Lauren Bacall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lauren Bacall
|
|
|---|---|
Bacall in 1945
|
|
| Born |
Betty Joan Perske
September 16, 1924 The Bronx, New York City, U.S.
|
| Died | August 12, 2014 (aged 89) Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
|
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Betty Bogart |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1942–2014 |
|
Works
|
Full list |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | 3, including Stephen Humphrey Bogart and Sam Robards |
| Relatives | Shimon Peres (cousin) |
| Awards | Full list |
| Signature | |
 |
|
Lauren Bacall (born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was a famous American actress. She was known for her unique, deep voice and strong presence on screen. The American Film Institute named her the 20th greatest female star from the classic Hollywood era. In 2009, she received a special Academy Award for her amazing work in movies.
Bacall started her career as a model. At just 19, she made her first movie, To Have and Have Not (1944), starring opposite Humphrey Bogart, who later became her husband. She also starred in other classic films like The Big Sleep (1946) and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Marilyn Monroe. Bacall also had a successful career on Broadway, winning two Tony Awards for her roles in musicals. Later in her career, she became popular with younger audiences through films like Misery (1990) and Howl's Moving Castle (2004).
Contents
Early Life and Family
Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske on September 16, 1924, in The Bronx, New York City. She was the only child of Natalie and William Perske. Both of her parents were Jewish. Her mother came from Romania, and her father's parents were from Belarus.
When Bacall was five, her parents divorced, and she didn't see her father much after that. She later took the name Bacall, which was a version of her mother's maiden name. She was very close to her mother. Through her father, Bacall was related to Shimon Peres, who later became the Prime Minister and President of Israel.
Bacall's family moved to Brooklyn when she was young. Thanks to money from a wealthy relative, she attended private schools like Highland Manor Boarding School for Girls and Julia Richman High School in Manhattan.
Early Career and Modeling Work
In 1941, Bacall studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. She also worked as an usher at a theater and as a fashion model in department stores.
She made her first appearance on Broadway in 1942 at age 17. Around this time, she was even crowned "Miss Greenwich Village."
As a teenage model, Bacall appeared on the covers of famous magazines like Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. People described her as having "cat-like grace, tawny blonde hair, and blue-green eyes." Bacall naturally had a high-pitched voice, so she took lessons to make it deeper. She even had to shout lines from Shakespeare for hours each day to train her voice.
A fashion editor named Nicolas de Gunzburg first met Bacall and suggested she visit the Harper's Bazaar office. There, she met Diana Vreeland, who arranged for Bacall to be photographed for the March 1943 cover. This magazine cover caught the eye of "Slim" Keith, the wife of Hollywood director Howard Hawks. Slim urged her husband to invite Bacall for a screen test for his new film.
Becoming a Hollywood Star
The 1940s: First Films and Fame
After meeting Bacall in Hollywood, Howard Hawks immediately signed her to a seven-year contract. He changed her first name to Lauren, and she chose Bacall as her last name. Slim Hawks, the director's wife, helped Bacall learn about fashion and manners. Hawks also had Bacall work with a voice coach to develop her famous low, deep voice. Bacall was quite tall for an actress at 5 feet 8.5 inches.
During her screen tests for To Have and Have Not (1944), Bacall was so nervous that she pressed her chin against her chest and tilted her eyes up to hide her trembling. This became known as "The Look" and was one of her trademarks, along with her sultry voice.
Her role in To Have and Have Not was originally small, but it was expanded during filming. When the movie came out, it made Bacall an instant star. Her performance influenced fashion and other actors.
To promote the film, Warner Bros. launched a big marketing campaign. As part of this, Bacall visited the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in 1945. She famously sat on a piano while Vice President Harry S Truman played it.
After To Have and Have Not, Bacall appeared in Confidential Agent (1945), which critics didn't like much. However, her next film, The Big Sleep (1946), brought her career back to life. In this movie, she played the mysterious Vivian Rutledge alongside Humphrey Bogart.
The Big Sleep helped make Bacall an icon of film noir, a style of film known for its dark and mysterious stories. She often played strong, independent female characters. Bacall starred with Bogart in two more films: Dark Passage (1947) and Key Largo (1948).
The 1950s: Continued Success
Bacall became known for choosing her roles carefully, which sometimes gave her a reputation for being "difficult." However, she continued to be a major star in the 1950s with several popular films.
She starred with Gary Cooper in Bright Leaf (1950) and played a complex character in Young Man with a Horn (1950), a jazz musical with Kirk Douglas and Doris Day. From 1951 to 1952, Bacall and Bogart also starred in a radio show called Bold Venture.
Bacall starred in the first CinemaScope comedy, How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), which was a huge hit. She played a clever character named Schatze Page. Critics praised her performance, saying she took control of every scene with her witty lines.
After the success of How to Marry a Millionaire, Bacall turned down the chance to put her handprints and footprints in the famous cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. She felt she hadn't yet earned the status of a major star and wanted to feel she had truly achieved her place among the best.
Bacall also appeared in Woman's World (1954) and a TV version of The Petrified Forest (1955) with Bogart and Henry Fonda. She starred in The Cobweb (1955) and Blood Alley (1955).
Many film experts consider Written on the Wind (1956) a very important drama. Bacall played a career woman whose life changes when she meets a wealthy oil family. Even though she didn't think much of her role, reviews were positive.
While her husband Bogart was battling cancer, Bacall starred with Gregory Peck in Designing Woman (1957), which received good reviews. She also appeared in The Gift of Love (1958) and the adventure film North West Frontier (1959).
The 1960s and 1970s: Stage Success
Bacall appeared in only a few films in the 1960s. She focused more on her successful stage career 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 Applause and Woman of the Year.
Applause was a musical based on the film All About Eve (1950), which starred Bette Davis, one of Bacall's childhood idols. After a performance of Applause, Bette Davis visited Bacall backstage and told her, "You're the only one who could have played the part."
During this time, Bacall appeared in all-star movies like Harper (1966) with Paul Newman and Murder on the Orient Express (1974) with Ingrid Bergman and Sean Connery. In 1976, Bacall co-starred with John Wayne in his final film, The Shootist.
The 1980s and 1990s: New Roles
Bacall appeared in the comedy Health (1980) and the thriller The Fan (1981). Her performance in The Fan was well-received.
She took a break from films for seven years to perform on stage, including Woman of the Year (1981), for which she won her second Tony Award. She returned to film in 1988 with roles in Mr. North and Appointment with Death. She also starred in the British thriller Tree of Hands (1989) and a TV movie called Dinner at Eight.
In 1990, Bacall had a small but important role in Misery, based on a novel by Stephen King. She also appeared in the TV movie A Little Piece of Sunshine. The next year, she played the lead in A Star for Two (1991) and a supporting role in All I Want for Christmas (1991).
In 1993, Bacall was very active in television. She worked with her friend Gregory Peck in the TV movie The Portrait. She also appeared in Robert Altman's Prêt-à-Porter (1994), a film about fashion week in Paris. In 1995, she starred in a TV remake of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
1996 was a big year for Bacall. She was chosen by Barbra Streisand to play her mother in the romantic comedy The Mirror Has Two Faces. Her performance received great reviews, and at 72, she was nominated for her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also won a Golden Globe Award for the role.
Bacall received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997. In 1999, she was voted one of the 25 most important female movie stars in history by the American Film Institute. Her film career saw a new surge of popularity. She earned praise for her roles in films like Dogville (2003) and Birth (2004), both with Nicole Kidman. She also voiced the Witch of the Waste in the animated film Howl's Moving Castle (2004).
In the 2000s, she was a spokesperson for a discount store and a cat food brand. In 2006, she made a cameo appearance as herself on The Sopranos TV show.
Later Years and Legacy
In 2006, Bryn Mawr College honored Bacall with the Katharine Hepburn Medal, which recognizes women who show intelligence, drive, and independence. In 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave Bacall an honorary Academy Award for her contributions to film.
In her final years, Bacall continued to work. She finished her role in The Forger in 2009. In 2013, she joined the English voice cast for the animated film Ernest & Celestine. Her very last role was a guest voice appearance in the Family Guy episode "Mom's the Word" in 2014.
Personal Life
Marriages and Children
On May 21, 1945, Lauren Bacall married Humphrey Bogart. Their wedding took place at Malabar Farm, the home of author Louis Bromfield, a friend of Bogart's. They lived in Beverly Hills with their son. Bacall was married to Bogart until he passed away in 1957.
Bacall later had a relationship with Frank Sinatra. She then met and married actor Jason Robards in 1961. They divorced in 1969.
Bacall had two children with Humphrey Bogart and one with Jason Robards. Her son Stephen Humphrey Bogart (born 1949) is a news producer and author. Her daughter Leslie Howard Bogart (born 1952) is a nurse and yoga instructor. Her son Sam Robards (born 1961) is an actor.
Bacall wrote two autobiographies, Lauren Bacall by Myself (1978) and Now (1994).
Political Views
Bacall was a strong supporter of the Democratic Party. She often shared her political views. In 1947, Bacall and Bogart were among many Hollywood stars who protested against government investigations into people's political beliefs. They believed these investigations went against American democracy.
Bacall campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 election. She also campaigned for Robert F. Kennedy in 1964.
In a 2005 interview, Bacall described herself as "anti-Republican" and a "liberal." She said that "being a liberal is the best thing on Earth you can be. You are welcoming to everyone when you're a liberal. You do not have a small mind."
Death
Lauren Bacall passed away on August 12, 2014, just a month before her 90th birthday. She died at her apartment in New York City after suffering a stroke. She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Bacall left most of her estate to her three children and her youngest grandsons.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
See also
- Bogart and Bacall
- Bogart–Bacall syndrome
- List of actors with Academy Award nominations
- List of actors with Hollywood Walk of Fame motion picture stars
Images for kids
-
Bacall in Washington, D.C., in 1998
-
Bacall at a press conference for The Walker in February 2007
-
Bacall at the Deauville American Film Festival in 1989
