This week I came across a reel on Instagram featuring the great Hollywood actress Lauren Bacall. In the video, Lauren was reflecting on the aging process and how ridiculous she found it to be that actresses were constantly seeking to defeat the aging process via various cosmetic procedures. Her opinion was that one should instead embrace the cycle of life and celebrate your age.
Circling back, last year I shared a few clips containing pearls of wisdom from the actress on social media. The wisdom she shared had a truly timeless quality. Her advice is still valuable in today’s world, which is somewhat remarkable. I have read both her autobiography and her follow-up book entitled ‘Now’ and there are countless videos on YouTube featuring Bacall being interviewed or giving speeches for anyone who wants to research more.
It is just over 100 years since Lauren Bacall came into this world. Christened Betty Joan Perske, she was born on September 16, 1924. It is also just over 10 years since she left this world, on 12 August 2014. Her path to recognition was not an easy one, she began her career in modeling (which she claims she was horrible at) and it was a photo spread that referred to her as an actress that led to her first acting role…opposite her future husband Humphrey Bogart in To Have And Have Not (1944). That movie catapulted her into stardom and etched out the image that transferred into popular culture at the time. Even the fashion industry was transfixed and transformed by her style. Incidentally, Warner Brothers pulled out all the stops to promote the movie and establish Bacall as a movie star, including having her visit the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. where she sat on a piano as Vice President Harry S Truman played it,
She and Bogart married in 1945 and they went on to have success together in The Big Sleep )1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948). Bacall stepped back from the limelight when she committed to being Mrs Humphrey Bogart. She and Bogart would go on to have two children.
Humphry Bogart died in 1957 at the age of 58 of esophageal cancer - due to a life spent chain smoking and drinking to excess. Bacall married actor Jason Robards in 1961 with whom she had one more child. Their marriage lasted eight years and the rest of her life was spent mostly alone.
Bacall like her idol, Bette Davis was one of the great Hollywood actresses of her time. You could also add Joan Crawford to that list but I had to separate Joan and Bette for obvious reasons.
She died leaving $26.6 million. She left $10,000 to her dog Sophie. $250, 000 each to her two grandsons, Calvin Robards and Sebastian Robards. $50.000 divided amongst her three loyal household staffers. The remainder of the $26.6 million was divided equally amongst her three children, Leslie Bogart, Sam Robards, and Steven Humphrey Bogart.
But more than money, more than movies, she left us so many moments caught on camera with world-class interviewers. The wisdom she shared, the truth she told, and the self-effacing and honest communication she gifted us with are timeless gems we can return to again and again as we celebrate the life and legacy of…Lauren Bacall.
Such elegance...thanks for posting, Lee.