Lauren Bacall Biography: Lauren Bacall, whose birth name was Betty Joan Perske, was born in New York, New York, on September 16, 1924, and passed away on August 12, 2014. She is a well-known American actress for portraying provocative women who concealed their sensitivity beneath a veneer of hard-edged realism. She debuted as the leading lady in the 1944 Humphrey Bogart film “To Have And Have Not” and continued in the film noir genre with roles in “The Big Sleep” (1946), “Dark Passage” (1947), and “Key Largo” (1948), as well as a comedienne in “How to Marry a Millionaire” (1953) with Marilyn Monroe and “Designing Woman” (1957) with Gregory Peck.
Lauren Bacall Birthday
Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske on September 16, 1924, to Natalie Bacall and William Perske in the Bronx, New York, U.S.A. Her alcoholic father abandoned the family when Bacall was six years old. Soon after her birth, her family relocated to Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. In Tarrytown, New York, she attended The Highland Manor Boarding School for Girls, a private boarding school for girls. She then attended Manhattan’s Julia Richman High School. Her parents separated when she was a child. After that, she stopped seeing her father and developed an intimate relationship with her mother, who later wed Lee Goldberg. Her fixation with theatre led her to work as an usher at St. James Theatre. She also worked as a model for fashion. As a model, she was featured on the cover of “Harper’s Bazaar” in 1942, whereupon Nancy Hawkes, the wife of renowned director Howard Hawks, encouraged her to take a screen audition for “To Have and Have Not.” Hawks took a keen interest in Bacall and instructed her in correct diction. Additionally, she persuaded her to assume the name Lauren to conceal her Jewish heritage.
Bacall enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1941, where she attended classes with Kirk Douglas. She was crowned Miss Greenwich Village in 1942. Bacall starred alongside Humphrey Bogart in the 1944 film “To Have and Have Not” at the age of 19. On the set of this film, she debuted her signature gesture of pressing her chin against her bosom, which she maintained throughout her career. Diana Vreeland discovered her after meeting her through Nicholas de Gunzburg and persuaded her to model for “Harper’s Bazaar.” Soon after the triumph of “To Have and Have Not,” she co-starred with Charles Boyer in “Confidential Agent” in 1945. On February 10, 1945, while visiting the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., her agent Charlie Enfield asked her to perch on the piano being played by then-Vice President Harry S. Truman. Bacall’s graceful demeanour, cat-like movements, sparkling blue-green eyes, and light-brown blonde hair made her an instant success. In 1946, her stunning performance alongside Humphrey Bogart in Howard Hawks’ “The Big Sleep” cemented her position in Hollywood. By this time, Lauren was an iconic actress who was in high demand for femme fatale roles, which she played with ease. In 1947, she was cast opposite Humphrey Bogart in another blockbuster film “Dark Passage” in which she played the role of a mysterious San Francisco artist and garnered rave reviews for her performance. 1948’s suspense film “Key Largo” featured her opposite Bogart and Edward G. Robinson. She nearly outshone her co-stars with her outstanding performance. The 1950 drama film “Bright Leaf” starred her opposite Gary Cooper. The film was based on Foster Fitz-Simons’s 1948 novel of the same name. In the same year, she also starred in “Young Man with a Horn.” From 1951 to 1952, Bacall and Bogart co-starred in the action-adventure radio series “Bold Venture.”
From 1954 to 2010, she was engaged in many films like “Woman’s World,” “North West Frontier,” “The Fan,” “Tree of Hands,” “All I Want for Christmas,” “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,” “Wide Blue Yonder,” etc. She has lent her voice to a number of animated films, including “Madeline: Lost in Paris,” “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King,” and “Ernest & Celestine.” Her last film appearance was in the 2012 drama “The Forger,” also known as “Carmel-by-the-Sea.”
Lauren Bacall Net Worth, Height
| Name | Betty Joan Perske |
| Birth date | September 16, 1924 |
| Death date | August 12, 2014 (age 89) |
| Zodiac Sign | Virgo |
| Height | 5′ 7″ |
| Relationship Status | Divorced |
| Net Worth | $50 million |
Lauren Bacall Biography: 5 SURPRISE FACTS
She added an additional “L” to Bacall to prevent people from mispronouncing her surname as “Backle.”
She skipped classes in high school to sneak into movie theatres and view Bette Davis films, her idol.
She left her youngest son Sam Roberts ten thousand dollars in her will to care for her dog Sophie, a responsibility she designated to her youngest son.
After losing her job as a showroom model and dropping out of acting school due to a lack of funds, Bacall, as a teenager, obtained employment as a Broadway theatre usher.
She attended ballet classes as a child with the intention of becoming a dancer, but in adolescence she was attracted to acting.
