Bette Davis filmography One of Davis' biggest successes at Warner Brothers was "Now, Voyager" (1942), which earned her another Academy Award nomination. Her later films for the studio, including "Winter Meeting" (1948) and "Beyond the Forest" (1949), failed at the box office. She turned down leading roles in "Mildred Pierce" and "Possessed" - both films eventually went to Joan Crawford. As her popularity waned, Warner Brothers dropped her contract in 1949, and from thereafter on, she occupied a freelance career. Davis received a career revival in "All About Eve" (1950) for 20th Century-Fox. She played an aging Broadway star, Margo Channing, who is
Bette Davis known from early childhood as "Bette", was born on April 5, 1908, in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of Harlow Morrell Davis (1885 - 1938), a law student from Augusta, Maine, and subsequently a patent attorney, and Ruth Augusta (née Favór; 1885 - 1961), from Tyngsboro, Massachusetts. Bette's younger sister was Barbara Harriet. In 1915, Davis' parents separated, and Bette attended a spartan boarding school called Crestalban in Lanesborough in the Berkshires. In 1921, Ruth Davis moved to New York City with her daughters, where she worked as a portrait photographer. Betty later changed the spelling of her name to "Bette"