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 and Joan: The Divine Feud Bette Davis, notorious for refusing to bow to the studio bosses, were two of the biggest Hollywood stars of their time. Their rivalry exploded during their work together on the horror film "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" and became a public feud that lasted the rest of their lives. Based on interviews the author conducted with both actresses and more than a decade of research, the book shows the hard-drinking, hard-fighting, and fading stars at their best and worst. The Crawford-Davis rivalry is the inspiration for the 2017 Ryan Murphy TV series "Feud." Crawford is played by Jessica Lange