Bette Davis is one of the most well known film stars of the 20th century. With multiple prestigious awards and accolades, Bette Davis has the material to back up her accomplishments. However, unlike other female stars, Davis’ path to stardom was possible through her praise, rather than her actions. Bette Davis has an extraordinary career, especially in the 1930’s. With multiple box office successes for her Warner Bros films, she was considered the greatest living actress at the time. Films such as All About Eve went on to make millions, and receive heavy praise by the Oscars with several wins and nominations. With all this praise and approval, was Davis stardom solely based on her talent?
Because Davis became so popular from her movie roles, it’s highly debated how Davis reached star status. Unlike most movie stars, Davis wasn’t known for doing any publicity stunts or any advertising for herself. She never did anything big outside of her acting roles, and isn’t known for anything significant outside of acting. However, her roles could be key in understanding how she reached stardom. One of the characteristics of stardom is being able to embody a desire the general public has. With Davis, the closest aspect of her doing this is the roles she took – particularly with how she kept a major lie in her films. One of the things Davis was known for in her roles was how she was able to keep a lie. In many ways, these lies became an aesthetic to her films, and it resulted in a fandom for how notorious her roles are. While her being able to keep a lie became a standard for her, another characteristic of Davis she was known for was her mannerisms. Especially with a British audience, Davis was able to captivate an audience just off this feature. Ultimately, these two features are believed to be her embodying people’s desires.
With her acting around the same time as both Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe, it’s interesting to see how different these three women achieved star status. While both Dietrich and Monroe used physical features, Davis didn’t have to subject herself to the male gaze the way the other two did. Also, Davis didn’t have aesthetics involving men the way the other two did. With Monroe needing to belittle herself by playing the “dumb blonde” role, Monroe had to do more than just showcase her talent to be recognized. Similarly, Dietrich had to play the “femme fatale” roles in order for her to be recognized for her talents. With Davis, she didn’t have to play any special type of role. While the theme surrounding a lie was what she was known for, it ultimately wasn’t an aspect of her overall image. Davis was able to play different types of roles and explore her acting potential without losing success. Because of this, Davis was able to diversify her roles, allowing people to witness her true talent and be recognized for it.
Ultimately, what makes Bette Davis extraordinary is that her talent was the primary reason for her stardom. As one of the earliest known Hollywood stars, she became an acting standard in Hollywood. She was able to showcase that talent alone could be enough to reach colossal success. Even today, we witness stars such Meryl Streep be recognized solely for her talents, rather than needing to do big things outside their acting roles. Davis was able to reach her potential as an actress, and yet become one of the most recognizable stars of the 20th century.