One of the most iconic actresses of Hollywood, Lauren Bacall died at her home in New York on Tuesday after she suffered from a massive stroke. The 89-year-old actress was born in New York City as Betty Joan Perske to a middle-class Jewish couple. Her parents got separated when she was just five years old.
As a young girl, she always dreamed of becoming an actress and worked towards it by joining the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York soon after finishing her school. She initially started her career as a model. Thanks to her determination and immense natural beauty, she got the opportunity to appear on the cover of the magazine Harper’s Bazaar. The wife of noted film director Howard Hawks, spotted her and the rest as they say is history.
She started her career in the industry as a 19-year-old opposite to none other than the legendary Humphrey Bogart in a Howard Hawks movie called To have and have not. This was the beginning of one of the most beautiful love stories in Hollywood as the two leading actors fell in love and married each other just a year later even though there was a 25 year age gap between them. The two worked together in a number of hit movies like The Big Sleep, The Dark Passage, Key Largo among many others.
She was at the peak of her career when her husband Bogart died in his sleep following a long battle with throat cancer. She was shattered at being a widow at a young age of 31, but she continued to work in movies and entertained her fans. Although she gave a lot of brilliant performances, the Academy Award remained elusive. She was nominated for the Oscars once as a supporting actress for her role in the movie The Mirror has Two Faces. She however, received a Golden Globe for that role. Bacall was given an honorary Academy Award for her contribution to cinema during its golden period.
Bacall’s death comes just a day after Hollywood lost Robin Williams. Lauren Bacall is a person who will be fondly remembered by everyone associated with the world of motion pictures.