Bette Davis: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Bette Davis built a screen persona out of theatrical discipline, New England stubbornness, and a refusal to be photographed prettily. This mix traces the stage teachers and silent-era models she drew from, the Warner Bros. craftsmen who shaped her best pictures, and the actresses who inherited her license to be unlikable.

The Kynda mix for Bette Davis

• Key Influence · Disraeli by George Arliss (1929). Arliss personally chose the unknown Davis as his leading lady in The Man Who Played God (1932) after Universal had dropped her, a decision she credited for the rest of her career. Disraeli, his Oscar-winning star vehicle, shows the technique she absorbed from him: stage-trained precision scaled for the camera, character over glamour, and the conviction that a performer could build a role from mannerism and voice rather than beauty..
• Influencia Obscura · Thirteen Women by Peg Entwistle (1932). Davis repeatedly said that seeing Entwistle onstage in Ibsen's The Wild Duck in Boston as a teenager was the moment she decided to become an actress — she reportedly mimicked every gesture afterward. Entwistle made only this one film before jumping from the Hollywoodland sign in 1932, a grim mirror of the career Davis went on to have. Thirteen Women is the sole surviving record of the performer who set her on the path.
• Local Roots · Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill (1956). Davis was a New England product — born in Lowell, raised around Boston, an usher and apprentice at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts before New York. O'Neill came out of the same regional theatrical ferment, the Provincetown Players on the Cape, and his portraits of corrosive family resentment and sharp-tongued Yankee women share the clipped, unsentimental register that Davis brought to Hollywood.
• Beyond the Medium · Lamentation by Martha Graham (1930). Davis studied dance with Martha Graham at the John Murray Anderson School in New York around 1929 and credited Graham with teaching her that the body is a controlled instrument — every movement deliberate, nothing wasted. Lamentation, a figure straining inside a tube of jersey, is pure Graham doctrine. The famous Davis walk, the flung arms, the cigarette as punctuation: all of it descends from that training.
• Peer · Mildred Pierce by Joan Crawford (1945). Crawford's arrival at Warner Bros. in 1943 set up the industry's most storied rivalry, and Mildred Pierce won her the Oscar on Davis's home lot. The two finally shared the screen in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), a film that converted their mutual antagonism into box office. No peer is more structurally bound to Davis's career, in competition and eventual collaboration.
• From the Canon · All About Eve by Bette Davis (1950). Mankiewicz's backstage comedy arrived when Davis's Warner contract had ended and her career looked finished; she replaced an injured Claudette Colbert on short notice. Margo Channing — aging, witty, terrified of being supplanted — let Davis play her own predicament, and the vocal rasp she developed during the shoot became permanent. The single performance that best explains both her method and her survival instinct.
• Key Collaborator · The Best Years of Our Lives by William Wyler (1946). Wyler directed Davis three times — Jezebel, which won her a second Oscar, The Letter and The Little Foxes — and the two had an intense personal relationship alongside the professional one. He curbed her mannerisms with famously punishing retakes, and she later said he made her a better actress. Best Years shows his deep-focus, long-take ensemble method working without a star to discipline.
• Legacy · Feud: Bette and Joan by Jessica Lange (2017). Ryan Murphy's series dramatized the making of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? with Susan Sarandon as Davis and Lange as Crawford, treating the pair as the definitive case study in how Hollywood discards aging actresses. Lange, herself an actress who rebuilt a career on unglamorous roles, delivers a performance built on the same refusal of vanity that Davis pioneered in 1962.

What influenced Bette Davis

• George Arliss. Davis credited Arliss with helping her obtain her Hollywood breakthrough. (also via Disraeli) “For the rest of her life, Davis credited him with helping her achieve her "break" in Hollywood.” (Wikipedia)
• Peg Entwistle. Davis explicitly credited Entwistle with inspiring her to enter theater. (also via Thirteen Women) “Davis later recalled, "The reason I wanted to go into theater was because of an actress named Peg Entwistle."” (Wikipedia)
• Katharine Hepburn. The article compares the actresses’ positions on the American Film Institute’s ranking. (also via The Philadelphia Story) “In 1999, Davis was placed second on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema , behind Katharine Hepburn .” (Wikipedia)
• Tallulah Bankhead. Wyler urged Davis to draw on Bankhead’s stage interpretation, though Davis resisted. “Wyler encouraged Davis to emulate Bankhead's interpretation of the role, but Davis wanted to make the role her own.” (Wikipedia)
• La Cousine Bette by Honoré de Balzac. Davis took the spelling of her name from a character in Balzac’s novel. “The young Betty later changed the spelling of her first name to Bette after Bette Fischer, a character in Honoré de Balzac 's La Cousine Bette .” (Wikipedia)
• Susan Sarandon by Susan Sarandon. Sarandon describes studying Davis while preparing to portray her in Feud. “I was surprised, when I started watching her interviews, about how many things she said in interviews that I had also said.” (Variety)
• Little Lord Fauntleroy. The film prompted Davis’s interest in becoming a film actress. “She was inspired to pursue a career as a film actress after seeing Mary Pickford in Little Lord Fauntleroy .” (Wikipedia)
• Constance Bennett. The Saturday Evening Post compared Davis with Bennett. “The Saturday Evening Post wrote, "She is not only beautiful, but she bubbles with charm", and compared her to Constance Bennett and Olive Borden .” (Wikipedia)
• Mary Pickford. Seeing Pickford perform inspired Davis to pursue film acting. “She was inspired to pursue a career as a film actress after seeing Mary Pickford in Little Lord Fauntleroy .” (Wikipedia)
• Olive Borden. The Saturday Evening Post compared Davis with Borden. “The Saturday Evening Post wrote, "She is not only beautiful, but she bubbles with charm", and compared her to Constance Bennett and Olive Borden .” (Wikipedia)
• Charles Laughton. Davis said Laughton’s advice influenced her career. “Recalling the episode many years later, Davis remarked that Laughton's advice had influenced her throughout her career.” (Wikipedia)
• Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock (1960). Davis assessed What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? in relation to Psycho’s audience. “Davis believed it could appeal to the same audience that had recently made Alfred Hitchcock 's Psycho (1960) a success.” (Wikipedia)
• The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen (1884). The Wild Duck (Henrik Ibsen) — ghost for Bette Davis “In 1926, a then 18-year-old Davis saw a production of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck with Blanche Yurka and Peg Entwistle.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman (1939). The Little Foxes (Lillian Hellman) — culture for Bette Davis “William Wyler also directed Davis for the third time in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes (1941), but they clashed over the character of Regina Giddens, a role originally played on Broadway by Tallulah Bankhead (Davis had portrayed in f…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Disraeli by George Arliss (1929). Disraeli (George Arliss) — titan for Bette Davis “Davis was preparing to return to New York when actor George Arliss chose Davis for the lead female role in the Warner Bros.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Thirteen Women by Peg Entwistle (1932). Thirteen Women (Peg Entwistle) — ghost for Bette Davis “In 1926, a then 18-year-old Davis saw a production of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck with Blanche Yurka and Peg Entwistle.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Broken Blossoms by Lillian Gish (1919). Broken Blossoms (Lillian Gish) — titan for Bette Davis “I am continuing to do so, as my name has made your book about me a success." === 1986–1989: Final works and awards === Davis appeared in the television film As Summers Die (1986), and in Lindsay Anderson's film The Whales of August (1987…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Camille by Greta Garbo (1936). Camille (Greta Garbo) — titan for Bette Davis “She played heroines that were at once sensual and pure, superficial and profound, suffering and hopeful, world-weary and life-inspiring." American film actress Bette Davis: "Her instinct, her mastery over the machine, was pure witchcraft.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (1915). Of Human Bondage (W. Somerset Maugham) — culture for Bette Davis (wikidata.org)
• Lamentation by Martha Graham (1930). Lamentation (Martha Graham) — culture for Bette Davis

Peers and kindred spirits

• Joan Crawford by Joan Crawford. Davis and Crawford starred opposite each other in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. (also via Mildred Pierce) “Davis and Crawford played two aging sisters, one a former child star (Davis) and the other an accomplished film actress (Crawford) who were forced by circumstance to share a decaying Hollywood mansion.” (Wikipedia)
• A Letter to Three Wives by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1949). A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph L. Mankiewicz) — collaborator for Bette Davis “Also known as an actor's director, Mankiewicz directed several prominent actors, including Bette Davis, Gene Tierney, Humphrey Bogart and Elizabeth Taylor, to several of their memorable onscreen performances.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Robert Aldrich by Robert Aldrich. Fields documents Davis’s work with Aldrich on two films. “Following the success of Baby Jane, Davis, Crawford and Aldrich all teamed up again to score another horror hit with 1964’s Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte.” (Turner Classic Movies)
• The Best Years of Our Lives by William Wyler (1946). The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler) — collaborator for Bette Davis “Hastily dressed in an ill-fitting costume with a low neckline, she was rebuffed by the film director William Wyler, who loudly commented to the assembled crew, "What do you think of these dames who show their chests and think they can ge…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• William Wyler by William Wyler. In an archival interview, Davis discusses Wyler’s direction of The Letter. “William Wyler got around that as well as he possibly could, but it missed the point of the story which came out in that last line of hers – ‘The tragedy is I still love the man I killed.’” (Sight and Sound)
• Hollywood Canteen. Davis was credited as a founder of the Hollywood Canteen. “Davis and John Garfield were the driving force who were credited with founding the canteen, along with the aid of 42 unions and guilds in the industry, plus thousands of celebrity volunteers from the Hollywood Victory Committee and beyond.” (Wikipedia)
• Gone with the Wind. Gone with the Wind (Max Steiner) — collaborator for Bette Davis “Steiner was a frequent collaborator with some of the best known film directors in history, including Michael Curtiz, John Ford, and William Wyler, and scored many of the films with Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and Fred Asta…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Miriam Hopkins. Davis and Hopkins appeared together in Old Acquaintance. “Old Acquaintance (1943) reunited her with Miriam Hopkins in a story of two old friends who deal with the tensions created when one of them becomes a successful novelist.” (Wikipedia)
• Lucille Ball. Ball and Davis were fellow students. “in the John Murray Anderson School for the Dramatic Arts, [ 29 ] in New York City, [ 30 ] [ 31 ] where Bette Davis was a fellow student.” (Wikipedia)
• Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams. Places Bette Davis as co-star in Tennessee Williams' play. “Bette Davis, -co starring with Margaret Leigh ton. was highly approved by both critics.” (Evening Star (Washington, D.C.))
• BD Productions. The text identifies BD Productions as Davis’s own production company. “Her next film, A Stolen Life (1946), was the only film that Davis made with her own production company, BD Productions.” (Wikipedia)
• Warren William (1894). Bette Davis co-stars alongside Warren William in The Dark Horse. “Above is pictured Warren William, who co-stars with Bette Davis in The Datk Horse” (Roanoke Rapids Herald (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.))
• Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill. Long Day's Journey into Night (Eugene O'Neill) — geography for Bette Davis (wikidata.org)
• The Town and the City by Jack Kerouac (1950). The Town and the City (Jack Kerouac) — geography for Bette Davis (openlibrary.org)
• The Philadelphia Story by Katharine Hepburn (1940). The Philadelphia Story (Katharine Hepburn) — peer for Bette Davis “In 1999, Davis was placed second on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema, behind Katharine Hepburn.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Mildred Pierce by Joan Crawford (1945). Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) — peer for Bette Davis “However, the film was overshadowed by fellow actress Joan Crawford's divorce from her first husband, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., leading to its failure at the box office.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Harold and Maude by Ruth Gordon (1971). Harold and Maude (Ruth Gordon) — geography for Bette Davis
• Double Indemnity by Barbara Stanwyck (1944). Double Indemnity (Barbara Stanwyck) — peer for Bette Davis
• Lucile Watson (1879). Now, Voyager (Bette Davis) — collaborator for Lucile Watson (via Now, Voyager)

Who Bette Davis influenced

• Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes (1981). Bette Davis Eyes (Kim Carnes) — legacy for Bette Davis “Donna Weiss who wrote the lyrics for the song called me up and reminded me of the song. We got a demo over to the house quickly, I took it to Val Garay, my producer.” (Kim Carnes Blog, reproducing a Countdown Australia interview)
• Feud. The series dramatized Davis’s alleged feud with Crawford. “Because we were so afraid of being overpowered by the kind of cliché of who these women were, especially Bette Davis, who’s been imitated so drastically. So how could we make that live?” (Los Angeles Times)
• My Mother’s Keeper. Hyman’s memoir depicts her relationship with Davis. “Your book is a glaring lack of loyalty and thanks for the very privileged life I feel you have been given. If my memory serves me right, I’ve been your keeper all these many years.” (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Arthur Blake by Arthur Blake. Blake was known for impersonating Davis, including on film. “Arthur Blake was a famous female impersonator of the post World-War II era who was particularly known for his performances as Bette Davis; notably impersonating her in the 1952 film Diplomatic Courier .” (Wikipedia)
• Feud: Bette and Joan by Jessica Lange (2017). Feud: Bette and Joan (Jessica Lange) — legacy for Bette Davis “It was later depicted in the 2017 television series Feud: Bette and Joan, with Susan Sarandon as Davis and Jessica Lange as Crawford.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Sophie's Choice by Meryl Streep (1982). Sophie's Choice (Meryl Streep) — legacy for Bette Davis “Since then, only three people have surpassed this figure—Meryl Streep (with 21 nominations and three wins), Katharine Hepburn (12 nominations and 4 wins), and Jack Nicholson (12 nominations and 3 wins)—while Laurence Olivier matched her …” (en.wikipedia.org)