Bette Davis her in the role of Margo Channing in "All About Eve". The First Day of Issue celebration took place September 18, 2008, at Boston University, which houses an extensive Davis archive. Featured speakers included her son Michael Merrill and Lauren Bacall. In 1997, the executors of her estate, Merrill and Kathryn Sermak, her former assistant, established The Bette Davis Foundation, which awards college scholarships to promising actors and actresses. Bette Davis became the first person to earn five consecutive Academy Award nominations for acting, all in the Best Actress category (1938-1942). Her record has only been matched by one other
B. D. Hyman B. D. Hyman Barbara Davis Hyman (née Sherry; born May 1, 1947) is an American author and pastor. She is the daughter of Bette Davis. Born in Santa Ana, California, she is the daughter of film star Bette Davis and artist William Grant Sherry and was adopted in 1950 by Davis's fourth husband, Gary Merrill. She took back her surname Sherry upon turning 16 years old, claiming that she wished to distance herself from Merrill. She appeared briefly (uncredited) as an infant in her mother's film "Payment on Demand" (1951). Under the screen name B. D. Merrill, she played a