She was elected as first female president of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in October 1941. She resigned less then two months later, publicly declaring herself too busy to fulfill her duties as president while angrily protesting in private that the Academy had wanted her to serve as a mere figurehead.
She was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of her outstanding contribution to film culture.
She was of English, French, and Welsh descent.
She was voted the 10th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
She was voted the 25th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine.
The Hudson house seen in 1962 horror classic "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?" (starring Bette Davis & Joan Crawford) still stands in the upscale Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. And it still looks very much like it did in the movie. You'll find it at 172 N. McCadden Place, between Beverly Blvd and west 1st Street, about two miles east of Farmers Market.
The Kim Carnes recording of the song, "Bette Davis Eyes" (written by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974), spent nine non-consecutive weeks on top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was Billboard's number one single of 1981. The single also peaked at number twenty-six on the dance charts. The song won the Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The song was also a number one hit in 31 countries, including Germany, Australia, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Japan, and Brazil, but it achieved more moderate success in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number ten. The music video was directed by Russell Mulcahy.
The United States Postal Service honored Bette Davis with a commemorative postage stamp in 2008, marking the 100th anniversary of her birth. The stamp features an image of her in the role of Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950).
Was close friends with Greer Garson, Ginger Rogers, George Brent, Henry Fonda, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan, Claude Rains, Olivia de Havilland and Gladys Cooper.
Was first offered the role of Luke's mother in Cool Hand Luke (1967), but refused the bit part. Jo Van Fleet accepted the role.
Was named #2 on The Greatest Screen Legends actress list by the American Film Institute.
Was one of two actresses (with Faye Dunaway) to have two villainous roles ranked in the American Film Institute's 100 Years of The Greatest Heroes and Villains, as Regina Giddens in The Little Foxes (1941) at #43 and as Baby Jane Hudson in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) at #44.
Was originally offered the role of Sandra Kovak, the hot-tempered talented pianist, in The Great Lie (1941). However Davis declined, instead giving the part to her good friend Mary Astor in order to take on the less showier role of Maggie Patterson as she knew that it would make Astor, whose career had not fully recovered due to the transition from silent films to "talkies", a huge star. Davis was right, as Astor went on to win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance.
Was originally sought for the part of "Shirley Drake" in Career (1959).
When Bette learned that her new brother-in-law was a recovering alcoholic, she sent the couple a dozen cases of liquor for a wedding present.
When she died in 1989, she reportedly left an estate valued between $600,000 and $1 million, consisting mainly of a condominium apartment she owned in West Hollywood. 50% of her estate went to her son, Michael Merrill, and the remaining 50% went to her secretary and companion, Kathryn Sermack. Her daughter, Barbara Merrill aka B.D. Hyman, was left nothing due to her lurid book about life with her mother. During her long life, she spent the majority of her wealth supporting her mother, three children, and four husbands.
When she died, her false eyelashes were auctioned off, fetching a price of $600. Previously, she had said that her biggest secret was brown mascara.
When she first came to Hollywood as a contract player, Universal Pictures wanted to change her name to Bettina Dawes. She informed the studio that she refused to go through life with a name that sounded like "Between the Drawers".
While filming Death on the Nile (1978), aboard ship, no one was allowed his or her own dressing room, so she shared a dressing room with Angela Lansbury & Maggie Smith.
While she was the star pupil at John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School in New York, another of her classmates was sent home because she was "too shy". It was predicted that this girl would never make it as an actress. The girl was Lucille Ball.