"You know how to whistle, don't you Steve? You just put your lips together and...blow."
Vogue Magazine describes her as "Wide-mouthed, with a deep deadeye voice-sounding sexy and faintly mad at someone, Lauren Bacall looks the way most American women yearn to look; the way that stops men- American and otherwise- smack in their tracks."
But Lauren Bacall was not just a pretty face. She had real talent and an energy that drew people to the screen.
In 2009, she received an Academy Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in recognition of her central place in the Golden Age of motion pictures.
She started out modeling for fashion magazines, first gracing the cover of Harper's Bazaar. She began acting on Broadway in 1942 at age 17.
Her breakthrough was in 1944, in To Have and Have Not with Humphrey Bogart in 1944. The two fell in love and married in 1945. Bacall was 20, Bogart was 45. They remained married until his death in 1957.
After Bogart's death, Bacall was briefly engaged to Frank Sinatra, and later married actor Jason Robards Jr. She continued to act through the 1980's. She died on August 12th, 2014, after a stroke.
She has a remarkable presence onscreen. If you ever watch any of her films, you will be surprised at how deep and husky, yet surprisingly female her voice sounds. There is an innate sense of self confidence about her. She is strikingly beautiful, but it isn't the beauty that keeps you looking. Its her intense stare and her self assurance that holds you captive. You feel as if you are moldable to her wishes: whatever she wants you to believe, you believe.
I don't think there will ever be another actress like her. She will be missed.
xoxo Miranda
No comments:
Post a Comment