Bette Davis was a strong-willed, independent personality and a unique, powerful star with large eyes, clipped New England diction, and distinctive mannerisms--including extravagant cigarette smoking--that engendered frequent imitation. She made some 100 films, for which she received 10 Academy Award nominations, and twice won the Best Actress trophy.

Davis' parents divorced when she was seven and she was raised by her mother, who encouraged her interest in acting by taking her to New York in 1928. Rejected for Eva Le Gallienne's acting classes, Davis joined a stock company in Rochester, NY,