Lauren Bacall "Cactus Flower" (1965), "Applause" (1970), and "Woman of the Year" (1981). She won Tony Awards for her performances in the latter two. "Applause" was a musical version of the film "All About Eve", in which Bette Davis had starred as stage diva Margo Channing. According to Bacall's autobiography, she and a girlfriend won an opportunity in 1940 to meet her idol Bette Davis at Davis' hotel. Years later, Davis visited Bacall backstage to congratulate her on her performance in "Applause". Davis told Bacall, "You're the only one who could have played the part." The few films Bacall made during this
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"