Gary Merrill on July 28, 1950. That same day, he married Bette Davis, his co-star from "All About Eve", and adopted her daughter Barbara from a previous marriage. He and Davis adopted two more children, Margo and Michael, but they had a bitter divorce in 1960. Often politically active, he campaigned in 1958 to elect the Democrat, Edmund Sixtus Muskie, as governor of Maine. Merrill also took part in the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 to promote Black voter registration. In response to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam War policy, he unsuccessfully sought nomination to the Maine legislature as an
Bette Davis filmography manipulated by an obsessed fan. The film was one of the biggest hits of 1950, and she was again nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to Judy Holliday. Although Davis earned strong reviews for her performance in "The Star" (1952), her career waned throughout the remainder of the decade. Beginning in the 1960s, Davis received yet another revival in popularity. Although her appearance in "Pocketful of Miracles" (1961) was negatively received, she earned praise for her portrayal of the faded child star, Jane Hudson, in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962), which garnered her a final nomination for