99-580: Ruth Elizabeth " Bette " Davis ( / ˈ b ɛ t i / ; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was known for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas . She won
198-571: A $ 50,000 salary. On September 9, 1936, Warner Brothers filed a legal injunction against Davis in England which forbade her from appearing in film productions without their consent. While on a shopping spree in Paris, Davis publicly declared to the press that she intended to defy Warner Bros' legal injunction and make the film in England. On October 14, 1936, the British court held a hearing regarding
297-595: A New England innkeeper, and Vermont dentist's son. Davis and Farnsworth were married at Home Ranch, in Rimrock, Arizona , in December 1940, her second marriage. In January 1941, Davis became the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but antagonized the committee members with her brash manner and radical proposals. Davis rejected the idea of her being just "a figurehead only". Faced with
396-517: A New York City-based East Coast showcase theater, the Academy Theater at Lighthouse International . The 220-seat venue was redesigned in 2011 by renowned theater designer Theo Kalomirakis, including an extensive installation of new audio and visual equipment. The theater is in the East 59th Street headquarters of the non-profit vision loss organization, Lighthouse International. In July 2015, it
495-463: A complete rut." Recalling the episode many years later, Davis remarked that Laughton's advice had influenced her throughout her career. By this time, Davis was Warner Bros.' most profitable star, and she was given the most important of their female leading roles. Her image was considered with more care; although she continued to play character roles, she was often filmed in close-ups that emphasized her distinctive eyes. All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
594-539: A contemporary gangster drama inspired by the case of Lucky Luciano , and a film regarded as one of the most important in her early career. She was awarded the Volpi Cup at the 1937 Venice Film Festival for her performance. Davis's portrayal of a strong-willed 1850s Southern belle in Jezebel (1938) won her a second Academy Award for Best Actress . This was the first of five consecutive years in which she received
693-500: A couch, and I tested fifteen men...They all had to lie on top of me and give me a passionate kiss. Oh, I thought I would die. Just thought I would die." A second test was arranged for Davis, for the 1931 film A House Divided . Hastily dressed in an ill-fitting costume with a low neckline, she was rebuffed by the film director William Wyler , who loudly commented to the assembled crew, "What do you think of these dames who show their chests and think they can get jobs?". Carl Laemmle ,
792-507: A five-year contract, and she remained with the studio for the next 18 years. Davis's first marriage was to Harmon Oscar Nelson on August 18, 1932, in Yuma, Arizona. Their marriage was scrutinized by the press; his $ 100 a week earnings ($ 1,885 in 2020 dollars) compared unfavorably with Davis's reported $ 1,000 a week income ($ 18,850). Davis addressed the issue in an interview, pointing out that many Hollywood wives earned more than their husbands, but
891-563: A group known as "Members at Large". Members at Large have all the privileges of branch membership except for representation on the Board. Associate members are those closely allied to the industry but not actively engaged in motion picture production. They are not represented on the Board and do not vote on Academy Awards. According to a February 2012 study conducted by the Los Angeles Times (sampling over 5,000 of its 5,765 members),
990-621: A group of thirty-six people involved in the film industry and invited them to a formal banquet at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on January 11, 1927. That evening Mayer presented to those guests what he called the International Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Everyone in the room that evening became a founder of the Academy. Between that evening and when the official Articles of Incorporation for
1089-617: A joint venture with the University of Southern California , created America's first film school to further the art and science of moving pictures. The school's founding faculty included Fairbanks (President of the Academy), D. W. Griffith , William C. deMille , Ernst Lubitsch , Irving Thalberg , and Darryl F. Zanuck . 1930 saw another move, to the Hollywood Professional Building , in order to accommodate
SECTION 10
#17327797685141188-562: A long period of ill health, but she continued acting until shortly before her death from breast cancer, with more than 100 film, television, and theater roles to her credit. Ruth Elizabeth Davis, known from early childhood as "Betty", was born on April 5, 1908, in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of Harlow Morrell Davis (1885–1938), a law student from Augusta, Maine, and subsequently a patent attorney, and Ruth Augusta (née Favór; 1885–1961), from Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. Davis's younger sister
1287-686: A portrait photographer. The young Betty Davis later changed the spelling of her first name to Bette after Bette Fischer, a character in Honoré de Balzac 's La Cousine Bette . During their time in New York, Davis became a Girl Scout where she became a patrol leader. Her patrol won a competitive dress parade for Lou Hoover at Madison Square Garden. Davis attended Cushing Academy , a boarding school in Ashburnham, Massachusetts , where she met her future husband, Harmon O. Nelson, known as Ham. In 1926,
1386-460: A skull fracture he had suffered two weeks earlier having accidentally fallen down a flight of stairs. A finding of accidental death was reached. Highly distraught, Davis attempted to withdraw from her next film Mr. Skeffington (1944), but Jack Warner, who had halted production following Farnsworth's death, persuaded her to continue. Although she had gained a reputation for being forthright and demanding, her behavior during filming of Mr. Skeffington
1485-491: A successful novelist. Davis felt that Hopkins tried to upstage her throughout the film. Director Vincent Sherman recalled the intense competition and animosity between the two actresses, and Davis often joked that she held back nothing in a scene in which she was required to shake Hopkins in a fit of anger. In August 1943, Davis' husband, Arthur Farnsworth, collapsed while walking along a Hollywood street and died two days later. An autopsy revealed that his fall had been caused by
1584-605: A then 18-year-old Davis saw a production of Henrik Ibsen 's The Wild Duck with Blanche Yurka and Peg Entwistle . Davis later recalled, "The reason I wanted to go into theater was because of an actress named Peg Entwistle." Bette Davis interviewed with Eva Le Gallienne to be a student at her 14th Street theater. However, she felt Davis was not serious enough to attend her school, and described her attitude as "insincere" and "frivolous". Davis auditioned for George Cukor 's stock theater company in Rochester, New York. Though he
1683-623: A vulgar waitress in Of Human Bondage (1934). Contentiously, she was not among the three nominees for the Academy Award for Best Actress that year, and she won it the following year for her performance in Dangerous (1935). In 1936, due to poor film offers, she attempted to free herself from her contract, and although she lost a well-publicized legal case, it marked the beginning of the most successful period of her career. Until
1782-598: A week, plus all radio rights and permission to make outside pictures. I told her, 'Whoa, that's too much!'" Meanwhile, due to Davis's refusal to continue with God's County and the Woman , Warner Bros. was incurring excessive production costs because the film was being made in Technicolor , and the Technicolor cameras were rented. In late June, the studio put Davis on suspension for refusal to work, and replaced her in
1881-485: A witch if she had lived two or three hundred years ago. She gives the curious feeling of being charged with power which can find no ordinary outlet". The New York Times hailed her as "becoming one of the most interesting of our screen actresses". She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the role, but commented that it was belated recognition for Of Human Bondage , calling the award a "consolation prize". For
1980-447: Is "overwhelmingly white" and the question is raised whether conscious or unconscious racial biases played a role. Spike Lee , interviewed shortly after the all-white nominee list was published, pointed to Hollywood leadership as the root problem, "We may win an Oscar now and then, but an Oscar is not going to fundamentally change how Hollywood does business. I'm not talking about Hollywood stars. I'm talking about executives. We're not in
2079-499: Is an international organization and membership is open to qualified filmmakers around the world. The Academy is known around the world for its annual Academy Awards , both officially and popularly known as "The Oscars". In addition, the Academy holds the Governors Awards annually for lifetime achievement in film; presents Scientific and Technical Awards annually; gives Student Academy Awards annually to filmmakers at
SECTION 20
#17327797685142178-723: Is busy year-round with the Academy's public programming, members-only screenings, movie premieres and other special activities (including the live television broadcast of the Academy Awards nominations announcement every January). The building once housed the Academy Little Theater , a 67-seat screening facility, but this was converted to additional office space in a building remodel. The Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study , located in central Hollywood and named for legendary actress and Academy founder Mary Pickford , houses several Academy departments, including
2277-492: Is located at 333 S. La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills. It is home to the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library , a world-renowned, non-circulating reference and research collection devoted to the history and development of the motion picture as an art form and an industry. Established in 1928, the library is open to the public and used year-round by students, scholars, historians and industry professionals. The library
2376-472: Is named for Margaret Herrick, the Academy's first librarian who also played a major role in the Academy's first televised broadcast, helping to turn the Oscar ceremony into a major annual televised event. The building itself was built in 1928, where it was originally built to be a water treatment plant for Beverly Hills. Its "bell tower" held water-purifying hardware. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures ,
2475-584: Is responsible for corporate management, control, and general policies. The board of governors also appoints a CEO and a COO to supervise the administrative activities of the Academy. From the original formal banquet, which was hosted by Louis B. Mayer in 1927, everyone invited became a founder of the Academy: Presidents are elected for one-year terms and may not be elected for more than four consecutive terms. Source: "Academy Story" . Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from
2574-533: Is what we know now as the Academy Awards . The initial location of the organization was 6912 Hollywood Boulevard . In November 1927, the Academy moved to the Roosevelt Hotel at 7010 Hollywood Boulevard, which was also the month the Academy's library began compiling a complete collection of books and periodicals dealing with the industry from around the world. In May 1928, the Academy authorized
2673-792: The Academy Award for Best Actress twice, was the first person to accrue ten Academy Award nominations (and one write-in) for acting, and was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute . In 1999, Davis was placed second on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema . After appearing in Broadway plays, Davis moved to Hollywood in 1930, but her early films for Universal Studios were unsuccessful. She joined Warner Bros. in 1932 and had her critical breakthrough playing
2772-770: The Academy Film Archive , the Science and Technology Council, Student Academy Awards and Grants, and the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. The building, originally dedicated on August 18, 1948, is the oldest surviving structure in Hollywood that was designed specifically with television in mind. Additionally, it is the location of the Linwood Dunn Theater , which seats 286 people. The Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study
2871-498: The Association of Motion Picture Producers , Fred Beetson to discuss these matters. The idea of this elite club having an annual banquet was discussed, but no mention of awards at that time. They also established that membership into the organization would only be open to people involved in one of the five branches of the industry: actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers. After their brief meeting, Mayer gathered up
2970-704: The Hollywood Victory Committee and beyond. The Canteen offered food, dancing and entertainment for servicemen and was staffed by members of the entertainment industry. Davis served as Canteen president through the end of the war. In 1983, Davis received the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal from the Department of Defense for her work with the Hollywood Canteen. She appeared as herself in
3069-489: The 1930s was the first annual Academy Players Directory in 1937. The Directory was published by the Academy until 2006 when it was sold to a private concern. The Academy had been involved in the technical aspects of film making since its founding in 1927, and by 1938, the Science and Technology Council consisted of 36 technical committees addressing technical issues related to sound recording and reproduction, projection, lighting, film preservation, and cinematography. In 2009,
Bette Davis - Misplaced Pages Continue
3168-454: The 2016 Academy Awards, many, including April Reign, were dismayed by the Academy's indifference about representation and inclusion, as the 2016 nominees were once again entirely white. April Reign revived #OscarsSoWhite, and renewed her campaign efforts, which included multiple media appearances and interviews with reputable news outlets. As a result of Reign's campaign, the discourse surrounding representation and recognition in film spread beyond
3267-403: The 2016 Oscars for failing to recognize minority achievements, the board voted to make "historic" changes to its membership. The Academy stated that by 2020 it would double its number of women and minority members. While the Academy has addressed a higher profile for African-Americans, it has yet to raise the profile of other people of color artists, in front of and behind the camera. In 2018,
3366-626: The Academy Cheryl Boone Isaacs , the first African American and third woman to lead the Academy, denied in 2015 that there was a problem. When asked if the Academy had difficulty with recognizing diversity, she replied "Not at all. Not at all." When the nominations for acting were all white for a second year in a row Gil Robertson IV , president of the African American Film Critics Association called it "offensive." The actors' branch
3465-614: The Academy or the Motion Picture Academy ) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California , U.S., with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion pictures. The Academy's corporate management and general policies are overseen by a board of governors, which includes representatives from each of the craft branches. As of April 2020, the organization was estimated to consist of around 9,921 motion picture professionals. The Academy
3564-419: The Academy at that time was 94% white, 77% male, 86% age 50 or older, and had a median age of 62. A third of members were previous winners or nominees of Academy Awards themselves. Of the Academy's 54-member Board of Governors, 25 are female. On June 29, 2016, a paradigm shift began in the Academy's selection process, resulting in a new class comprising 46% women and 41% people of color. The effort to diversify
3663-622: The Academy invited a record 928 new members. Casting director David Rubin was elected President of the Academy in August, 2019. In 2020, Parasite became the first non-English language film to win Best Picture . In June 2022, Bill Kramer was named the CEO of the Academy. Also in 2022, Janet Yang was elected as the first Asian American President of the Academy. The Academy's numerous and diverse operations are housed in three facilities in
3762-403: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) began with Louis B. Mayer , head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He said he wanted to create an organization that would mediate labor disputes without unions and improve the film industry's image. In other words, the Academy was originally founded as a company union . He met with actor Conrad Nagel , director Fred Niblo , and the head of
3861-472: The Academy was led by social activist and Broadway Black managing-editor April Reign . Reign created the Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite as a means of criticizing the dearth of non-white nominees for the 2015 Academy Awards. Though the hashtag drew widespread media attention, the Academy remained obstinate on the matter of adopting a resolution that would make demonstrable its efforts to increase diversity. With
3960-503: The Academy's initial days was for "Awards of Merit", but it was not until May 1928 that the committee began to have serious discussions about the structure of the awards and the presentation ceremony. By July 1928, the board of directors had approved a list of 12 awards to be presented. During July the voting system for the Awards was established, and the nomination and selection process began. This "award of merit for distinctive achievement"
4059-452: The Academy, while Fred Niblo was the first vice-president, and their first roster, composed of 230 members, was printed. That night, the Academy also bestowed its first honorary membership, to Thomas Edison . Initially, the Academy was broken down into five main groups, or branches, although this number of branches has grown over the years. The original five were: Producers, Actors, Directors, Writers and Technicians. The initial concerns of
Bette Davis - Misplaced Pages Continue
4158-557: The American favorite of Japanese moviegoers—because to them, she "represented the admirable principle of sad self-sacrifice." In 1942, numerous Hollywood entertainment industry members joined forces to form the Hollywood Canteen . Davis and John Garfield were the driving force who were credited with organizing the canteen, along with the aid of 42 unions and guilds in the industry, plus thousands of celebrity volunteers from
4257-513: The Best Actress nomination. During production, Davis entered a relationship with director William Wyler . She later described him as the "love of my life", and said that making the film with him was "the time in my life of my most perfect happiness". The film was a success. This led to speculation in the press that she would be chosen to play Scarlett O'Hara , a similar character, in Gone with
4356-452: The Los Angeles area: the headquarters building in Beverly Hills, which was constructed specifically for the Academy, and two Centers for Motion Picture Study – one in Beverly Hills, the other in Hollywood – which were existing structures restored and transformed to contain the Academy's Library, Film Archive and other departments and programs. The Academy Headquarters Building in Beverly Hills once housed two galleries that were open free to
4455-541: The Samuel Goldwyn Theater and other facilities within two weeks of their debut, and sometimes before release; in addition, some of the screeners are available through iTunes to its members. Five people are known to have been expelled from the Academy. Academy officials acknowledge that other members have been expelled in the past, most for selling their Oscar tickets, but no numbers are available. The following members have voluntarily resigned from
4554-588: The United States and became a global discussion . Faced with mounting pressure to expand the Academy membership, the Academy capitulated and instituted new policies to ensure that future Academy membership invitations would better represent the demographics of modern film-going audiences. The A2020 initiative was announced in January 2016 to double the number of women and people of color in membership by 2020 . Members are able to see many new films for free at
4653-527: The Wind . Davis expressed her desire to play Scarlett, and while David O. Selznick was conducting a search for the actress to play the role, a radio poll named her as the audience favorite. Warner offered her services to Selznick as part of a deal that also included Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland , but Selznick did not consider Davis as suitable, and rejected the offer. Davis, on the other hand, did not want Flynn cast as Rhett Butler . Newcomer Vivien Leigh
4752-506: The Woman , and Mountain Justice . However, as God's Country and the Woman was going into production, Davis refused to work, and demanded a salary increase on her contract with Warner Bros. At the time, Davis was earning $ 1,250 per week. Jack Warner offered Davis an increased salary of $ 2,250 per week, which Davis refused. Davis's agent, Mike Levee, said: "She's a very stubborn young lady. I asked her how much she wanted, and she said $ 3,500
4851-500: The accounting firm Price Waterhouse. The next year, A Midsummer Night's Dream became the only film to win a write-in Oscar, for Best Cinematography . The next year, her performance as a down-and-out troubled actress in Dangerous (1935) received very good reviews, and landed Davis her first Best Actress nomination and win. E. Arnot Robertson wrote in Picture Post that, "I think Bette Davis would probably have been burned as
4950-660: The character of Regina Giddens, a role originally played on Broadway by Tallulah Bankhead (Davis had portrayed in film a role initiated by Bankhead on the stage once before – in Dark Victory ). Wyler encouraged Davis to emulate Bankhead's interpretation of the role, but Davis wanted to make the role her own. She received another Academy Award nomination for her performance, and never worked with Wyler again. In 1943, Davis told an interviewer that she had molded her film career on her motto, "I love tragedy," and ironically, until Pearl Harbor , she had been recognized as
5049-817: The character she had seen Entwistle play in The Wild Duck . After performing in Philadelphia, Washington, and Boston, she made her Broadway debut in 1929 in Broken Dishes and followed it with Solid South . After appearing on Broadway in New York, the 22-year-old Davis moved to Hollywood in 1930 to screen test for Universal Studios. She was inspired to pursue a career as a film actress after seeing Mary Pickford in Little Lord Fauntleroy . Davis and her mother traveled by train to Hollywood. She later recounted her surprise that no-one from
SECTION 50
#17327797685145148-672: The construction of a state of the art screening room, to be located in the Club lounge of the hotel. The screening room was not completed until April 1929. With the publication of Academy Reports (No. 1): Incandescent Illumination in July 1928, the Academy began a long history of publishing books to assist its members. Research Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences trained Signal Corps officers, during World War II , who later won two Oscars, for Seeds of Destiny and Toward Independence . In 1929, Academy members, in
5247-493: The disapproval and resistance of the committee, Davis resigned, and was succeeded by her predecessor Walter Wanger . Davis starred in three movies in 1941, the first being The Great Lie , with George Brent. It was a refreshingly different role for Davis as she played a kind, sympathetic character. William Wyler directed Davis for the third time in Lillian Hellman 's The Little Foxes (1941), but they clashed over
5346-493: The early 1940s, several of Davis's film choices were influenced by the war, such as Watch on the Rhine (1943), by Lillian Hellman, and Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), a lighthearted all-star musical cavalcade. Davis performed a novelty song, "They're Either Too Young or Too Old." Old Acquaintance (1943) reunited her with Miriam Hopkins in a story of two old friends who deal with the tensions created when one of them becomes
5445-483: The enlarging staff, and by December of that year the library was acknowledged as "having one of the most complete collections of information on the motion picture industry anywhere in existence." They remained at that location until 1935 when further growth caused them to move once again. This time, the administrative offices moved to one location, to the Taft Building at the corner of Hollywood and Vine , while
5544-572: The film Hollywood Canteen (1944), which used the canteen as the setting for a fictional story. Warner Bros. donated 40% of proceeds from the film to both the Hollywood Canteen and the Stage Door Canteen in Manhattan . Davis showed little interest for the role of repressed spinster Charlotte Vale in the drama film Now, Voyager (1942), until Hal Wallis advised her that female audiences needed romantic dramas to distract them from
5643-510: The film with Beverly Roberts . During negotiations with Warner Bros. regarding her salary and signing Davis for the female lead in Danton , Davis abruptly traveled to England with her husband, Harmon Nelson, on a "vacation". However, in England, Davis signed a contract with British film production company Toplitz, to make the film I'll Take the Low Road in England with Maurice Chevalier for
5742-571: The film's male co-stars. The film was not a success, and her next role in Seed (1931) was too brief to attract attention. Universal Studios renewed her contract for three months, and she appeared in a small role in Waterloo Bridge (1931), before being lent to Columbia Pictures for The Menace , and to Capital Films for Hell's House (all 1932). After one year, and six unsuccessful films, Laemmle elected not to renew her contract. Davis
5841-624: The group had to do with labor. However, as time went on, the organization moved "further away from involvement in labor-management arbitrations and negotiations." During the Great Depression , the Academy lost all credibility among studio employee members with respect to labor issues when it took the side of the major film studios in the latter's efforts to convince employees to agree to voluntary reductions in wages and salaries. The Academy thus evolved into its modern role as an honorary organization. One of several committees formed in
5940-429: The head of Universal Studios, considered terminating Davis's employment, but cinematographer Karl Freund told him she had "lovely eyes" and would be suitable for Bad Sister (1931), in which she subsequently made her film debut. Her nervousness was compounded when she overheard the chief of production, Carl Laemmle, Jr. , comment to another executive that she had "about as much sex appeal as Slim Summerville ", one of
6039-448: The horrors of egocentricity on a marathonic scale". Despite these reviews, Mr. Skeffington was another box-office hit and earned Davis another Academy Award nomination. In 1945, Davis married artist William Grant Sherry, her third husband, who also worked as a masseur. She had been drawn to him because he claimed he had never heard of her and so was not intimidated by her. The same year, Davis made The Corn Is Green (1945), based on
SECTION 60
#17327797685146138-633: The inaugural Governors Awards were held, at which the Academy awards the Academy Honorary Award , the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award . In 2016, the Academy became the target of criticism for its failure to recognize the achievements of minority professionals. For the second year in a row, all 20 nominees in the major acting categories were white. The president of
6237-514: The late 1940s was redeemed with her role as a fading Broadway star in All About Eve (1950), which has often been cited as her best performance. She received Best Actress nominations for this film and for The Star (1952), but her career struggled over the rest of the decade. Her last nomination came for her role as the psychotic former child star Jane Hudson in the psychological horror film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). In
6336-540: The late 1940s, she was one of American cinema's most celebrated leading ladies. She was praised for her role in Marked Woman (1937) and won a second Academy Award for her portrayal of a strong-willed 1850s southern belle in Jezebel (1938), the first of five consecutive years in which she received a Best Actress nomination; the others for Dark Victory (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), and Now, Voyager (1942). A period of decline in
6435-550: The latter stage of her career, Davis played character parts in films like Death on the Nile (1978) and shifted her focus to roles in television. She led the miniseries The Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978), won an Emmy Award for Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter (1979), and was nominated for her performances in White Mama (1980) and Little Gloria... Happy at Last (1982). Her last complete cinematic part
6534-650: The library moved to 1455 North Gordon Street. In 1934, the Academy began publication of the Screen Achievement Records Bulletin , which today is known as the Motion Picture Credits Database . This is a list of film credits up for an Academy Award, as well as other films released in Los Angeles County, using research materials from the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library . Another publication of
6633-557: The marriage. After more than 20 film roles, she had her critical breakthrough playing the role of the vicious and slatternly Mildred Rogers in the RKO Radio production of Of Human Bondage (1934), a film adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham 's novel. It earned Davis her first major critical acclaim, although, contentiously, she was not among the three nominees for the Academy Award for Best Actress that year. Many actresses feared playing unsympathetic characters, and several had refused
6732-436: The melodrama Housewife . When Davis was not nominated for an Academy Award for Of Human Bondage , The Hollywood Citizen News questioned the omission, and Norma Shearer , herself a nominee, joined a campaign to have Davis nominated. This prompted an announcement from the Academy president, Howard Estabrook , who said that under the circumstances, "any voter ... may write on the ballot his or her personal choice for
6831-441: The newest facility associated with the Academy, is the United States' first large-scale museum dedicated to the film industry. Its scheduled opening was on September 30, 2021, and it contains over 290,000 square feet (27,000 m ) of galleries, exhibition spaces, movie theaters, educational areas, and special event spaces. The museum is located in the historic May Company Building , now named Saban Building. The Academy also has
6930-411: The organization were filed on May 4, 1927, the "International" was dropped from the name, becoming the "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". Several organizational meetings were held prior to the first official meeting held on May 6, 1927. Their first organizational meeting was held on May 11 at the Biltmore Hotel . At that meeting Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was elected as the first president of
7029-465: The organization: The nineteen branches of the Academy are (in no particular order): As of April 2020 , the board of governors consists of 57 governors: three governors from each of the 18 Academy branches and three governors-at-large. The Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch, created in 2006, had only one governor until July 2013. The Casting Directors Branch, created in 2013, elected its first three governors in Fall 2013. The board of governors
7128-739: The part as written, and wore a gray wig and padding under her clothes, to create a dowdy appearance. The critic E. Arnot Robertson observed: Historical film Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.237 via cp1104 cp1104, Varnish XID 205240228 Upstream caches: cp1104 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:42:48 GMT Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ( AMPAS , often pronounced / ˈ æ m p æ s / AM -pass ; also known as simply
7227-399: The path for de Havilland's legal victory; however, this is grossly inaccurate. Warners' 1936 injunction against Davis was due to her attempt to unlawfully breach her contract to work for another production company because she and Warners were having a salary disagreement, and bears no resemblance to the de Havilland legal case. In 1937, Davis starred with Humphrey Bogart in Marked Woman ,
7326-406: The play by Emlyn Williams . Davis played Miss Moffat, an English teacher who saves a young Welsh miner ( John Dall ) from a life in the coal pits by offering him education. The part had been played in the theater by Ethel Barrymore (who was 61 at the play's premiere), but Warner Bros. felt that the film version should depict the character as a younger woman. Davis disagreed, and insisted on playing
7425-686: The public. The Grand Lobby Gallery and the Fourth Floor Gallery offered changing exhibits related to films, film-making and film personalities. These galleries have since been closed in preparation for the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in 2020. The building includes the Samuel Goldwyn Theater , which seats 1,012, and was designed to present films at maximum technical accuracy, with state-of-the-art projection equipment and sound system. The theater
7524-524: The reality of their lives. It became one of the better known of her "women's pictures". In one of the film's most imitated scenes, Paul Henreid lights two cigarettes as he stares into Davis's eyes, and passes one to her. Film reviewers complimented Davis on her performance, the National Board of Review commenting that she gave the film "a dignity not fully warranted by the script". She received her seventh Oscar nomination for Now, Voyager . During
7623-662: The rest of her life, Davis maintained that she gave the statue its familiar name of "Oscar" because its posterior resembled that of her husband, whose middle name was Oscar, although, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially makes reference to another story. In her next film, The Petrified Forest (1936), Davis co-starred with Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart . In the spring of 1936, Davis asked Warner Bros. to loan her out to RKO to make Mary of Scotland . Warner Bros. refused, and assigned Davis to two films that were written specifically for her: God's Country and
7722-580: The role, but Davis viewed it as an opportunity to show the range of her acting skills. Her co-star, Leslie Howard , was initially dismissive of her, but as filming progressed, his attitude changed, and he subsequently spoke highly of her abilities. The film's director, John Cromwell , allowed her relative freedom. "I let Bette have her head. I trusted her instincts." Davis insisted that she be portrayed realistically in her death scene, and said, "The last stages of consumption, poverty, and neglect are not pretty, and I intended to be convincing-looking." The film
7821-406: The room." Boone Isaacs also released a statement, in which she said "I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion. This is a difficult but important conversation, and it's time for big changes." After Boone Isaac's statement, prominent African-Americans such as director Spike Lee, actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith , and activist Rev. Al Sharpton called for a boycott of
7920-404: The situation proved difficult for Nelson, who refused to allow Davis to purchase a house until he could afford to pay for it himself. Nelson was able to enforce his wishes because, at the time, the husband had the management and control of the community property, which included the wife's earnings, and the wife could not obtain credit without her husband's consent. Davis had several abortions during
8019-415: The spring. Press releases announce the names of those who have recently been invited to join. Membership in the Academy does not expire, even if a member struggles later in their career. Academy membership is divided into 19 branches, representing different disciplines in motion pictures. Members may not belong to more than one branch. Members whose work does not fall within one of the branches may belong to
8118-413: The stars who had generated the most revenue in their theaters over the previous year. In contrast to Davis's success, her husband Ham Nelson had failed to establish a career for himself, and their relationship faltered. In 1938, Nelson obtained evidence that Davis was engaged in a sexual relationship with Howard Hughes , and subsequently filed for divorce, citing Davis's "cruel and inhuman manner". Davis
8217-415: The studio was there to meet her. In fact, a studio employee had waited for her, but left because he saw no-one who "looked like an actress". Davis failed her first screen test, but was used in several screen tests for other actors. In a 1971 interview with Dick Cavett , she related the experience with the observation, "I was the most Yankee-est, most modest virgin who ever walked the earth. They laid me on
8316-441: The studio's injunction against Davis. Mr Justice Branson issued his decision on October 19, ruling in favor of Warner Bros. Justice Branson dismissed Davis's representative's claims that she was an "underpaid slave" held under a "life sentence", and ruled that Davis was in breach of her contract to Warner "for no discoverable reason except that she wanted more money". Davis was ordered to pay Warner Bros. $ 80,000 in restitution, and
8415-738: The undergraduate and graduate level; awards up to five Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting annually; and operates the Margaret Herrick Library (at the Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study) in Beverly Hills, California , and the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study in Hollywood , Los Angeles. The Academy opened the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles in 2021. The notion of
8514-401: The winners", thus allowing, for the only time in the Academy's history, the consideration of a candidate not officially nominated for an award. The uproar led, however, to a change in academy voting procedures the following year, wherein nominations were determined by votes from all eligible members of a particular branch, rather than by a smaller committee, with results independently tabulated by
8613-568: Was Barbara Harriet (1909–1979). In 1915, after Davis's parents separated, Davis and her sister Barbara attended a spartan boarding school named Crestalban in Lanesborough, Massachusetts , for three years. In the fall of 1921, her mother, Ruth Davis, moved to New York City, using her children's tuition money to enroll in the Clarence White School of Photography , with an apartment on 144th Street at Broadway. She then worked as
8712-505: Was a success, and Davis's characterization earned praise from critics, with Life writing that she gave "probably the best performance ever recorded on the screen by a U.S. actress". Davis anticipated that her reception would encourage Warner Bros. to cast her in more important roles, and was disappointed when Jack L. Warner refused to lend her to Columbia Studios to appear in It Happened One Night , and instead cast her in
8811-436: Was also ordered to pay the studio's legal fees for filing the injunction in England. The British press offered little support to Davis, calling her overpaid and ungrateful. In 1943, actress Olivia de Havilland won a lawsuit against Warner Bros. regarding the length of time a studio contract could be legally enforceable, which at the time was seven years. In her later years, Davis would falsely claim in interviews that she set
8910-476: Was announced that the Academy was forced to move out, due to Lighthouse International selling the property the theater was in. Membership in the Academy is by invitation only. Invitation comes from the Board of Governors. Membership eligibility may be achieved by earning a competitive Oscar nomination, or by the sponsorship of two current Academy members from the same branch to which the candidate seeks admission. New membership proposals are considered annually in
9009-534: Was cast as Scarlett O'Hara, de Havilland landed a role as Melanie, and both of them were nominated for the Oscars, with Leigh winning. Jezebel marked the beginning of the most successful phase of Davis's career, and over the next few years, she was listed in the annual Quigley Poll of the Top Ten Money-Making Stars , which was compiled from the votes of movie exhibitors throughout the U.S. for
9108-735: Was emotional during the making of her next film, Dark Victory (1939), and considered abandoning it until the producer Hal B. Wallis convinced her to channel her despair into her acting. The film was among the high-grossing films of the year, and the role of Judith Traherne, a spirited heiress suffering from a malignant brain tumor, brought her an Academy Award nomination. In later years, Davis cited this performance as her personal favorite. Dark Victory featured Ronald Reagan and Humphrey Bogart in supporting roles. Davis appeared in three other box-office hits in 1939: The Old Maid with Miriam Hopkins , Juarez with Paul Muni , and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex with Errol Flynn. The last
9207-509: Was her first color film, and her only color film made during the height of her career. To play the elderly Elizabeth I of England , Davis shaved her hairline and eyebrows. During filming, Davis was visited on the set by the actor Charles Laughton . She commented that she had a "nerve" playing a woman in her 60s, to which Laughton replied: "Never not dare to hang yourself. That's the only way you grow in your profession. You must continually attempt things that you think are beyond you, or you get into
9306-451: Was in the drama The Whales of August (1987). Davis was known for her forceful and intense style of acting and her physical transformations. She gained a reputation as a perfectionist who could be highly combative, and confrontations with studio executives, film directors, and co-stars were often reported. Her forthright manner, clipped vocal style, and ubiquitous cigarette contributed to a public persona which has often been imitated. Davis
9405-475: Was not very impressed, he gave Davis her first paid acting assignment – a one-week stint playing the part of a chorus girl in the play Broadway . Ed Sikov sources Davis's first professional role to a 1929 production by the Provincetown Players of Virgil Geddes ' play The Earth Between ; however, the production was postponed by a year. In 1929, Davis was chosen by Blanche Yurka to play Hedwig,
9504-499: Was preparing to return to New York when actor George Arliss chose Davis for the lead female role in the Warner Bros. picture The Man Who Played God (1932). For the rest of her life, Davis credited him with helping her achieve her "break" in Hollywood. The Saturday Evening Post wrote, "She is not only beautiful, but she bubbles with charm", and compared her to Constance Bennett and Olive Borden . Warner Bros. signed her to
9603-466: Was said to be erratic and out of character. She alienated Vincent Sherman by refusing to film certain scenes and insisting that some sets be rebuilt. She improvised dialogue, which made the writer Julius Epstein rewrite scenes at her whim. Davis later explained her actions with the observation "When I was most unhappy, I lashed out rather than whined." Some reviewers criticized Davis for the excess of her performance; James Agee wrote that she "demonstrates
9702-424: Was the co-founder of the Hollywood Canteen , and was the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Her career went through several periods of eclipse, and she admitted that her success had often been at the expense of her personal relationships. Married four times, she was once widowed and three times divorced, and raised her children as a single parent. Her final years were marred by
9801-454: Was the most financially successful film of Davis's career to that point. The Letter (1940) was considered "one of the best pictures of the year" by The Hollywood Reporter , and Davis won admiration for her portrayal of an adulterous killer, a role originated onstage by Katharine Cornell . During this time, she was in a relationship with her former co-star George Brent , who proposed marriage. Davis refused, as she had met Arthur Farnsworth,
#513486