It was her come-hither eyes and unmistakable pout that made legendary actress Lauren Bacall a household name, but the self-confessed “flat-chested, big-footed, lanky” star would have preferred she be remembered for her sharp tongue rather than her good looks.
The Oscar-nominated screen siren, best known for her roles in To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep and Key Largo alongside husband Humphrey Bogart, passed away in her Manhattan home last week after suffering a stroke at age 89.
In a few simple words that summed up the death of a second Hollywood icon in the same week, the Bogart estate released this statement: “With deep sorrow, yet with great gratitude for her amazing life, we confirm the passing of Lauren Bacall.”
Born Betty Joan Perske in the Bronx, Lauren was ambitious and dreamed of seeing her name in Tinseltown’s lights from a young age, inspired by her hero Bette Davis. Her big break came in the 1944 thriller To Have and Have Not, in which she educated her much older co-star Humphrey on the art of whistling with the immortal line, “You just put your lips together and blow.”
Starring in roles opposite Marilyn Monroe in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and Rock Hudson in Written on the Wind (1956) made her an icon, while later features during her career renaissance such as The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) and Dogville (2003) would earn her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination.
Lauren with Humphrey Bogart in the film Dark Passage. Image: Warner Bros.
In 2009, aged 85, she received an Honorary Academy Award for her contribution to cinema, but it was her relationship with Humphrey that would define her life and career.
They were the “It” couple of Hollywood’s film-noir period and were married for 12 years, until his death in 1957. It was Humphrey who introduced Lauren to the world of celebrity and they remain one of Tinseltown’s greatest love stories. But when they first met, Lauren failed to see the appeal of the already established star.
“I thought he was good [in Casablanca], but mad about him? Not at all,” she wrote in her biography By Myself. “[My aunt] thought he was sexy. I thought she was crazy.”
But three weeks into filming, 19-year-old Lauren fell for his quiet charm and, despite the fact he was already married, the two began a relationship.
Eleven days after Humphrey’s divorce was processed, on May 21, 1945, the pair wed. Lauren was 20 and Humphrey was 45. She admits the marriage took a toll on her career, and she felt forced to turn down a number of roles to become a mother to their two children, Stephen (65) and Leslie (61).
“Humphrey wanted a wife. He didn’t want an actress,” she said in 2011. “And I think many directors never thought of me except as Bogie’s wife… that doesn’t lead to a great career and I certainly didn’t fight for one. It was by choice. Except, of course, if you are ambitious – which I always was – it’s very hard to erase. I finally felt like I came into my own when I went on stage.”
Losing “the love of my life” to oesophageal cancer when he was 57, Lauren was a widow at 32. She would later have an affair with his friend Frank Sinatra and became engaged to him a year after Humphrey’s death.
“I was in terrible shape then,” she says. “I was in no shape to cope with Sinatra.”
Lauren Bacall. Image: U.S. Army
It was a short-lived affair, however, with the Come Fly With Me star breaking off their union over the phone when news of the engagement was leaked to the press. For 20 years, he did not speak to her, to which she retorted, publicly, “He behaved like a s***.”
Her third and final marriage to stage star Jason Robards ended after eight years in 1969, mainly due to his alcohol addiction. They had one son, Sam (52), who is also an actor.
“My son tells me, ‘Do you realise you are the last one?’ The last person who was an eyewitness to the golden age?’“
And as that last bright star, Lauren often took it upon herself to rebuke modern Hollywood. After watching Twilight with her granddaughter, who called it the “greatest vampire film ever”, the actress wanted “to smack her across the head with my shoe, but I do not want a tell-all book written on me when I die”.
The outspoken movie star also berated celebrity culture, saying, “When you talk about a great actor, you’re not talking about Tom Cruise.” And she refused to alter her thick eyebrows and crooked teeth from day one. Lauren called plastic surgery a “youth sickness”, adding, “I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that.”
Queen of the quips
“I used to tremble from nerves so badly that the only way I could hold my head steady was to lower my chin practically to my chest and look up at Bogie. That was the beginning of ‘The Look’.”
“I am not a has-been. I am a will be.”
“Imagination is the highest kite you can fly.”
“I never believed marriage was a lasting institution… I thought that to be married for five years was to be married forever.”
“A man’s illness is his private territory and, no matter how much he loves you and how close you are, you stay an outsider. You are healthy.”
“No, I don’t like [the term] legend. I mean, I don’t like the category. And to begin with, to me, a legend is something that is not on the Earth, that is dead.”
“I don’t sit around thinking that I’d like to have another husband – only another man would make me think that way.”
“Generally, women are better than men – they have more character. I prefer men for some things, obviously, but women have a greater sense of honour and are more willing to take a chance with their lives.”
“I remember my oldest son, Steve, saying to me once: ‘I don’t ever remember seeing you with an apron on.’ And I thought, ‘That’s right, honey, you did not.’ That was his concept of what a mother should be.”
“Actors today go into TV, which I don’t consider has a lot to do with acting. They only think of stardom. If you photograph well, that’s enough. I have a terrible time distinguishing one from another. Girls wear their hair the same, and are much too anorexic-looking.”
