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Lauren Bacall Timeline

Born as Betty Joan Perske in New York City to Jewish immigrants William Perske and Natalie Weinstein-Bacal. Her parents divorce. Bacall later refers to her father as "that bastard" and says: "He wasn't a wonderful man." She makes her Broadway debut in Johnny Two by Four using the stage name Betty Bacall. The name Bacall is adopted from her mother's maiden name, Bacal. Receives work as a regular fashion model for Harper’s Bazaar. After Bacall is featured on the cover of Harper's Bazaar, the wife of director Howard Hawks notices her and tells Howard about her. Stars in To Have and Have Not with Humphrey Bogart. Her performance in this film earns her the nickname, "The Look," because of her signature pose in which she turns her head down and looks up in a knowing way. Bacall makes headlines when she visits the National Press Club in Washington D.C. and, as a publicity stunt, sits on Vice President Harry S. Truman's piano while he plays. The photos caused a scandal. Truman's wife Bess was upset. Marries Bogart at Malabar Farm in Mansfield, Ohio. Stars in The Big Sleep with Bogart. Stars in Key Largo with Bogart and Lionel Barrymore. Gives birth to son Stephen Humphrey Bogart. He is named for Bogart's character Steve in To Have and Have Not. Gives birth to daughter Leslie Howard Bogart, named after actor friend Leslie Howard. Stars in How to Marry a Millionaire. Bogart begins to notice strange symptoms, including difficulty swallowing, frequent cough, and weight loss of approximately 30 pounds. He experiences these symptoms for six months before seeing a doctor. Stars in Blood Alley with John Wayne. Bogart finally sees a doctor and is diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He undergoes a resection of the esophageal tumor and removal of adjacent lymph nodes. He also receives chemotherapy. Bogart recovers and regains some of the 30 pounds he had lost, but after six months he has a recurrence. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy visit Bogart. Hepburn later describes what happened: "Spence patted him on the shoulder and said, 'Goodnight, Bogie.' Bogie turned his eyes to Spence very quietly and with a sweet smile covered Spence's hand with his own and said, 'Goodbye, Spence.' Spence's heart stood still. He understood." Bogart dies at his home in Holmby Hills, California after falling into a coma. His last words are: "I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis." Bacall marries actor Jason Robards. Stars in Sex and the Single Girl. Bacall and Robards divorce reportedly due to Robards' problem with alcohol. Wins the Tony award for her role in Applause! Stars in Murder on the Orient Express. Stars in The Shootist with John Wayne. Wayne is dying of cancer at the time of filming. Publishes an autobiography, Lauren Bacall: By Myself. Wins the National Book Award for Lauren Bacall: By Myself. Living in a building called The Dakota in New York City, Bacall hears what she thinks is a car backfiring, but turns out to be the gunshot that kills her neighbor John Lennon. Is given the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Career Achievement. Publishes a second autobiography, entitled Now. Wins a Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actress for The Mirror Has Two Faces. People magazine names her one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. The American Film Institute names Bacall one of the 25 most significant movie stars in history. Tells Time Magazine: "When you talk about a great actor, you're not talking about Tom Cruise. His whole behavior is so shocking. It's inappropriate and vulgar and absolutely unacceptable to use your private life to sell anything commercially, but, I think it's kind of a sickness." She presents a film montage about film noir at the 78th Annual Academy Awards. She has trouble reading the teleprompter, which leads to much speculation about her health. It is later discovered that the teleprompter malfunctioned and was moving too fast for her to read.