Bette Davis: Quick Facts

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Oct. 23, 2026

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Facts

Also Known As	Ruth Elizabeth Davis
Born	April 5, 1908 • Lowell • Massachusetts
Died	October 6, 1989 (aged 81) • Neuilly-sur-Seine • France
Awards And Honors	Kennedy Center Honors (1987) • Emmy Award (1979) • Academy Award (1939) • Academy Award (1936) • Academy Award (1939): Actress in a Leading Role • Academy Award (1936): Actress in a Leading Role • Cecil B. DeMille Award (1974) • Emmy Award (1979): Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special
Married To	Gary Merrill (1950–1960) • William Grant Sherry (1945–1950) • Arthur Austin Farnsworth (1940–1943 [his death]) • Harmon Nelson (1932–1938)
Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In)	"The Virginian" (1962) • "Burnt Offerings" (1976) • "The Little Foxes" (1941) • "Housewife" (1934) • "All About Eve" (1950) • "The Man Who Played God" (1932) • "Another Man's Poison" (1951) • "Of Human Bondage" (1934) • "Storm Center" (1956) • "Madame Sin" (1972) • "Suspicion" (1958) • "The Bride Came C.O.D." (1941) • "Jezebel" (1938) • "Beyond the Forest" (1949) • "The Cabin in the Cotton" (1932) • "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (1957) • "The Rich Are Always with Us" (1932) • "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" (1964) • "The Whales of August" (1987) • "Ex-Lady" (1933) • "The Old Maid" (1939) • "It's Love I'm After" (1937) • "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" (1939) • "Kid Galahad" (1937) • "It Takes a Thief" (1970) • "In This Our Life" (1942) • "All This, and Heaven Too" (1940) • "Way Back Home" (1931) • "Lo scopone scientifico" (1972) • "Fog Over Frisco" (1934) • "Satan Met a Lady" (1936) • "Old Acquaintance" (1943) • "The Anniversary" (1968) • "Pocketful of Miracles" (1961) • "Studio 57" (1958) • "Hollywood Canteen" (1944) • "The Petrified Forest" (1936) • "That Certain Woman" (1937) • "Connecting Rooms" (1970) • "Hell's House" (1932) • "Jimmy the Gent" (1934) • "The Catered Affair" (1956) • "Waterloo Bridge" (1931) • "The Scapegoat" (1959) • "Hotel" (1983) • "The 20th Century-Fox Hour" (1956) • "Watch on the Rhine" (1943) • "Death on the Nile" (1978) • "Now, Voyager" (1942) • "General Electric Theater" (1957–1958) • "Winter Meeting" (1948) • "Laugh-In" (1977) • "Bureau of Missing Persons" (1933) • "Front Page Woman" (1935) • "Deception" (1946) • "The Bad Sister" (1931) • "Where Love Has Gone" (1964) • "Bunny O'Hare" (1971) • "The Corn Is Green" (1945) • "The Working Man" (1933) • "Telephone Time" (1957) • "The Ford Television Theatre" (1957) • "Wicked Stepmother" (1989) • "The Nanny" (1965) • "Thank Your Lucky Stars" (1943) • "Perry Mason" (1963) • "Gunsmoke" (1966) • "Dark Victory" (1939) • "Return from Witch Mountain" (1978) • "Seed" (1931) • "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1942) • "A Stolen Life" (1946) • "Mr. Skeffington" (1944) • "Phone Call from a Stranger" (1952) • "La noia" (1963) • "Marked Woman" (1937) • "The Great Lie" (1941) • "Dangerous" (1935) • "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1959) • "So Big!" (1932) • "The Watcher in the Woods" (1980) • "Juarez" (1939) • "The Dark Horse" (1932) • "Parachute Jumper" (1933) • "Dead Ringer" (1964) • "Three on a Match" (1932) • "Wagon Train" (1959–1961) • "The Menace" (1932) • "The Dark Secret of Harvest Home" (1978) • "The Sisters" (1938) • "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962) • "Bordertown" (1935) • "June Bride" (1948) • "The Star" (1952) • "Fashions of 1934" (1934) • "Special Agent" (1935) • "The Letter" (1940) • "Payment on Demand" (1951) • "The DuPont Show with June Allyson" (1959) • "The Big Shakedown" (1934) • "20,000 Years in Sing Sing" (1932) • "The Girl from 10th Avenue" (1935) • "The Golden Arrow" (1936) • "The Virgin Queen" (1955) • "Little Gloria... Happy at Last" (1982) • "John Paul Jones" (1959)

Top Questions

Is Bette Davis married?

Gary Merrill (1950–1960), William Grant Sherry (1945–1950), Arthur Austin Farnsworth (1940–1943 [his death]), Harmon Nelson (1932–1938)

Where was Bette Davis born?

Bette Davis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States.

When was Bette Davis born?

Bette Davis was born on April 5, 1908.

Photos

Bette Davis in Jezebel

Bette Davis and Franchot Tone in Dangerous

Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart in Dark Victory

Charles Boyer kneels beside Bette Davis, who is seated in an ornate chair, in a stone-walled room in a scene from the film All This, and Heaven Too (1940).

filming of The Bride Came C.O.D.

Bette Davis and Paul Henreid in a black-and-white scene from the film Now, Voyager, standing close together as he gently holds her hand.

Bette Davis in Beyond the Forest

Bette Davis in The Virgin Queen

Bette Davis as Baby Jane Hudson stands after slapping Joan Crawford as Blanche Hudson, who sits in a wheelchair, in a dramatic scene from What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962).

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Meryl Streep smiles on the red carpet in a long red gown with a deep V neckline, holding a silver clutch at the Academy Awards.

Meryl Streep

American actress

Claudette Colbert in Bluebeard's Eighth Wife

Claudette Colbert

American actress

Mike Nichols, wearing a black tuxedo and bow tie, stands smiling at a podium with a star-shaped award in front of him at the AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Mike Nichols

American director

Woodward, Joanne: The Three Faces of Eve

Joanne Woodward

American actress

Humphrey Bogart in Sahara

Humphrey Bogart

American actor

Burgess Meredith

Burgess Meredith

American actor and director

Julie Andrews smiling at an event in 2012, wearing a light-colored jacket with short hair and gold earrings.

Julie Andrews

English actress and singer

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Patty Duke

American actress

Robert Redford as Bill McKay stands at a microphone in a suit and striped tie, with a large campaign poster of himself in the background, in the film The Candidate.

Robert Redford

American actor and director

Viola Davis stands at a microphone in a white and black gown, holding her Emmy Award while accepting the outstanding lead actress in a drama series honor.

Viola Davis

American actress

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Bette Midler

American actress and singer

Louis Gossett Jr. smiling at an event in 2009, wearing a black shirt with a patterned collar against a blue background.

Louis Gossett, Jr.

American actor

Julie Harris stands holding an open parasol above her head, wearing a high-collared blouse and looking directly at the camera.

Julie Harris

American actress

Mel Brooks in a tuxedo smiles widely and points at his Emmy Award trophy while posing in front of a blue Emmy Awards backdrop.

Mel Brooks

American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor

Nicole Kidman poses on the red carpet in a pale blue gown and diamond necklace at the 94th Oscars, with geometric and Oscar statuette motifs in the background.

Nicole Kidman

American-born Australian actress

Julianne Moore

American actress

Kathy Bates

Kathy Bates

American actress

Jessica Lange

Jessica Lange

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Cher

Cher

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Shirley MacLaine

American actress

Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).

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