About Me
Did you know that I actually recorded a pop song once?
I know... it surprised me too!
I still can't beleive the studio brass talked me into doing such a hokey stunt to publicize my film "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?", but they did!
Once I gave my word there was no turning back. I had to be a "pro" about it all so I dug in my heels and belted it out as best as I could!
See for yourself!
I was born April 5, 1908, in Lowell, Massachusetts.
My parents divorced when I was a child and my sister and I were raised by my mother, Ruthie. I demanded attention practically from birth, which led to my pursuing a career in acting. After graduation from Cushing Academy I was refused admittance to Eva Le Gallienne's Manhattan Civic Repertory because I was considered insincere and frivolous. I enrolled in John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School and was the star pupil. I was in the off-Broadway play "The Earth Between" (1923), and my Broadway debut in 1929 was in "Broken Dishes". I also appeared in "Solid South." Late in 1930 I was hired by Universal. When I arrived in Hollywood, the studio representative who went to meet my train left without me because he could find no one who looked like a movie star. An official at Universal complained I had "as much sex appeal as Slim Summerville" and my performance in The Bad Sister (1931) didn't impress. In 1932 I signed a seven-year deal with Warner Brothers Pictures. I became a star after my appearance in The Man Who Played God (1932). Warners loaned mer to RKO in 1934 for Of Human Bondage (1934), in which I was a smash. I had a significant number of write-in votes for the Best Actress Oscar, but didn't win (I finally did win it for Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938)). I constantly fought with Warner Bros. and tried to get out of my contract because I felt I wasn't receiving the top roles that I felt an Oscar-winning actress deserved, and eventually I sued the studio. When I came back after the lawsuit my roles improved dramatically. The only role I didn't get that I really wanted was Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). Warners wouldn't loan me out to David O. Selznick unless he hired Errol Flynn to play Rhett Butler, which both Selznick and I thought was a terrible choice. It was rumored I had numerous affairs, among them George Brent and William Wyler, and I was married four times, all of which ended in divorce (I must admit that my career always came first). I made many successful films in the 1940s, but each picture was weaker than the last and by the time my Warner Brothers contract had ended in 1949, I had been reduced to appearing in such films as the unintentionally hilarious Beyond the Forest (1949). I made a huge comeback in 1950 when I replaced an ill Claudette Colbertin (and received an Oscar nomination for) All About Eve (1950). I worked in films through the 1950s, but my career eventually came to a standstill, and in 1961 I placed the now-infamous "Job Wanted" ad in the trade papers.I received an Oscar nomination for my role as a demented former child star in 1962's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), which brought me a new degree of stardom in both movies and television through the 1960s and 1970s. In 1977 I received the AFI's Lifetime Achievement Award and in 1979 I won a Best Actress Emmy for Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter (1979) (TV). In 1977-78 I moved from Connecticut to Los Angeles and filmed a pilot for the series "Hotel" (1983), which I jokingly called "Brothel". I absolutely refused to do the TV series and suffered a damn stroke during this time. My daughter Barbara Merrill wrote a 1985 "Mommie Dearest"-type book, "My Mother's Keeper". I worked in the later 1980s in films and TV, even though a stroke had impaired my appearance and mobility. I wrote "This N That" during my recovery from the stroke. My last book was "Bette Davis, The Lonely Life", issued in paperback in 1990. It included an update from 1962 to 1989.
I am damn proud of every minute I spent at The Hollywood Canteen!
I borrowed the bio above frome www.imdb.com. I'll put it all into my own words as soon as I find time, but for now this will have to do.
They are quite popular. I'm sure they must know what the hell they are talking about!
MyGen
Profile Generator
