What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962 film) What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962 film) What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a 1962 American psychological thriller–horror film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, about an aging former actress who holds her paraplegic ex-movie star sister captive in an old Hollywood mansion. The screenplay by Lukas Heller is based on the novel "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" by Henry Farrell. Upon the film's release, it was met with widespread critical and box office acclaim and was later nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Best Costume Design, Black and
Bette Davis performer, Greer Garson, who also earned five consecutive nominations in the Best Actress category (1941-1945), including three years when both these actresses were nominated. In 1962, Bette Davis became the first person to secure 10 Academy Award nominations for acting. Since then only three people have surpassed this figure, Meryl Streep (with 21 nominations and three wins), Katharine Hepburn (12 nominations and four wins), and Jack Nicholson (12 nominations and three wins) with Laurence Olivier matching the number (10 nominations, 1 award). Steven Spielberg purchased Davis' Oscars for "Dangerous" (1935) and "Jezebel" (1938), when they were offered for auction for