The passing of Bette Davis--October 1989

America lost a Hollywood legend when Betty Davis died last night in Paris she was 81 years of age in numbers alone she was larger than life 86 films for husbands and a remarkable ability to survive because as she said she was tougher than everybody else Stephen Frazier remembers the unforgettable life of movie star Betty Davis this was the scene Betty Davis once said summed up her Hollywood image fasten your seat belt it's going to be a bumpy night as Margo Channing in All About Eve she played a hearty uncompromising the kind of woman she often portrayed in her 86 films may I see you again I don't mind doesn't it make any difference to you now you don't take me out time running up 12 my father drank himself to death my mother lives in Paris I take a great deal of exercise I'm accustomed to a reasonable quantity of tobacco and alcohol I'm said to have a sense of humor don't charm majesty me you slimy toad My dear [Music] [Applause] years later she said she wasn't like that in real life it's a hangover from many characters I have played really first as a Jezebel I envy a woman like Jezebel I wish I have the courage to come out with it just like she did or Regina and little foxes in a wonderful way no I was never like that that's all no no she took those roles because she believed her looks wouldn't let her compete with glamour queens couldn't stand the way I look this round face and nothing but it was a great value of that face me there wasn't that definite in the beginning it wasn't I could wear any hairstyle I could change my face into any kind of character and that's what I believed in she believed in relying on acting talent some of her most memorable scenes contained no dialogue but her favorite line is a legend I'd like to kiss you but I just washed my hair Oh nobody was a bigger star and nobody lived the Hollywood Life more intensely for marriages a child who later embarrassed her with an unflattering book but two Oscars 10 nominations and an adoring public what I would like to be remembered by is she was a good actress that's mrs. strong memories conveyed - that has not been my experience and what memories they are and will you be happy Jerry don't let ask for the moon we have the stars Stephen Fraser NBC News Davis died last night in Paris Dennis Michael takes a look back at her career Jerry don't let us you think the holes happened I want very much the highlights and unforgettable moments from Betty Davis's 100 films would be too numerous to list but her contribution to film history has been immense Davis's career was long enough to confer on her the title living legend description she grew to accept well gradually I realized and isn't it fortunate to reach this position while I'm still alive and know it this is think of Beethoven never knew never knew we still are playing his music today starting with a single line in a Broadway play in 1927 Davis's career rose swiftly in the early days of the talkies [Music] she earned two Best Actress Oscars in the 30s and in the process gave the fame statuette its name her films mostly for Warner Brothers made her popular with moviegoers but within the movie industry she gained a reputation for being difficult in later years Davis said the reputation was deserved oh I'm very difficult if somebody is incompetent I mean if a director does not know what he's doing of course I'm difficult because once more I'm saying to myself is my name my name that will get praised Oh Blake Davis made a number of comebacks in her tempestuous career the first in 1950 was highly praised All About Eve autograph B there are people those are the beasts that run around in packs like coyotes they're your fans your audience they're nobodies fans they're juvenile delinquents they're mental defective and nobody's audience but by the end of that decade she was reduced to advertising her availability in Hollywood trade papers another comeback came in the early 60s with whatever happened to Baby Jane Davis was married four times none was of long duration Roger it would be nice if what it lasted but one cannot have everything and I've had most of it Davis ceased speaking to or about her eldest daughter BD Hyman after she wrote a revealing biography my mother's keeper in 1985 in her late 70s the actress continue to accept roles one of the last being the critically acclaimed drama the whales of August opposite Lillian Gish way too one of her directors suggested Betty Davis's epitaph should read she did it the hard way Davis agreed if it's too easy what is the accomplishment Betty Davis was eighty one world are remembering Hollywood legend Betty Davis the actress died last night in Paris after a long fight with cancer she was 81 years old during her long film career she starred in classics like Jezebel and All About Eve and whatever happened to Baby Jane tonight news 7s Jerry Armstrong looks back at some of the highlights of her career Betty Davis a Somerset Mons classic in the role that shattered her star turn for more than 50 years born in Lowell she was a local girl who more than made good she resisted Hollywood studio manipulations and became a respected artist her style would set tradition for future film performance she was an extraordinary thoughtful woman and that's the side of course the public didn't see them Boston University's Howard Gottlieb's curated duties include caretaking of more than one hundred nine thousand Betty Davis archives she loved her public she acted for them she lived for them they came first even before her family that meant failed marriages and estrangement from her family it's going to be a bumpy night most of the movie houses is we used to call them that played Betty Davis movies for better than a half a century a gun now but the flickering images of Mildred Jezebel and Margo Channing are usually the stuff of trivia games or video cassettes but in death Betty Davis is still bigger than life 60 years as a major actress and star in our motion picture industry is an incredible achievement in later years they were peaks and valleys from baby Jane to the whales of August and we see now that that final walk down to the beach was a sort of farewell for Betty Davis because it turned out to be her last film Terry don't [Music] Eddie Davis lost her long fight with cancer last night at a Paris hospital she was 81 born Ruth Elizabeth Davison lolz she fought Hollywood's fixation with glamour girls to star in more than 80 films she was nominated for an Oscar ten times and won Best Actress Awards in 1935 for dangerous and in 1938 for Jezebel other films included whatever happened to Baby Jane fasten your seatbelts it's going to be a bumpy night I think I have to brag a bit and say I've done everything I wanted to I think I have to say that she continued to work in films and on TV after her mastectomy in 1983 which was followed by a stroke and a broken hip more than 100,000 documents belonging to the actress including old scripts programs and letters are included in the archives at the boston university library curator howard Gottlieb first met Betty Davis in 1963 among his personal collection photographs and gifts from the actress whose death he says is a loss to the world he reflected on his long friendship because she was unique not just because of her great artistry the fact that she was a great actress but she was an extraordinary human being one of the most intelligent people I've known in my own career in my own life and I think that the public generally equated with Betty Davis because she lived for the public what I would like to be remembered by is she was a good actress something in me that want something different she was tough she was outspoken she was a fighter to the end this is entertainment tonight for Monday the ninth day of October 1989 [Music] hello everyone I'm John Tesh and I'm Mary Hart her career spanned a remarkable 58 years 87 films Betty Davis hit Hollywood in 1931 and she grew up in the movies what a dump Betty Davis never pulled any punches in her performances or her battles to get the roles she wanted and in her later days she waged another war against cancer in 1983 she underwent a mastectomy and subsequently had a stroke but she struggled back to recover and continued to act and perform she'd been secretly undergoing radiation treatments this year not letting her public know of her problems she lost her battle Friday and died in this hospital in France but even in her last weeks Davis was a fighter and she flew to Spain to appear at a film festival to prove that she still had what it takes here in her last public appearance but typically direct Davis was in fine form what to do with my different kinds of it took a long time for them to get used to it but I do think in the long run that this difference had a great magician I'm sure of that private funeral services will be held for miss Davis the date and location yet to be decided a spokesman said an additional public memorial service would be held in Los Angeles in about ten days Betty Davis was nominated ten times for an Academy Award and she won twice an Oscar for dangerous in 1935 and another three years later for Jezebel but well before the broad sweep of her remarkable career that Betty Davis will be remembered fasten your seat belts it's going to be a bumpy night that immortal line from All About Eve sums up not only the heart has nails character but epitomizes the personality of the Hollywood star who portrayed her the one and only Betty Davis I was so lucky where I came from a good good Yankee upbringing no compliments in Yankee land no anything but that meant that there was no way I ever could have believed my own publicity and gotten e gone Hollywood as they say and gotten a large hit she come from New England with some theater training and was the first to admit she was about as far from the usual sexy starlet image as you could get what Davis had was talents and guts and a seemingly innate grasp of how to connect with the camera here's her first major role in of Human Bondage in 1934 Davis became a star at Warner Brothers although she detested what she called the many mediocre projects assigned to her and even though she won the first of her two Academy Awards in 1935 Betty fought studio boss Jack Warner with a feistiness that's still impressive today as these letters from the studio's files reveal Davis refused to work after an unbroken string of film assignments without vacation here she tells Warner quote arguing with me is no use nor do I want to come back until it is settled after a while she became so casual about being laid off she even told the Warner Brothers boss if your actions in these matters is suspension I would appreciate knowing as soon as possible so I can open my house in New Hampshire but her fight with the studio for better working conditions and better scripts usually paid off the late 30s and early 40s found the star in her prime a second Oscar for Jezebel in 1938 was followed by a couple of new Davis films each year and can you be happy Jerry don't let's ask for the moon estas Davis was not one to rest on her laurels she was the first woman president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and with John Garfield a co-founder of World War 2 Hollywood Canteen Betty starred as herself in the film based on the famous landmark miss Davis meets slim the one-man army mr. Skeffington Davis aren't you I saw you on the hospital ship before you were even released on the mainland one film roles dwindled in the late fifties early sixties she's shocked Hollywood by placing a tongue-in-cheek want ad in the newspaper announcing her availability you get a taste of what suffering is really like nonetheless Betty Davis loved acting and often crossed over to television if the part was challenging [Music] [Applause] Oh strong-willed determined hardworking and ambitious Betty Davis always said her reputation for toughness was due more to the lingering image of the roles she played than to her own actual personality

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Length: 16min 24sec (984 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 07 2020