Friday, April 5, 2013

Popeye The Magnificent




BETTE DAVIS
April 5, 1908 - October 6, 1989


"Today, everyone is a 'star'... In my day, we earned that recognition." -- Bette Davis

"She did it the hard way." -- Epitaph on Bette Davis' tombstone

8 comments:

  1. yes, so much harder for them to achieve fame in that time, before the arrival of social media. But then, on the other hand, who will be remembered most in 20 years time? I suspect these classic stars will, while the Kardashians of the world will be remembered with a "who?"

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  2. She certainly "did it the hard way", including singing...

    A magnificent star! And constant source of inspiration (of course). Jx

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  3. That reminds me, I need to watch "The Star" again with Bette driving drunk through Beverly Hills giving a home-by-home description to her Oscar sitting on the dashboard. A scene worthy of genius!

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  4. As if we needed more evidence that "Hollywood Palace" was the greatest show in the history of television.

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  5. " BETTE DAVIS
    April 6, 1908 - October 6, 1989".....?????

    Her birthday is April 5th!

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    1. Of course it is -- and I knew it was today, I just clearly don't know what day today is! Thanks for pointing that out -- I had October 6 on the brain as I was typing.

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  6. Back in 1974, when in my 20's, I was fortunate enough to have met a long-time friend of Miss Davis. He gave me her address, I wrote to her what she referred to, in her hand written response back, a "most flattering letter" and thanked me for it. Just a few months later, we met when she was in Washington, DC, to attend the National Booksellers Convention to promote "Mother Goddam". After that, we spoke on the phone a couple of times and I received another correspondenc from her.
    Difficult to believe that today is her 105th birthday and in a few short months I will be the same age she was when I met her.

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    1. Isn't it amazing that stars of the stature of Bette Davis would even contemplate corresponding with their fans in a personal way? Today, I wonder if any contemporary celebrities even read their fan mail, let alone reach out to their fans. I can't say I blame them, as the loony population seems to have increased thousand-fold since the good ol' days of autograph collecting.

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