Bette Davis

Author : Bette Davis
Publisher : Hachette UK
Page : 302 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2017-04-04
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780316441292

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The Lonely Life by Bette Davis Pdf

Originally published in 1962, The Lonely Life is legendary silver screen actress Bette Davis's lively and riveting account of her life, loves, and marriages--now in ebook for the first time, and updated with an afterword she wrote just before her death. As Davis says in the opening lines of her classic memoir: "I have always been driven by some distant music--a battle hymn, no doubt--for I have been at war from the beginning. I rode into the field with sword gleaming and standard flying. I was going to conquer the world." A bold, unapologetic book by a unique and formidable woman, The Lonely Life details the first fifty-plus years of Davis's life--her Yankee childhood, her rise to stardom in Hollywood, the birth of her beloved children, and the uncompromising choices she made along the way to succeed. The book was updated with new material in the 1980s, bringing the story up to the end of Davis's life--all the heartbreak, all the drama, and all the love she experienced at every stage of her extraordinary life. The Lonely Life proves conclusively that the legendary image of Bette Davis is not a fable but a marvelous reality.

Author : Kathryn Sermak
Publisher : Hachette Books
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2017-09-12
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780316507820

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Miss D and Me by Kathryn Sermak Pdf

For ten years Kathryn Sermak was at Bette Davis's side--first as an employee, and then as her closest friend--and in Miss D and Me she tells the story of the great star's harrowing but inspiring final years, a story fans have been waiting decades to hear. Miss D and Me is a story of two powerful women, one at the end of her life and the other at the beginning. As Bette Davis aged she was looking for an assistant, but she found something more than that in Kathryn: a loyal and loving buddy, a co-conspirator in her jokes and schemes, and a competent assistant whom she trained never to miss a detail. But Miss D had strict rules for Kathryn about everything from how to eat a salad to how to wear her hair...even the spelling of Kathryn's name was changed (adding the "y") per Miss D's request. Throughout their time together, the two grew incredibly close, and Kathryn had a front-row seat to the larger-than-life Davis's career renaissance in her later years, as well as to the humiliating public betrayal that nearly killed Miss D. The frame of this story is a four-day road trip Kathryn and Davis took from Biarritz to Paris, during which they disentangled their ferocious dependency. Miss D and Me is a window into the world of the unique and formidable Bette Davis, told by the person who perhaps knew her best of all.

Author : Bette Davis
Publisher : Hachette UK
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2017-04-04
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780316441261

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This 'n That by Bette Davis Pdf

Originally published in 1987, a collection of anecdotes as well as opinions pro and con on a wide range of subjects by legendary actress Bette Davis--now in ebook for the first time! A woman of strong appetites and opinions, Bette Davis minces no words. In frank, no nonsense terms she talks about the stroke that nearly killed her, and inspires us with the story of her subsequent recovery from cancer--a lively and encouraging account shot through with the star's unique blend of spunk and wit. Davis was famous for being as unsparing of herself as she was of others. Among the "others" of this book are President Ronald Reagan, who was a contract player at Warner Bros. when she was; Joan Crawford, her costar in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?; Humphrey Bogart; Marilyn Monroe; Elizabeth Taylor; and Helen Hayes, Bette's costar in her first film after her illness, Murder with Mirrors. She also talks about her deep friendship with her longtime assistant, Kathryn Sermak, who nursed Davis back to health after her stroke and ushered her back into acting when Davis's doctors thought all hope was lost. As Davis says, "If everyone likes you, you're doing your job wrong." This is a unique and controversial book by one of the most incandescent and unconventional acting talents of all time, as magnetic and supremely talented as the lady herself.

Author : Richard Schickel,George Perry
Publisher : Running Press Adult
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2009-10-06
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0762436883

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Bette Davis by Richard Schickel,George Perry Pdf

“Until you're known in my profession as a monster, you're not a star,” Bette Davis once said. Let's just say in Hollywood she was considered the ultimate star. The Academy Award-winning actress was one of the movies' most riveting and volatile personalities both on and off the screen. She comes to life in the pages of this lavish, fully illustrated tribute produced in conjunction with her estate. Bette Davis remains one of the most acclaimed and well-known stars in the history of film. Breaking new ground for women, she was a fighter who took on the Hollywood establishment at the drop of a dime. She reveled in lifelong feuds (such as with arch nemesis and co-star Joan Crawford). She was a mother, wife, and friend. She was also a no-nonsense New Englander who happened to have more talent than the movies seemed able to contain. Her personality leapt off the screen and earned her an unprecedented number of high-profile nominations and awards for her work in films like Jezebel, Dark Victory, All About Eve, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? As the epitaph on Davis's tombstone reads, “She did it the hard way.” Through a biography, comprehensive filmography, and hundreds of rare photos, readers will find out why.

Author : Ed Sikov
Publisher : Macmillan + ORM
Page : 479 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2007-10-30
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781429921954

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Dark Victory by Ed Sikov Pdf

The legendary Hollywood star blazes a fiery trail in this enthralling portrait of a brilliant actress and the movies her talent elevated to greatness She was magnificent and exasperating in equal measure. Jack Warner called her "an explosive little broad with a sharp left." Humphrey Bogart once remarked, "Unless you're very big she can knock you down." Bette Davis was a force of nature—an idiosyncratic talent who nevertheless defined the words "movie star" for more than half a century and who created an extraordinary body of work filled with unforgettable performances. In Dark Victory, the noted film critic and biographer Ed Sikov paints the most detailed picture ever delivered of this intelligent, opinionated, and unusual woman who was—in the words of a close friend—"one of the major events of the twentieth century." Drawing on new interviews with friends, directors, and admirers, as well as archival research and a fresh look at the films, this stylish, intimate biography reveals Davis's personal as well as professional life in a way that is both revealing and sympathetic. With his wise and well-informed take on the production and accomplishments of such movie milestones as Jezebel, All About Eve, and Now, Voyager, as well as the turbulent life and complicated personality of the actress who made them, Sikov's Dark Victory brings to life the two-time Academy Award–winning actress's unmistakable screen style, and shows the reader how Davis's art was her own dark victory.

Author : Kevin Lane Dearinger
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 157 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2022-04-01
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781476688138

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On Stage with Bette Davis by Kevin Lane Dearinger Pdf

A reflection on one of Broadway's most iconic flops, this memoir follows a musical that featured one of the silver screen's most powerful personalities. Bette Davis was nominated for twelve Academy Awards and twice won the Best Actress award, starring in classics like Jezebel, The Letter, The Little Foxes, All About Eve and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, among many more. In 1974, the living legend agreed to star in Miss Moffat, a musical adaptation of Emlyn Williams' The Corn in Green. Expectations were high, but Miss Moffat opened and then abruptly closed, leading theatre gossips to speculate on what went wrong. Early in his career, Kevin Lane Dearinger, a young actor who had recently relocated to New York, landed a minor role in Miss Moffat. Inexperienced and unsure of himself, he kept a journal of his observations and experiences throughout production. He observed the older and more seasoned Miss Davis, who seemed determined to remain clear-headed despite the unfolding calamity. In this book, Dearinger revisits his journal to reflect on his own life, a fated stage production, his experience with an entertainment legend and a bygone era of Broadway.

Author : Peter McNally
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2008-02-29
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9780786434992

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Bette Davis by Peter McNally Pdf

Bette Davis, whose career spanned almost 50 years and covered theatre, radio, TV and motion pictures, was at one time the first lady of the big screen. Working with such storied performers as Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, and Joan Crawford, and directors Edmund Goulding, William Wyler and Robert Aldrich, Bette Davis provided some of the most memorable performances in movie history. This volume contains detailed analyses of Bette Davis' top twelve films spanning 1938 to 1987 and including The Letter, All About Eve, The Little Foxes, Jezebel, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and The Whales of August. Each film is discussed in depth, with an examination of its script, direction, camerawork and performances, particularly as they relate to Davis's work. A second group of films, memorable largely for Davis's performance rather than the overall success of the work, are also examined. Special emphasis is placed on the way Davis viewed her own work as well as the detrimental effect her devotion to her career had on her personal life. Appendices contain a list of her marriages and children; her Oscar nominations; a discussion of Davis's missed opportunities; and a partial chronology of her films.

Author : Gene Ringgold
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 191 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 1966
Category : Actors
ISBN : LCCN:66011401

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The Films of Bette Davis by Gene Ringgold Pdf

Author : Charlotte Chandler
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 594 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2008-12-09
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781847396983

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The Girl Who Walked Home Alone by Charlotte Chandler Pdf

Of Human Bondage, Jezebel, All About Eve, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Just this short list of Bette Davis' films gives an unmistakable sense of the role she played in twentieth-century cinema as one of the finest performers in Hollywood history. Drawing on an extensive series of conversations that took place during the last decade of Bette Davis' life, this biography draws heavily on the actresses own words. Looking back over the decades, from her teenage decision to become an actress to the pain and outrage over her daughter's bitter portrayal of her, Davis speaks with extraordinary candour. She explains how her father's abandonment of her a child reverberated through her four marriages, and discusses the persistent Hollywood legend that she was difficult to work with. Immersing readers in the drama and glamour of movie-making's golden age, The Girl Who Walked Home Alone is a startling portrait of an enduring icon.

Author : Julia A. Stern
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2022-01-19
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780226813868

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Bette Davis Black and White by Julia A. Stern Pdf

Introduction: Black and white -- Little Foxes and little brown wrens -- The poetics of color in Jezebel -- Melodramas of blood in In This Our Life -- The whiteness of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? -- Bette Davis black and white.

Author : Outlet,Outlet Book Company Staff,Random House Value Publishing Staff,Rh Value Publishing
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 136 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 1988-12-12
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0517175169

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Super Duper Bloopers by Outlet,Outlet Book Company Staff,Random House Value Publishing Staff,Rh Value Publishing Pdf

Author : Grace May Carter
Publisher : New Word City
Page : 390 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2017-06-15
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781640190740

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Bette Davis by Grace May Carter Pdf

In a career that spanned six decades, two Academy Awards, and ten Oscar nominations, Bette Davis became one of the greatest screen legends of all time. But, as her epitaph says, "She did it the hard way." She was in constant battles with co-stars, directors, and studios and struggled with addictions to alcohol and cigarettes. She had four stormy marriages and even her three children brought pain and controversy - one wrote a scathing tell-all book, another had a severe mental disability, and a third was the subject of a prolonged custody battle. But in her iconic film roles - including All About Eve and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane - Davis transcended her troubles to leave an indelible mark on American cinema. Possessing none of the glamorous beauty of Greta Garbo, she had something more powerful and lasting: a restless, incandescent energy that made her mesmerizing to watch on the big screen. Here is Davis's story - her famous feud with Joan Crawford, skirmishes with Errol Flynn, affairs with Howard Hughes and William Wyler - and enough drama, confrontation, and heartache to fill several lifetimes. But she never regretted a single moment. "Being hysterical is like having an orgasm," Davis once cracked. "It's good for you."

Author : Kelly Mass
Publisher : Efalon Acies
Page : 41 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2023-12-30
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9791222490724

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Bette Davis by Kelly Mass Pdf

Bette Davis, born Ruth Elizabeth, left an indelible mark on American cinema through a remarkable 50-year career that spanned over a century, boasting an impressive repertoire of more than 100 performances. Recognized for her trailblazing portrayals of unsympathetic and sardonic characters, she carved a niche as a pioneer of female villainy in the realm of motion pictures. A luminary across diverse film genres, Davis seamlessly transitioned from contemporary crime melodramas to historical epics, suspenseful horror, and occasional comedic roles, with her greatest triumphs often unfolding in the realm of romantic dramas. Her versatility knew no bounds, and her ability to embody a spectrum of characters solidified her status as a cinematic force to be reckoned with. In 1930, at the tender age of 22, Davis made the pivotal move from Broadway in New York to the glittering world of Hollywood. It was a bold leap that set the stage for her ascent to stardom. Her breakthrough came with the role of a vulgar waitress in "Of Human Bondage" (1934), earning her critical acclaim, even though she wasn't initially among the contenders for the Academy Award for Best Actress that year. The following year marked the genesis of her Academy Award journey, securing her first Best Actress nomination for the portrayal of a down-and-out actress in "Dangerous" (1935), a role that ultimately earned her the coveted statuette. Davis's career took an audacious turn in 1937 when she attempted to break free from her contract with Warner Brothers Studio. Although the legal battle did not swing in her favor, it signified the beginning of a decade-long reign as one of Hollywood's most iconic leading ladies.

Author : David Thomson
Publisher : Penguin UK
Page : 99 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2009-08-27
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780141931456

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Bette Davis (Great Stars) by David Thomson Pdf

'She could look demure while behaving like an empress. Blonde, with eyes like pearls too big for her head, she was very striking, but marginally pretty and certainly not beautiful ... But it was her edge that made her memorable - her upstart superiority, her reluctance to pretend deference to others.' Bette Davis was the commanding figure of the great era of Hollywood stardom, with a drive and energy that put her contemporaries in the shade. She played queens, jezebels and bitches, she could out-talk any male co-star, she warred with her studio, Warner Bros, worked like a demon, got through four husbands, was nominated for seven Oscars and - no matter what - never gave up fighting. This is her story.

Author : Jane Lotter
Publisher : Center Point
Page : 500 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2016-04-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1628999365

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The Bette Davis Club by Jane Lotter Pdf

"When Margo's niece becomes a runaway bride --taking with her a family heirloom--her mother offers Margo fifty grand to retrieve her spoiled daughter and the invaluable property she stole. Together with the jilted and justifiably crabby fiancé, Margo sets out in a borrowed 1955 red MG on a cross-country chase and finds herself along the way"--