Bette Davis has never been a stunning beauty. When Jack Warner sent a representative to the train station to meet them on their arrival in Tinsel Town, the man returned empty-handed, saying he was nobody.remoteHe looked like a movie star who got off the train. Anyway, she was a real cannibal when she learned to do it. Claudette Colbert once said that the only major star she knew (including herself) who made it to the top without leaving the "casting couch" was Bette. Basically, that's because she was already in demand when Broadway signed her. There was no need to offer her body to get her foot in the door. The door was open from the start.
Claudette Colbert
Director William Wyler was the love of his life, he used to say, although some researchers argued that Franchot Tone fit that description better than he did. Wyler described her as passionate, emotional and "with more energy than anyone I've ever known". Their issue was hot, he recalled, but it was "too much for me," he added, without much bravado. He ended the relationship by marrying someone else during filming.to letter(1940). Listed below are many (but not all) of her known lovers.
Bette e o diretor William Wyler 1940 Bette y Franchot Tone inDangerous
1932: Spencer Tracy met her when they made20.000 anos de Sing Sing(1932). It wasn't a long affair. Most of Tracy's lovers (with the exception of Kate Hepburn) couldn't stand Tracy's drinking for long.
com Spencer Tracy
1932: Bette was married to Harmon bandleader Oscar Nelson from 1932 to 1938). According to legend, he named the Oscar statuette "Oscar" because his back was so similar to his.
with her husband Harmon Oscar Nelson
1933: In 1933, he began a four-year relationship with pianist Kerry Johnson.
kerry johnson
1933: Radio personality Justin Mitchell had a pretty impressive batting average in the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to marrying Academy Award winner Luise Rainer (1934-1938), he also had close relationships with several Hollywood stars, including Bette. Other unlikely lovers who bedded him included Vivien Leigh, Paulette Goddard, Ginger Rogers and Gloria Stuart. Gloria was the actress who played Rose 100 in James Cameron's filmTitanic(1997).
justin mitchell
1935: made the bedDangerouswith Franchot Tone in 1935 and they were soon involved off-screen. In truth, she was angry with him, but Joan Crawford had tipped her off. When Crawford married Tone, Bette unleashed a lifelong hatred for her.
Franchot Tone e Bette Franchot Tone e Joan Crawford
1937: Director William Wyler and Bette began their relationship during filmingJezebelin 1937. Many years later, she admitted that he was the love of her life. He sent her an ultimatum during filming.to letter(1940) and demanded an affirmative answer about marriage by the following Wednesday, or she would marry another. Bette hesitated a long time before opening the letter, and he made good on his threat.
Bette e Willy Wyler
1938: Anatole Litvak mostrou-os emThe sistersand he and Bette began a torrid affair while he was married to Miriam Hopkins. Far from repentant in any way, Bette blamed Miriam for the dispute that arose from the affair. "She was a real bitch... a terribly good actress, but terribly jealous," was her assessment of her battered rival. Surprisingly, the two ladies occasionally shared a sense of humor about their rivalry. On one occasion, they even posed with boxing gloves to sculpt each other. Director Vincent Sherman stepped between them as referee. Sherman also later became one of Bette's lovers.
Anatole Litvak Miriam Hopkins
1938: A busy year in bed for Bette got even busier when she took on another lover, billionaire Howard Hughes. They enjoyed the Malibu idyll throughout August 1938, until her husband and a private investigator caught them together. Years later, Bette would often discuss amusing details about her affair with Hughes with crew members interested in her films.
Bette e Howard Hughes 1938
1938: Humphrey Bogart was the ladies' man in the 1930s and had a relatively brief affair with Bette before moving on to others.
com Humphrey Bogart
1939: Gilbert Roland and Bette were lovers for a short time during filmingJuarez1939 together.
Gilberto RoldanJuarez
1939: Bette (30) and Irish-born lead actor George Brent (39) made 5 films together and began their two-year romance in 1939. Some researchers claim their relationship began in 1937 after Brent divorced his second wife .
Bette e George Brent
1940: In her biography, titled Dark Victory, Bette recounted an affair in Hawaii with Columbia Pictures producer Robert. S. Taplinger before manufactureto letter.
Robert S. Taplinger
1940: In 1940 she married innkeeper Arthur Farnsworth, the second of her four husbands. He died after a fall from a skull fracture. The man suffered from an undiagnosed blood clot that occurred the previous fall in New Hampshire and is believed to have led to his second fatal collapse on the streets of Hollywood.
with her husband Arthur Farnsworth
1943: A "flirt" with the handsome Gig Young when they made itold acquaintance(1943) together was short-lived, which in retrospect was probably a good thing. He was an inveterate alcoholic who years later would be found dead with his last wife in what the police considered a probable homicide-suicide.
bette and young show
1944: Director/actor Vincent Sherman and Bette hung up (1943-4) during filmingsenhor skeffington(1944). A high-profile romance with a signal corporal named Riley, a man she met at the Hollywood Canteen the same year, was nipped in the bud when the man was (suddenly) shipped overseas.
com Vincent Sherman 1944
1945: Bette married artist William Grant Sherry on December 3, 1945. The couple had one daughter, Barbara (B.D.). It was she who published My Mother's Keeper in 1985, a sweeping biography that may have presented her famous mother in a worse light than Joan painted in Christina Crawford's "Mommie Dearest." In it, Barbara described Bette as a petty, profane, neurotic drunk who took out her rage on the world, on the people closest to her.
Mr. and Mrs. William Sherry Barbara (bd) and his mother
1946: Glenn Ford and Bette were lovers in 1946 (according to their son's book Glenn Ford: a Life) when they starred in the filmA stolen life.Her father always claimed that he turned down her advances because he was married to Eleanor Powell at the time. His son knew otherwise.
with Glenn Ford therea stolen life(1946)
1950: Bette and Gary Merrill fell in love on the set ofall about eve(1950) at a time when both were married to other people. From the 1950s to the 1960s their marriage was a constant struggle despite their immense mutual attraction. He was a rude alcoholic and would often get physical when they argued. After their divorce, neither of them remarried, but Bette kept her picture prominently in her home until her death. He once offered a different explanation for the failure of his marriage. "Gary married Margo Channing and I married Bill Sampson," she said, referring to the roles they played.all about eve.
Bette and Gary Merrill in this documentall about eve(1950)
1951: Barry Sullivan and Bette had an affair during filmingpay on demandin 1951. At the time, she was still married to Merrill.
with Barry Sullivan therepay on demand(1951)
In 1961, Bette's career stalled. In fact, he even placed a job ad in local industry newspapers. Her career received an unexpected boost when she was belatedly nominated for an Academy Award for her performance inWhat happened to Baby Jane?(1962). He continued to appear in television shows and occasional films until his death in 1989 at the age of 81.