Bette Davis

Learn about Bette Davis (1908–1989), one of Hollywood’s most formidable actresses: her rise, struggles, iconic roles, and her razor-sharp wit captured in her most memorable quotes.

Introduction

Bette Davis was more than a film star—she was a force. Known for playing uncompromising, complex, often flawed women, she defied studio constraints and became a symbol of strength, intensity, and authenticity. Her career spanned six decades, and her personality was as bold off-screen as it was on. Her remarks—funny, critical, self-aware—still echo today.

Early Life and Background

• Bette Davis was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis on April 5, 1908 in Lowell, Massachusetts.

• Her parents were Harlow Morrell Davis, later a patent attorney, and Ruth Augusta (née Favor).

• Her parents separated when she was young; she and her sister were raised primarily by their mother.

• The young Ruth began going by “Bette” (inspired by a character in La Cousine Bette) later in her career.

Rise to Stardom & Career

• After some stage work on Broadway, in 1930 Bette Davis moved to Hollywood to pursue a film career.

• Her early films were modest, but her breakthrough came in Of Human Bondage (1934), in which she played a ruthless, self-sacrificing woman—an unsympathetic role that many actresses avoided.

• She won her first Academy Award for Dangerous (1935).

• Her second Oscar came for Jezebel (1938), and over many years she earned a large number of nominations—becoming the first actress to receive ten Oscar nominations.

• Bette Davis was willing to challenge studio control. For instance, in 1937 she sued Warner Bros. in an attempt to get out of a contract; though she lost, the case established her reputation as an actress demanding autonomy.

• Her most famous roles include All About Eve (1950) (as Margo Channing), and she sustained her career well into later decades with films such as What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and The Whales of August (1987).

Challenges, Personal Life & Later Years

• Bette Davis was married four times (three divorces, one widowhood).

• Her daughter, B. D. Hyman, published My Mother’s Keeper in 1985, presenting a controversial portrait of Davis. The book caused estrangement between them.

• Davis continued working despite health problems. She died on October 6, 1989, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, from complications of breast cancer.

• She was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.

Legacy and Influence

• Bette Davis is regarded as one of Hollywood’s greatest actresses, known for her courage to play unsympathetic characters and refusal to conform to stereotypical roles.

• She was an early role model for demanding creative control in Hollywood, paving a path for actresses who followed.

• Her persona—fierce, witty, sometimes abrasive—endeared her to fans and made her quotes memorable.

• Her films are studied for their depth, her performances for emotional intensity, and her life for its persistence and self-assertion.

Selected Quotes

Here are some of Bette Davis’s most famous, sharp, and revealing lines:

• “Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night.” — from All About Eve (spoken by her character, Margo Channing)

• “Old age is no place for sissies.”

• “If you have never been hated by your child, you have never been a parent.”

• “There was more good acting at Hollywood parties than ever appeared on the screen.”

• “Until you’re known in my profession as a monster, you’re not a star.”

• “If you want a thing well done, get a couple of old broads to do it.”

• “The male ego with few exceptions is elephantine to start with.”

• “Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work.”

These lines show her fierce wit, her unwillingness to sugarcoat, and her conviction in strength, professionalism, and truth.