In October of 1941, Bette Davis became the first female president of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Davis won an Academy Award® for best actress twice, in 1935 and 1938. She was nominated for the award a whopping eleven times. For her dedication and work over almost 60 years, including 120 films and TV movies, she was given American Theatre Arts' Lifetime Achievement Award and the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award.
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| Davis from the trailer for Marked Woman (1937). Photo in public domain. |
She was known for her fiery temperament and outspokenness; here are some examples.
"I will never be below the title."
"We're all busy little bees, full of stings, making honey day and night, aren't we honey?"
"I was the Marlon Brando of my generation."
"I'd marry again if I found a man who had fifteen million dollars, would sign over half to me and guarantee that he'd be dead within a year."
"My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose."
On experience: "Old age ain't no place for sissies."
"Anyone who says that life begins at 40 is full of it. As people get older their bodies begin to decay. They get sick. They forget things. What's good about that?"
"There was more good acting at Hollywood parties than ever appeared on the screen."
[when told that "at one time" she had a reputation for being difficult] "At one time?! I've been known as difficult for 50 years, practically! What do you mean "at one time"? Nooo, I've been like this for 50 years. And it's always always to make it the best film I can make it!"
[when told not to speak ill of the dead] "Just because someone is dead does not mean they have changed!"
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| Bette Davis as Margo Channing inAll About Eve (1950). Photo in public domain. |
