Books like Bette Davis by Barbara Leaming

A biography of the renowned movie actress whose film career spanned more than fifty years.

Bette Davis recounts her illustrious career, from contract days at Warner Bros. and meeting Ronald Reagan, to a life‑changing stroke, mastectomy, and triumphant return to the screen, while reflecting on family and Hollywood legends.

Bette Davis, a defining Hollywood star of the golden age, battled Warner Bros, earned seven Oscar nominations and left an indelible mark on film history as a relentless, fiercely independent performer.

Biography of Bette Davis; Several Photographs.

Autobiography of Lauren Bacall, tracing her journey from a child’s dream of theatre to a legendary Hollywood career, with candid reflections on her triumphs and vulnerabilities.

George Mair tells how Bette, at twenty, went from a pineapple factory worker in Hawaii to a role in the Broadway hit Fiddler on the Roof in less than a year. Bette blossomed into the Divine Miss M, the diva once described as one of the "raunchiest and funniest live acts going." Her movies range from the portrayal of the doomed Janis Joplinesque character in The Rose to comedies like Down and Out in Beverly Hills and Ruthless People. Her many hit singles include The Rose, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Wind Beneath My Wings, and From a Distance. But there is another Bette Midler out of the spotlight: insecure, uncertain, vulnerable, often overweight, never at ease with herself, and frightened of relationships with men and money. Bette examines the continuing appeal and loyalty between the star and a vast audience of gay men. And, finally, it describes the great joy she's found in her unlikely marriage to Martin von Haselberg, a semi-mysterious German performance artist.

An intimate biography by Bette Davis’s former personal assistant, revealing the actress’s late-career renaissance and the public betrayal that nearly ruined her reputation.