Hello, my gorgeous fans! Today is a momentous occasion: The 104th Birthday of Bette Davis! I was thinking about this recently, and the people who run showbiz these days just don't have the imagination and genius that they once did. Look at the women of the past that we still talk about: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, etc. Most of the women I just listed did not possess typical beauty, but what they did possess was talent, presence, and just raw electricity. And not just the leading ladies were like this. Look at supporting players like Eve Arden, Angela Lansbury (in her early days she was always second fiddle), Thelma Ritter, etc. They are so memorable in all the films they're in. These days we have...who? Keira Knightly?
So, Bette Davis. I just want to wish her an enormous happy birthday, wherever she may be. She has inspired me more than she, or anyone will ever know. From legendary performances in movies like Jezebel, Now Voyager (which is just the best), Dark Victory, The Letter, All About Eve, etc, to her less well known, but fabulous, performances in All This and Heaven Too, Watch on the Rhine, and The Sisters, to her often parodied late career in movies like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Nanny, Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, and A Catered Affair, I LOVE IT ALL! My one regret is that Bette Davis, unlike actresses like Meryl Steep, or Diane Keaton, or even Katharine Hepburn, was not allowed to age gracefully in film. Back then they didn't know what to do with women of a certain age in film, when I believe that's when women can became their most complex and delicious. I always wish Bette had been allowed to age with grace in film, BUT, that doesn't take away from the fact that she was still fabulous in those later movies. She paved the way for so many great actresses. Happy Birthday Bette!!!
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