Humphrey Bogart

 

Lauren Bacall + Humphrey Bogart in The Big sleepHumphrey Bogart + Mary Astor in The Maltese falconHumphrey Bogart in High Sierra

Biography

Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey Bogart

John Huston: The trouble with Bogart is, he thinks he's Bogart.

Movie news:

This week 62 years ago The big sleep premiered (August 23, 1946)

Born:

December 25, 1899

Born as:

Humphrey Deforest Bogart

Died:

January 14, 1957

He grew up in New York, met with disciplinary problems at school and was expelled.

After his discharge from the Navy, Bogart never took acting lessons, but just started an acting career on the Brooklyn stage in 1921. In 1935 he would act in his last Broadway play The Petrified Forest, a role he would reprise on film in 1936.

In 1930 Humphrey went to Hollywood. His big break came in 1941 with High Sierra and The Maltese falcon. Now Bogey was a big star and he made classics like Casablanca and The African Queen. The Caine Mutiny was Bogart's last major movie, a film made when he was already seriously ill. He dropped his asking price to get the role of Captain Queeg.

Selected Movies:

Academy awards :

1955 Nominated Best Actor for: The Caine Mutiny
1952 Won Oscar Best Actor for: The African Queen
1944 Nominated Best Actor for Casablanca

Books:

Terrence Pettigrew -> Bogart: A Definitive Study of His Film Career (1981)
Stephen Humphrey Bogart -> Bogart: In Search of My Father (1995)
Gerald Duchovnay -> Humphrey Bogart: A Bio-Bibliography (1999)

 

Humphrey Bogart + Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca

News

This week 62 years ago The big sleep premiered (August 23, 1946)

66 years ago August 21, 1942 (18 days after finishing the movie) Bogart was called back to add the final line for Casablanca, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”

70 years ago (August 21 (or 20), 1938) Humphrey married for the third time. The new Mrs. Bogart was actress Mayo Methot (1904-1951). They divorced in 1945.

56 years ago (August 23, 1952) Bogart’s and Lauren Bacall’s daughter Leslie Howard was born.

This week 71 years ago Dead end premiered (August 24, 1937)

Trivia

In 1947 America was in the midst of a heightened Communist awareness. Senator McCarthy wanted Hollywood stars to testify for the House Un-American Activities Committee. The unfriendly witnesses (John Huston, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Ira Gershwin) were against the investigations. They went to Washington for the hearings with a petition. Later the group members themselves came under suspicion. Bogart: “That’s what I meant when I said our Washington trip was a mistake” Source / More (Book)

Humphrey has his handprints set in cement on Hollywood Boulevard (Hollywood, USA, in the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theater). Source / More (Web)

Casablanca, Morocco has its first real Rick’s Cafe. The cafe is owned by Kathy Kriger, a former US diplomat who worked at the US Embassy in Morocco. She’s put about $1m in US and Moroccan funds into the venture. Dinner costs $30 per person. Source / More (Web)

Humphrey has a star on Hollywood Boulevard.
It’s located between Vine Street and Cahuenga bld.

His fourth wife Lauren Bacall was 25 years younger than he was.

Bogart told reporters: “The honest way to find the best actor would be to let everybody play Hamlet and let the best man win.” However, when he won an Oscar for The African Queen (1951) he said something different: “I’m not going to thank anybody; I’m just going to say I damn well deserve it” Source / More (Book)

Before he became a star Humphrey’s birthday was given as January 23, 1899. In 1936 Warner Bros changed this to December 25, 1900. A couple of years later Bogart changed this again in December 1899. Source / More (Web)

In his career as a tough guy, Bogart went to the electric chair 12 times.

Bogart got his nickname “Bogie” from actor Spencer Tracy, in 1930.

Producer Wallis was unsatisfied with the ending of Casablanca, so Humphrey Bogart was called back in to dub a final line over the last shot. Since then Louis and Rick walk into the fog, talking about the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Bogart was married four times:
Helen Menken (1926 - 1928)
Mary Philips (1928 - 1938)
Mayo June Methot (1938 - 1945)
Lauren Bacall (1945 - 1957)

Bibliography