Bacall, Lauren

Bacall, Lauren
orig. Betty Joan Perske

born Sept. 6, 1924, New York, N.Y., U.S.

U.S. actress.

She worked as a model while seeking Broadway roles; her photograph on a magazine cover led to her casting in the film To Have and Have Not (1944) with Humphrey Bogart, whom she soon married. An instant success, she made three more films with Bogart: The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948). She also appeared in such memorable films as How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and Murder on the Orient Express (1974). On Broadway she won Tony Awards for her performances in Applause (1970), and Woman of the Year (1981).

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▪ American actress
original name  Betty Joan Perske  
born September 16, 1924, New York, New York, U.S.

      American motion-picture and stage actress known for her portrayals of provocative women who hid their soft core underneath a layer of hard-edged pragmatism.

  Bacall started modeling in 1941 and supplemented her income with jobs as a theatre usher and as a hostess at the Stage Door Canteen, which kept her next to the Broadway theatre scene that she loved. In 1942 she appeared as an ingénue in the George S. Kaufman (Kaufman, George S.)-directed Franklin Street, but the play closed before reaching New York. Bacall's photo on the cover of Harper's Bazaar in 1943 caught the attention of the wife of film director Howard Hawks. Cast in Hawks's To Have and Have Not (1944) as the leggy sardonic beauty who gives Humphrey Bogart (Bogart, Humphrey) a famous lesson in whistling, the 19-year-old Bacall was an overnight sensation. Nervous throughout the shooting, Bacall kept her head low to keep it from shaking; this, combined with her bedroom eyes and husky voice, resulted in a sultry aura that was touted in promotional campaigns as “The Look.” She and Bogart fell in love during the filming and were married in 1945; they subsequently costarred in the successful thrillers The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948). Bacall's other successful films include Young Man with a Horn (1950), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), and Designing Woman (1957).

      After Bogart's death in 1957, Bacall worked sporadically, appearing in one Broadway flop (Goodbye Charlie, 1959) and one hit (Cactus Flower, 1965) and in such films as Sex and the Single Girl (1964) and Harper (1966). In 1961 she married actor Jason Robards (Robards, Jason) (divorced 1969). Bacall made a stunning comeback in the Broadway musical Applause (1970), for which she won a Tony Award as best actress. Her career revitalized, she went on to essay memorable roles in such films as Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Shootist (1976), and The Fan (1981). She returned to Broadway in 1981 and won a second Tony Award for Woman of the Year.

      Bacall's performances of the 1990s, most of which capitalized on her brash-but-endearing personality, are among her most respected. She received good notices for supporting roles in Misery (1990), The Portrait (1993; made for television), My Fellow Americans (1996), and Diamonds (1999). For her performance in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), Bacall received her first Academy Award nomination, for best supporting actress. Her later films include Dogville (2003) and Birth (2004), both of which also featured Nicole Kidman (Kidman, Nicole), and The Walker (2007). In 1999 she scored another Broadway triumph in a revival of Noël Coward's Waiting in the Wings. Bacall wrote three autobiographies—By Myself (1978), Now (1994), and And Then Some (2005).

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • BACALL, LAUREN — (Betty Joan Perske; 1924– ), U.S. actress. Born in New York, Bacall studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and then turned to modeling. She was featured on the cover of Harper s Bazaar and within one month had a Hollywood contract. At… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • BACALL, Lauren — (1924– )    Although Lauren Bacall played on Broadway at a very early age, it was not until she appeared on the March 1943 cover of Harper’s Bazaar that she got her break. Howard Hawks’s wife, Nancy, pointed Bacall out to her husband and the… …   Westerns in Cinema

  • Bacall, Lauren — (1924 )    Born Betty Joan Perske in New York city, Lauren Bacall trained as an actor at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and had a number of acting and modeling roles before she appeared on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar in March 1943 and was …   Historical Dictionary of the Roosevelt–Truman Era

  • Bacall, Lauren — ► (n. 1924) Actriz de cine estadounidense. Su verdadero nombre es Betty Joan Perske. Estudió periodismo y teatro en Nueva York. Junto a su marido, el también actor Humprey Bogart, interpretó títulos como Tener y no tener (1945), El sueño eterno… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Bacall, Lauren — pseud. di Perske, Betty Jean …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

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  • Lauren Bacall — (1944) Lauren Bacall (* 16. September 1924 in New York City, New York als Betty Joan Perske) ist eine US amerikanische Schauspielerin. Sie zählt zu den wenigen noch lebenden Leinwandlegenden der „goldenen Ära“ Hollywoods, die w …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lauren Bacall — Nombre real Betty Joan Perske Nacimiento 16 de septiembre de 1924 (87 años) …   Wikipedia Español

  • Lauren Baccal — Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall dans Le Grand Sommeil (1946) Nom de naissance Betty Joan Perske …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bacall — Lauren Bacall, 1944 Lauren Bacall (* 16. September 1924 in New York City; eigentlich Betty Joan Weinstein Perske) ist eine US amerikanische Schauspielerin. Sie hat einen Stern auf dem Hollywood Walk of Fame. Inhaltsver …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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