Lauren Bacall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lauren Bacall | |
 the cover of Yank, the Army Weekly, November 1944 |
|
| Born | Betty Joan Perske September 16, 1924 New York City, New York, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Actress, model |
| Years active | 1942 – present |
| Spouse(s) | Humphrey Bogart (1945 – 1957) (his death) Jason Robards (1961 – 1969) |
Lauren Bacall (born September 16, 1924) is an American film and stage actress and model. Known for her husky voice and sultry looks, she has continued acting to the present day.
Bacall is perhaps best known for being a film noir leading lady in such films as The Big Sleep (1946) and Dark Passage (1947), as well as a comedienne, as seen in 1953's How to Marry a Millionaire and 1957's Designing Woman. Bacall also enjoyed success starring in the Broadway musicals Applause in 1970 and Woman of the Year in 1981. She won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in the movie The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996).
In 1999, Bacall was ranked as one of the 25 greatest female stars of all time by the American Film Institute.
She has been married to actors Humphrey Bogart, with whom she worked in four films, and Jason Robards.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Born Betty Joan Perske in New York City, she was the only child of Natalie Weinstein-Bacal, a secretary who later legally changed her surname to Bacall, and William Perske, who worked in sales.[1] Her parents were Jewish immigrants, their families having come from France, Poland, Romania and Germany.[2][3] She is a first cousin of Shimon Peres, current president and former prime minister of Israel.[4][5] Her parents divorced when she was five, and she took her mother's last name, Bacall.[6] Bacall no longer saw her father and formed a close bond with her mother, whom she took with her to California when she became a movie star.
[edit] Career
Bacall took lessons at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. During this time, she became a theatre usher and worked as a fashion model. As Betty Bacall, she made her acting debut, aged 17, on Broadway in 1942, as a walk-on in Johnny 2 X 4. According to her autobiography, Bacall met her idol Bette Davis at Davis' 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 Nancy spotted her on the March 1943 cover of Harper's Bazaar and urged Hawks to have her take a screen test for To Have and Have Not. Hawks invited Bacall to Hollywood for the audition. He signed her up to a seven-year personal contract, brought her to Hollywood, gave her $100 a week, and began to manage her career. Hawks changed her name to Lauren Bacall. Nancy Hawks took Bacall under her wing.[7] She dressed Bacall stylishly, and guided the newcomer in matters of elegance, manners, and taste. Bacall's voice was trained to be lower, more masculine, and sexier, which resulted in one of the most distinctive voices in Hollywood.[8] In the movie, Bacall takes on Nancy's nickname “Slim”.
[edit] Breakthrough
During screen tests for To Have and Have Not (1944), Bacall was nervous. To minimize her quivering, she pressed her chin against her chest and to face the camera, tilted her eyes upward. This effect became known as 'The Look', Bacall's trademark.[9] Her performance is acknowledged as one of the most powerful on-screen debuts in film history.[10]
On the set, Humphrey Bogart, who was married to Mayo Methot, initiated a relationship with Bacall some weeks into shooting and they began seeing each other.
On a visit to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on February 10, 1945, Bacall's press agent, chief of publicity at Warner Bros. Charlie Enfield, asked the 20-year-old Bacall to sit on the piano which was being played by Vice-President of the United States Harry S. Truman. The photos caused controversy and made worldwide headlines.[11]
After To Have and Have Not, Bacall was seen opposite Charles Boyer in the critically-panned Confidential Agent (1945).[12] Bacall would state in her autobiography that her career never fully recovered from this film, and that studio boss Jack Warner didn't care about quality. She then appeared with Bogart in the film noir The Big Sleep (1946), the thriller Dark Passage (1947), and John Huston's melodramatic suspense film Key Largo (1948). She was cast with Gary Cooper in the adventure tale Bright Leaf (1950).
[edit] 1950s
Bacall turned down scripts she didn't find interesting and thereby earned a reputation for being difficult. Yet, for her leads in a string of films, she received favorable reviews. 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.[citation needed] This movie is often considered the first big-budget jazz film.[13]
Bacall starred in the CinemaScope comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), a runaway hit that saw her teaming up with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable.[14] Bacall got positive notices for her turn as the witty gold-digger, Schatze Page.[15] 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.[16] Teaming up with Rock Hudson, Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack, Bacall played a determined woman. Bacall states in her autobiography that she did not think much of the role. While struggling at home with Bogart's severe illness (cancer of the esophagus), Bacall starred with Gregory Peck in the slapstick comedy Designing Woman and gained rave reviews.[17] It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and released in New York City on May 16, 1957, four months after Bogart succumbed to cancer on January 14.
[edit] 1960s and 1970s
Bacall's movie career waned in the 1960s, and she was only seen in a handful of films. But on Broadway she starred in Goodbye, Charlie (1959), Cactus Flower (1965), Applause (1970) and Woman of the Year (1981). She won Tony Awards for her performances in the latter two. The few movies Bacall shot during this period were all-star vehicles such as Sex and the Single Girl (1964) with Henry Fonda, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, Harper (1966) with Paul Newman and Janet Leigh, and Murder on the Orient Express (1974), with Ingrid Bergman, Albert Finney and Sean Connery. In 1964, she appeared in two acclaimed episodes of Craig Stevens's CBS drama, Mr. Broadway: first in "Take a Walk Through a Cemetery", with then husband Jason Robards, Jr., and Jill St. John, and then as Barbara Lake in "Something to Sing About", with Martin Balsam as Nate Bannerman.
For her work in the Chicago theatre, Bacall won the Sarah Siddons Award in 1972 and again in 1984. In 1976, she co-starred with John Wayne in his last picture, The Shootist. The two became friends, despite significant political differences between them. They had previously been cast together in 1955's Blood Alley.
[edit] Later career
During 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), her first nomination after a career span of more than fifty years. She had already won a Golden Globe and was widely expected to win the Oscar, which went to Juliette Binoche for The English Patient.
Bacall 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) and Birth (2004), both with Nicole Kidman. She is one of the leading actors in Paul Schrader's 2007 movie The Walker.
In March 2006, Bacall was seen at the 78th Annual Academy Awards introducing a film montage dedicated to the film noir genre. She also made a cameo appearance as herself on The Sopranos in April 2006, during which she was punched and robbed by a masked Christopher Moltisanti.
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.[18] She gave an address at the memorial service of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr at the Reform Club in London in June 2007.
Bacall is 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. She is currently producing a jewelry line with the company Weinman Brothers.
[edit] Personal life
On May 21, 1945, Bacall married Humphrey Bogart. Their wedding and honeymoon took place at Malabar Farm, Lucas, Ohio. It was 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 (1951), Bacall and Bogart became 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. Bacall was a staunch opponent of McCarthyism along with other Hollywood figures.
Shortly after Bogart's death in 1957, Bacall had a relationship with singer and actor Frank Sinatra. 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 married to actor Jason Robards from 1961 to 1969. According to Bacall's autobiography, she divorced Robards mainly because of his alcoholism. In her autobiography Now, she recalls having a relationship with Len Cariou, her co-star in Applause.
Bacall had two children with Bogart and one child with Robards. Her children with Bogart are her son Stephen Humphrey Bogart (born 6 January 1949), a news producer, documentary film maker, and author; and her daughter Leslie Bogart (born 23 August 1952), a yoga instructor. Sam Robards (born 16 December 1961), her son with Robards, is an actor.
Bacall has written two autobiographies, Lauren Bacall By Myself (1978) and Now (1994). In 2005, she re-published the first volume and updated it with an extra chapter. She released it as By Myself and Then Some.
[edit] Political views
Bacall is a staunch liberal Democrat. She has proclaimed her political views on numerous occasions.
She appeared alongside Humphrey Bogart in a photograph printed at the end of an article he wrote titled "I'm No Communist" in the May 1948 edition of Photoplay magazine,[19] written to counteract negative publicity resulting from his appearance before the House Unamerican Activities Committee. Bogart and Bacall specifically distanced themselves from the Hollywood Ten and were quoted as saying: "We're about as much in favor of Communism as J. Edgar Hoover." In October 1947, Bacall and Bogart traveled to Washington, DC along with other Hollywood stars, in a group that called itself the Committee for the First Amendment.
She campaigned for Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 Presidential election and for Robert Kennedy in his 1964 run for Senate.
"I'm anti-Republican. ... A liberal. The L word", she said in a 2005 interview with Larry King.[20]
[edit] Dramatization
In 1980, Kathryn Harrold played Bacall in the TV movie Bogie that was directed by Vincent Sherman and was based on the novel by Joe Hymans. Kevin O'Connor played Bogart, and the movie focused primarily upon the disintegration of Bogart's third marriage to Mayo Methot, played by Ann Wedgeworth, when Bogart met Bacall and began an affair with her.
[edit] Work
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Features
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | To Have and Have Not | Marie 'Slim' Browning | |
| 1945 | Confidential Agent | Rose Cullen | |
| 1946 | The Big Sleep | Vivian Sternwood Rutledge | |
| 1946 | Two Guys from Milwaukee | Herself | (uncredited) |
| 1947 | Dark Passage | Irene Jansen | |
| 1948 | Key Largo | Nora Temple | |
| 1950 | Young Man with a Horn | Amy North | |
| Bright Leaf | Sonia Kovac | ||
| 1953 | How to Marry a Millionaire | Schatze Page | |
| 1954 | Woman's World | Elizabeth Burns | |
| 1955 | The Cobweb | Meg Faversen Rinehart | |
| Blood Alley | Cathy Grainger | ||
| 1956 | Blithe Spirit | Elvira Condomine | |
| Patterns | Lobby lady near elevators | (uncredited) | |
| Written on the Wind | Lucy Moore Hadley | ||
| 1957 | Designing Woman | Marilla Brown Hagen | |
| 1958 | The Gift of Love | Julie Beck | |
| 1959 | Northwest Frontier | Catherine Wyatt | |
| 1964 | Shock Treatment | Dr. Edwina Beighley | |
| Sex and the Single Girl | Sylvia Broderick | ||
| 1966 | Harper | Elaine Sampson | |
| 1973 | Applause | Margo Channing | |
| 1974 | Murder on the Orient Express | Mrs. Harriet Belinda Hubbard | |
| 1976 | The Shootist | Bond Rogers | |
| 1978 | Perfect Gentleman | Mrs. Lizzie Martin | |
| 1980 | Health | Esther Brill | |
| 1981 | The Fan | Sally Ross | |
| 1988 | Appointment with Death | Lady Westholme | |
| Mr. North | Mrs. Cranston | ||
| 1989 | John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick | (documentary) | |
| Tree of Hands | Marsha Archdale | ||
| Dinner at Eight | Carlotta Vance | ||
| 1990 | Misery | Marcia Sindell | |
| 1991 | A Star for Two | ||
| All I Want for Christmas | Lillian Brooks | ||
| 1993 | The Portrait | Fanny Church | |
| The Parallax Garden | |||
| A Foreign Field | Lisa | ||
| 1994 | Prêt-à-Porter: Ready to Wear | Slim Chrysler | |
| 1995 | From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler | Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler | |
| 1996 | The Mirror Has Two Faces | Hannah Morgan | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| My Fellow Americans | Margaret Kramer | ||
| 1997 | Day and Night | Sonia | |
| 1999 | Get Bruce | (documentary) | |
| Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke | Doris Duke | (elderly) | |
| Madeline: Lost in Paris | Madame Lacroque | (voice) | |
| The Venice Project | Countess Camilla Volta | ||
| Presence of Mind | Mado Remei | ||
| Diamonds | Sin-Dee | ||
| A Conversation with Gregory Peck | (documentary) | ||
| 2003 | The Limit | May Markham | |
| Dogville | Ma Ginger | ||
| 2004 | Howl's Moving Castle | Witch of the Waste | (voice) |
| Birth | Eleanor | ||
| 2005 | Firedog | Posche | (voice) |
| Manderlay | Mam | ||
| 2006 | These Foolish Things | Dame Lydia | |
| 2007 | The Walker | Natalie Van Miter | |
| 2008 | Eve | Grandma | |
| Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King | The Grand Witch | (voice) | |
| 2009 | Wide Blue Yonder | May | post-production |
| 2010 | Firedog | Posche | voice |
| Carmel | filming |
[edit] Short subjects
- 1955 Motion Picture Theatre Celebration (1955)
- Amália Traïda (2004)
[edit] Selected stage appearances
- January Two by Four (1942)
- Goodbye Charlie (1959)
- Cactus Flower (1965)
- Applause (1970)
- V.I.P. Night on Broadway (1979) (benefit concert)
- Woman of the Year (1981)
- Angela Lansbury: A Celebration (1996) (benefit concert)
- Waiting in the Wings (1999)
[edit] Television work
- What's My Line (1953)
- The Petrified Forest on Producers' Showcase (1956)
- Blithe Spirit (1956)
- Applause (1973)
- Perfect Gentlemen (1978)
- Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs (Rockford Files) (1979)
- Dinner at Eight (1989)
- A Little Piece of Sunshine (1990)
- The Portrait (1993)
- The Parallax Garden (1993)
- It's All in the Game (Columbo) (1993)
- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1995)
- 6th PBS ident (1996) as announcer
- 7th PBS ident (1998) as announcer; older woman in red shirt
- Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke (1999)
- The Sopranos (2006)
[edit] Books
- By Myself (1978)
- Now (1994)
- By Myself and Then Some (2005)
[edit] Awards and nominations
- 1970 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical – Applause
- 1972 Sarah Siddons Award
- 1980 National Book Award for Best Non-Fiction Book – By Myself
- 1981 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical – Woman of the Year
- 1984 Sarah Siddons Award
- 1993 Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award
- 1997 Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – The Mirror Has Two Faces
- 1997 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – The Mirror Has Two Faces
- 1997 Kennedy Center Honors
- 2000 Stockholm Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2007 Norwegian International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2008 Bette Davis Medal of Honor (from the Bette Davis Foundation)[21]
- Nominations
- 1977 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role – The Shootist
- 1997 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – The Mirror Has Two Faces
- 1997 Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – The Mirror Has Two Faces
Bacall has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1724 Vine Street.
[edit] See also
- Humphrey Bogart: the Bogart and Bacall section
- Bogart-Bacall syndrome
- Monarch of the Seas: She is the godmother of the Royal Caribbean International Cruise Ship.
[edit] References
- ^ Lauren Bacall Biography
- ^ "The Religious Affiliation of Lauren Bacall: great American actress". Adherents.com. 2005-07-30. http://www.adherents.com/people/pb/Lauren_Bacall.html. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
- ^ BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Lauren Bacall turns 80.
- ^ Lazaroff, Tovah (2005-11-10). "Peres: Not such a bad record after all". Jerusalem Post. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1131367066952. Retrieved on 2009-05-13.
- ^ Weiner, Eric (2007-06-13). "Shimon Peres Wears Hats of Peacemaker, Schemer". National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11020066. Retrieved on 2009-05-13.
- ^ Meyers 1997, p. 164.
- ^ Sperber and Lax 1997, p. 246.
- ^ Sperber and Lax 1997, p. 245.
- ^ The Official Website of Lauren Bacall - "The Look".
- ^ Movie Reviews: To Have and Have Not. - Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ Photos Century. - Nandotimes.com. - Retrieved: 2007-05-08. [Dead link 2009/06/02]
- ^ External reviews: Confidential Agent (1945). - IMDb.
- ^ Trivia: Young Man with a Horn (1950). - IMDB.
- ^ Box office - Business: How to Marry a Millionaire (1953). - IMDb.
- ^ Movie Reviews: How to Marry a Millionaire. - Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ Written on the Wind (1956) - Filmsite.org.
- ^ Designing Woman @ Rotten Tomatoes.com.
- ^ Bryn Mawr College - Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center.
- ^ Humphrey Bogart: "I'm no communist," Photoplay, March 1948.
- ^ Interview with Lauren Bacall.
- ^ Mark Shanahan & Paysha Rhone (2008-09-19). "Bringing together big-screen royalty". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2008/09/19/bringing_together_big_screen_royalty/. Retrieved on 2008-09-19.
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lauren Bacall |
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lauren Bacall |
- Lauren Bacall at the Internet Movie Database
- Lauren Bacall at the TCM Movie Database
- Lauren Bacall at the Internet Broadway Database
- Lauren Bacall at Allmovie
- Lauren Bacall at TV.com
- Interview with Larry King on CNN
- Article about the "origin" of the "Rat Pack" taken mainly from her book "Lauren Bacall, By Myself", (New York: Knopf, 1978)
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Irene Dailey |
Sarah Siddons Award - Sarah Siddons Society, Chicago 1972 |
Succeeded by Bette Davis |
| Preceded by Ann Miller |
Sarah Siddons Award - Sarah Siddons Society, Chicago 1984 |
Succeeded by Rita Moreno |
| Preceded by Anthony Perkins |
Donostia Award, San Sebastian International Film Festival 1992 |
Succeeded by Robert Mitchum |
| Preceded by Robert Mitchum |
Cecil B. DeMille Award 1993 |
Succeeded by Robert Redford |
| Preceded by Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite |
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture 1996 for The Mirror Has Two Faces |
Succeeded by Kim Basinger for L.A. Confidential |
| Preceded by Kate Winslet for Sense and Sensibility |
Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture 1996 for The Mirror Has Two Faces |
Succeeded by Kim Basinger for L.A. Confidential and Gloria Stuart for Titanic |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|||||
|
||||||||
