Lauren Bacall Collection

Lauren Bacall
(1924 – 2014)

Laurell Bacall got into show business as a teenager and became a sensation with her statuesque figure and deep, sultry voice.

Lauren Bacall was born as Betty Joan Persky in New York City. Her parents were Jewish Immigrants from Poland and Romania. When her parents divorce, she look her mother's maiden name and became Betty Becall. In radio Lauren Bacall appeared in Let's Playwright in 1941 under the name Betty Bacall before she was a Hollywood Starlet.

She made her acting debut at age 17 in 1942 after modeling in fashion.  She landed the cover of Harper's Bazaar and was discover by Howard Hawks. The director loved her sultry style and husky voice renamed her Lauren Bacall. She took a screen test for her debut film To Have and Have Not and was cast starring opposite of Humphrey Bogart.

Bacall and Bogart
On the set of "To Have and Have Not," Laurell Bacall met the much older and three time married Humphrey Bogart. She was 26 years his junior but the two started an affair two weeks after meeting. Humphrey Bogart was in a unhappy marriage with Mayo "Sluggy" Methot who's alcoholic antics which included once stabbing her husband wore thin on poor Bogey. Bacall and Bogart became a bankable Hollywood item and starred in a number of classic films together. They married in 1945 and had two children. Even though it was Humphrey Bogart 4th marriage, the two stayed married until his death in 1957.  After Humphrey Bogart death Lauren Bacall dated Frank Sinatra shortly and later married Jason Robards in 1961.

Bacall and Bogart starred together in the action adventure radio program Bold Venture. The show takes place on a boat in the Caribbean and featured Bogart as salty seadog Slate Shannon and Bacall as his sidekick sailor Duval.

In the 1950s Lauren Bacall became very selective in which films she would star and she turned down scripts that did not meet her fancy. During the McCarthy Era, she and Bogart took a stand against the Hollywood Blacklisting of perceived communists.  She created a group called Committee for the First Amendment and leant her name and voice to Hollywood Fight back speaking up against The House Un-American Activities Committee.

Lauren Bacall also made appearances on Command Performance, The Bing Crosby show, and many more.