Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Remembering Lauren Bacall


I would be remiss at the beginning of this post if I didn't mention Robin Williams.  I am not doing a post on him because, frankly, it is too painful for me to speak about and I did a couple of quick things on Facebook yesterday.  Robin Williams was a genius and I am certain that he has found his peace and I pray that his family take comfort in the outpouring of love directed his and their way.

******

“I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that.”   Lauren Bacall, who actually aged....

When my daughter came and told me that Lauren Bacall had died last evening, it felt like another blow, though it was anything but unexpected.  She was 89 after all.

She was a 19 year old Betty Perske when she was discovered by Howard Hawk's wife Slim, who saw this picture on Harper's Bazaar and rightly saw that this was a person who needed to be seen on a bigger screen:




He cast her opposite Humphrey Bogart in To Have or Have Not and the rest, as they say, was history:


Betty Bacall - lauren-bacall Photo


I have loved Bogey and Bacall since I was a child - together in movies, apart in movies, if there was an old movie on TV starring one or both of them, I was watching it.

And while she is rightly remembered for the four memorable movies she made with her husband, I admit to loving her equally as much in The Shootist opposite John Wayne and Designing Woman with Gregory Peck.

After Bogey's death a marriage with Jason Robards proved ill-fated and in many interviews from the 1970s onwards, she lamented her ability to find love like she had experienced with Bogey.


And could she ever tell a story!

Her autobiography, Bacall by Myself is a great read - I devoured it as a teenager.


By Myself


And I defy anyone to tell me that this lady didn't know how to turn herself out:





Betty Bacall was one of the last of her era - that golden period of movies where giants like Bogey and Tracy and Hepburn and Gable and Peck and Leigh and Olivier marched across our movie screens unsullied by the voracious 24 hour gossip cycle that exists today.  She had few contemporaries left - Olivia de Havilland and Kirk Douglas spring to my mind - and I suspect she was not sad to leave.

I imagine her being stopped by St. Peter at the pearly gates yesterday.

"Say it," he'd say.

"Oh come on," would be the reply.  "I'm in a hurry.  I've got someone to meet, someone I haven't seen for more than 50 years."

"Pretty please,"

"If it will shut you up..."

"It will.  And you'll find him in the first bar at the right as soon as you get through the gates.  He's the one wearing the white dinner jacket."

"Okay,"  deep breath.  "You know how to whistle don't you, St. Peter?  You just put your lips together and blow."

"Ah, they don't make them like that anymore...."

Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Key Largo

So long Lauren Bacall - you were a class act.





26 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well that comment is a tough one to follow...

    But I am still torn up about Robin Willisms bc he was part of my childhood and just one of those figures who had the talent of spreading genuine joy. I didn't grow up with Bacall so to be fair it doesn't have the same impact for me. But RIP to both...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha!

      I hear you Naomi - I find Robin Williams death - very painful and I am without words to articulate my feelings in a way that would do him justice. robin was pure light to me, but I guess there are always eclipses...

      Delete
  3. Hi Wendy, a very nice post, thanks. I can understand why you can't write about RW - it's just too too sad. He must have known how loved he was - everyone I've heard talk about him on tv (that knew him in real life) speaks so warmly of him - and yet that wasn't enough to keep back the Black Dog.

    As for Lauren Bacall, I certainly hope that the scene at the Pearly Gates has happened just as you described!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Patricia - it makes me feel all dark myself to imagine his darkness....

      Delete
  4. Hi Wendy... Oh I can't get over Rodin Williams death. I discovered him during my teen ages... The first movie I saw was the Dead Poet Society... It was a moving movie. I don't know well Lauren Bacall... My mother in law was a fan of actress such as her... but we didn't knew each other for long enough so we could share this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, I was/still stuck on RW when I heard about Lauren Bacall. As I get older and encounter more and more death, I must say, I am starting to acclimate and it doesn't seem as scary even though it is sometimes so sad. We travelled to see my husband's uncle last weekend who was diagnosed with ALS earlier this year, and he shared with us the news from his latest dr. appt. -- that eventually (sooner rather than later) his throat muscles will stop working and he will not be able to eat, and his decision to forego a feeding tube -- "I am 84 years old and have had a wonderful life." He is facing death with so much grace.

    Anyway, my point, I guess, is that death is not so sad at the end of a long life, especially if it has been a good one. I don't know much about LB, but if her life was not good, at least it was interesting and that counts for a lot too.

    But RW's death is a complete heartbreak. That he could bring so much laughter and joy and goodwill to so many people and die in depression is a tragedy. Hopefully this will bring some awareness to address mental illness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree - I expected Lauren to go. But Robin broke my heart...

      Delete
  6. She was an elegant woman and the world has lost a great lady....
    The tragic death of Robin Williams gives us all a wake up call about depression and mental illness and the stigma associated with it. It is a disease just like any other yet it has been swept under the carpet by many as the understanding is clouded by our fears and ignorance of the problem.
    He must have suffered terribly to have resorted to this act...
    He made us laugh and cry despite his great pain. It just goes to show what a great actor he was....

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lauren Bacall was so much her own woman that she has my respect. But also to hear about a movie star who has simply died of old age is refreshing if I may resort to such a tactless word.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  9. She was a class act all the way. Robin's talent was amazing and his light will be sadly missed. Those tormented with depression truly suffer. I'm sorry he couldn't get the help he needed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me to Jennifer. The workings of our brains are still so mysterious.... I have been thinking of you lately and hoping all is well.

      Delete
  10. Well done Wendy and as I was saying elsewhere Bogie & Becall never felt like they were 25 years apart. Even at a young age she carried herself with such alluring composure which few actresses ever attain even much later in life. On screen or off, she always seemed like one of those gals who is most at ease around older accomplished men and she was after all, along with Judy Garland, one of the original Rat Pack with Bogie, Frank, et al.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am pretty sure she would have been your kind of gal!!!! Mine, too!

      Delete
  11. Beautifully written, I just did one on her too. She was a class act. She was beautiful and talented and loved her family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Loved yours Jody! I think she would be a swell dame to have a scotch with!

      Delete
    2. Also! you have a lorra lorra (sorry did you get Cilla where you live ) history in your family! Back to 1880 and Scottish, you would be royalty in NZ

      Delete
  12. Bacall marks the end of an era in Hollywood. I've had to pull away from the news about Robin Williams. So very very sad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too, Jen. I am so sad as well and it is bordering on ghoulish now.

      Delete
  13. A class act, exactly - and a bit of a madam as well! I love the last photo.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I loved her autobiography, too; what a woman! I'll bet she looked great even getting up in the morning without any Hollywood makeup..

    Poor dear Robin; we cannot know his pain.

    ReplyDelete

Kindness is a virtue...