Bette Davis Collection

Bette Davis
(1908 – 1989)

Bette Davis is one of the top Hollywood actresses of all time.  During her career Bette Davis received 10 nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won twice ("Dangerous" 1935 and "Jezebel" 1938).  She was known for playing unlikable characters and appeared in everything from drama to comedy. 

In 1936, her pay was suspended from Warner Brothers because she would not accept a role she deemed unworthy of her talent.  Bette Davis tried to sue the production company to release her from her contract so that she could find work else where.  She lost, but Warner Brothers began using her in films again beginning with Jezebel for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress. 

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bette Davis worked to support the war effort by selling War Bonds.  She also crossed the color barrier by performing for African-American WWII troops alongside Hattie McDaniel and Lena Horne.  She co-created the Hollywood Canteen, a nightclub free for servicemen traveling through Los Angeles.  The biggest names in Hollywood including Jack Benny, Alan Ladd, Ronald Reagan, Cary Grant, The Andrew Sisters, Bergen and McCarthy, Mel Blanc, Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Durante, Errol Fylnn, Judy Garland, Phil Harris and Alice Faye, Kay Kyser, Francis Langford, Groucho Marx, Dick Powell, Edward G. Robinson, Ginger Rogers, Roy Rogers, Dinah Shore, Red Skelton, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Stanwyck, Martha Tilton, Orson Welles, John Wayne, Rudy Vallee and many more all volunteered at the Hollywood Canteen.  Of her creation of the Hollywood Canteen, Bette Davis said, "There are few accomplishments in my life that I am sincerely proud of. The Hollywood Canteen is one of them."

Bette Davis is also known for her rivalry with actress Joan Crawford of whom she said "She has slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie."  In 1962, the two rivals starred together in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"

This collection includes all known guest appearances of Bette Davis in old time radio.  Notable appearances include her reprisal of her roles in All About Eve, Mr. Skeffington on Lux Radio Theater and Jezebel on Academy Award Theater.  Also included in this collection is a very rare recording of the dedication ceremony of the Hollywood Canteen.