Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske on September 16, 1924 in New York, New York. The daughter of middle class parents, her father worked as a salesman and her mother as a secretary.



When Lauren was young, she aspired to be a dancer but later became interest in acting. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.

Lauren Bacall began her career as a model and appeared on the cover of Harper's Bazaar. The wife of director Howard Hawks spotted the picture and arranged with her husband to have Lauren take a screen test.

Lauren was then cast as Marie Browning in Hawk's To Have and Have Not (1944) opposite Humphrey Bogart. This film not only set the stage for Bacall's career but also was the beginning of one of Hollywood's greatest love stories.



Humphery Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married on May 21, 1945 and remained married until his death in 1957.

During the 1940s, Lauren Bacall appeared in such classics as The Confidential Agent (1945), The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948). She starred opposite Humphrey Bogart in all but The Confidential Agent in which she starred opposite Charles Boyer.

The 1950s brought Lauren Bacall roles in such films Young Man With A Horn (1950), How To Marry A Millionaire (1953), Designing Women (1957), and The Gift of Love (1958).

On January 14, 1957, Humphrey Bogart died of throat cancer. A grief stricked Bacall moved back to New York City and appeared in several Broadway plays.

In 1964, she returned to the silver screen to appear in Shock Treatment and Sex and The Single Girl. During the 1960s she also appeared in Harper (1966), opposite Paul Newman and Julie Harris.



During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Lauren alternated her time between the stage and television appearances. She appeared in such television classics as Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre and Applause (1973). Her role in television's Applause would earn her an emmy nomination for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.

She would win the Tony Award for the Broadway production of Applause.

In 1974, Lauren returned once again to the silver screen in Murder on the Orient Express. Two years later she co-starred opposite John Wayne in The Shootist (1976).

During the 1980s, she would earn her second emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for The Rockford Files. In 1988, she would earn her third emmy nomination for Outstanding Informational Special for Bacall on Bogart.

Her film credits of the 1980s include The Fan (1981), Mr. North (1988) and Tree of Hands (1989).

In 1981, she would earn her second Tony Award for the Broadway production of Woman of the Year.

During the 1990s, Lauren Bacall would receive her one and only Academy Award nomination. This was for her role in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996). Although she did not win the Oscar, she did win the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild award for this performance.

Lauren's film credits of the 1990s include such films as Misery (1990), The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), My Fellow Americans (1996), and Presence of Mind (1999).

Lauren Bacall is still active in the entertainment industry. She has appeared in such recent ventures as Birth (2004), Manderlay (2005), These Foolish Things (2006) and Eve (2008).

In 2010, three more productions featuring Lauren Bacall are scheduled to be released. She will provide the voice of Porsche in Firedog, play May in Wild Blue Yonder, and provide the voice of The Grand Witch in Scooby Doo and the Globin King.