bette davis eyes.

by kimberley veart

Bette Davis was the original cinematic bitch, her on-screen characters put Regina George and Miranda Priestly to shame.

Her life flows as freely with anecdotes of her feisty nature as the wine did at her house. After all there is only one way to get a voice as raspy as hers...

One anecdote goes that she had to re-record some of the dialogue for All About Eve because she strained her voice so badly in screaming matches with her then husband that she couldn't talk properly. You can understand why the studio executives were more than a little hesitant to argue with her.

Bette Davis stood for independence, fire and passion in an era that wanted cookie-cutter blonde housewives that would be quiet, passive and unquestioning.

Or in her words: "What a fool I was to come to Hollywood where they only understand platinum blondes and where legs are more important than talent."

Stories of her ongoing feud with Whatever Happened to Baby Jane co-star, Joan Crawford literally fill books, as under a veneer of politeness they tortured each other on set (for eg. Crawford put stones in her pockets in scenes where Davis would have to drag her across the floor) and bad mouthed each other to the media.

"You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good...Joan Crawford is dead. Good."

With her razor sharp wit, quotes from Davis make for excellent reading, and show that she was well aware of her public image as .... a bit of a handful.

"Until you're known in my profession as a monster, you're not a star."

Davis was someone who insisted on being heard, whether through her dozens of powerful film roles that have resonated through the years or in loud fights against the studio system that resulted in lasting changes.

She certainly made no apologies for living larger than life and I think that's fantastic.

So, wine in hand, here's to you Bette Davis!

All quotes from IMDB




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