long period of ill health, but she continued acting until shortly before her death from breast cancer, with more than 100 films, television and theater roles to her credit. In 1999, Davis was placed second, after Katharine Hepburn, on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of all time.

Showbiz Goes to War

Going Hollywood: The '30s

Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter

Hallmark Hall of Fame

イヴの総て

The Disappearance of Aimee

White Mama

Family Reunion

Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

Intimate Portrait: Bette Davis

何がジェーンに起ったか?

The Adventures of Errol Flynn

A Piano for Mrs. Cimino

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Perry Mason

All About Bette

The Dark Secret of Harvest Home

Listen to Me Marlon

The Little Foxes

Madonna: Madame X

Joan Crawford: Always the Star

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

The Kennedy Center Honors

情熱の航路

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Lo scopone scientifico

The Dark Horse

ポケット一杯の幸福

All This, and Heaven Too

Hollywood Canteen

Right of Way

Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano

The Ford Television Theatre

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte

The Letter

The Star

It Takes a Thief

The Corn Is Green

June Bride

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

ゴールデングローブ賞

Marlon Brando, un acteur nommé désir

The Catered Affair

ナイル殺人事件

The Petrified Forest

It's Love I'm After

Housewife

The Virgin Queen

Old Acquaintance

The Man Who Played God

The Old Maid

Jezebel

Dark Victory

The Bride Came C.O.D.

The Great Lie

八月の鯨

Breakdowns of 1941

Kid Galahad

Jezebel: Legend of the South

Breakdowns of 1939

Show-Business at War

アカデミー賞

What's My Line?

The Man Who Came to Dinner

誰が私を殺したか?

The Nanny

Waterloo Bridge

Skyward

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

Watch on the Rhine

The Dick Cavett Show

Mr. Skeffington

In This Our Life

The Scapegoat

Another Man's Poison

Storm Center

Madame Sin

Complicated Women

Night of 100 Stars

Dinah!

Beyond the Forest

Stardust: The Bette Davis Story

Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition

Gunsmoke

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Deception

Dangerous

The Working Man

Wagon Train

The Anniversary

Murder with Mirrors

Marked Woman

Winter Meeting

Of Human Bondage

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

Juarez

The Girl from 10th Avenue

Mike Wallace Is Here

Breakdowns of 1944

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

The World of Hammer

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Fashions of 1934

General Electric Theater

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Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood

A Stolen Life

20,000 Years in Sing Sing

The Cabin in the Cotton

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

Jimmy the Gent

Frank Capra's American Dream

The American Film Institute Salute to ...

Telephone Time

The DuPont Show with June Allyson

Phone Call from a Stranger

Three on a Match

Fog Over Frisco

Special Agent

Way Back Home

As Summers Die

The Merv Griffin Show

Talking Pictures

Payment on Demand

Ex-Lady

Scream, Pretty Peggy

Thank Your Lucky Stars

The Golden Arrow

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!

Just Around the Corner

Seed

The Decorator

The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor

Breakdowns of 1937

Breakdowns of 1949

Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)

Bette Davis - Größer als das Leben

Hello Mother, Goodbye!

Breakdowns of 1942

How Real is 'The Star'?

Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

Hello Mother, Goodbye!

Bordertown

The Watcher in the Woods

Shining Victory

Where Love Has Gone

John Paul Jones

La noia

Parachute Jumper

Suspicion

Return from Witch Mountain

Front Page Woman

Satan Met a Lady

The Sisters

The Big Shakedown

Bunny O'Hare

So Big!

Bureau of Missing Persons

A Dream Comes True

Connecting Rooms

Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored

The Bad Sister

The 20th Century Fox Hour

Little Gloria... Happy at Last

The Mike Douglas Show

That Certain Woman

The Voice That Thrilled the World

The 42nd Street Special

Hell's House

The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert

A Day at Santa Anita

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

The Rich Are Always with Us

Breakdowns of 1938

Wicked Stepmother

The Menace

The Hollywood Palace

Intimate Portrait

Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema

Stars on Horseback

田中絹代の旅立ち~占領下の日米親善芸術使節~

The Horror Show

The Judge and Jake Wyler

Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

Reflets de Cannes

Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers

Bette and Joan

Hairway to the Stars

Backstory: 'All About Eve'

Bette Davis à la Cinémathèque française

Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill

Breakdowns of 1936

Directed by William Wyler

Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis

Footsteps on the Ceiling

Miss Moffat

Mickey's 50

Showbiz Ballyhoo

Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning"

Family Reunion