Lauren Bacall
Biography
Lauren Bacall, born Betty Joan Perske on September 16, 1924 in the Bronx, New York City, was an American actress known for a husky voice and sultry looks. She started as a model before moving to Hollywood, where she first appeared as the leading lady opposite Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not (1944). Bacall continued in film noir with The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947) and Key Largo (1948), and later took comedic roles in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and Designing Woman (1957). On Broadway she performed in musical productions and earned Tony Awards for Applause (1970) and Woman of the Year (1981). The Movie Database lists her as a female actor with 172 known credits; she died August 12, 2014 at age 89.
Career overview
Lauren Bacall, born Betty Joan Perske on September 16, 1924 in The Bronx, New York City, began her public career as a model before transitioning to acting. She made her film debut as a leading lady opposite Humphrey Bogart in the 1944 adventure To Have and Have Not, establishing a screen partnership that continued in several classic film‑noir titles. Bacall appeared with Bogart in The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947) and Key Lago (1948), roles that reinforced her reputation for a distinctive husky voice and sultry screen presence. Expanding into comedy, she starred in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) alongside Marilyn Monroe and later in Designing Woman (1957) with Gregory Peck.
Beyond the silver screen, Bacall pursued a successful stage career, performing in Broadway productions and earning two Tony Awards for her work in musical theatre. She received the Tony for Applause in 1970 and again for Woman of the Year in 1981, reflecting her versatility across film and stage. Over the span of her career, TMDB records list 172 acting credits, illustrating a prolific body of work that continued until her death on August 12, 2014 at the age of 89. Bacall’s legacy endures as an iconic figure of mid‑century American cinema and theatre.
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Career timeline
Full filmography
- Gene Kelly - An American in Hollywood (2025) as Self (archive footage)
- Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes (2024) as Self (archive footage)
- Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story (2023) as Self (archive footage)
- Paul Newman: The Restless (2023) as Self
- Reframed: Marilyn Monroe (2022) as archive footage
- Dream Girl: The Making of Marilyn Monroe (2022)
- Rat Pack (2022) as Self (archive footage)
- Parkinson at 50 (2021) as Self (archive footage)
- The Capote Tapes (2021) as Self (voice) (archive footage)
- Beautiful Like a Poem (2020) as Self (archive footage)
- Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018) as Self (archive footage)
- The Untameable Kirk Douglas (2017) as Self - Actress (archive footage)
- Lauren Bacall, ombre et lumière (2017) as Self (archive footage)
- Iconic Couples of Hollywood (2015) as Self (archive footage)
- Talking Pictures (2013) as Self (archive footage)
- Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored (2013) as Self (archive footage)
- Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (2012) as Self (archive footage)
- Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe (2012) as Self (archive footage)
- Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies (2012)
- All at Sea (2012) as May
- The Forger (2011) as Anne-Marie
- Marilyn at the Movies (2011) as Self (archive footage)
- Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010) as Self – Interviewee
- Embracing Chaos: Making The African Queen (2010) as Self (archive footage)
- Hollywood sul Tevere (2009)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King (2008) as The Grand Witch (voice)
- Eve (2008) as Grandma
- Marilyn, dernières séances (2008) as Self(archive footage)
- The Walker (2007) as Natalie Van Miter
- These Foolish Things (2006) as Dame Lydia
- Manderlay (2005) as Mam
- The Road to Manderlay (2005) as Self - actress
- Private Screenings: Lauren Bacall (2005) as Self
- Birth (2004) as Eleanor
- Dogville Confessions (2004) as Self
- Judy Garland: By Myself (2004) as Self (archive footage)
- The Limit (2004) as May Markham
- Broadway's Lost Treasures II (2004) as Host
- Dogville (2003) as Ma Ginger
- A Love Story: The Story of 'To Have and Have Not' (2003) as Self (archive footage)
- Discovering Treasure: The Story of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' (2003) as Various Roles (archive footage)
- Hold Your Breath and Cross Your Fingers: The Story of 'Dark Passage' (2003) as Self (archive footage)
- V Graham Norton (2002) as Self
- Heart of the Festival (2002) as Self (archive footage)
- New York at the Movies (2002) as Self
- AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Barbra Streisand (2001) as self
- Pulp Cinema (2001) as Self (archive footage)
- Greta Garbo: A Lone Star (2001) as Self - Narrator (voice)
- Marilyn on Marilyn (2001) as Self (archive footage)
- The Shootist: The Legend Lives On (2001) as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Amália Traída (2000) as TV Announcer
- Presence of Mind (2000) as Mado Remei
- Family Guy (1999) as Evelyn (voice)
- The Sopranos (1999) as Lauren Bacall
- The Early Show (1999) as Self - Guest
- Get Bruce! (1999) as Self
- Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke (1999) as Doris Duke (elderly)
- Madeline: Lost in Paris (1999) as Madame LaCroque (voice)
- The Venice Project (1999) as Countess Camilla Volta
- Diamonds (1999) as Sin-Dee
- A Conversation with Gregory Peck (1999) as Self
- Intimate Portrait: Lauren Bacall (1999) as Herself
- Vivement dimanche (1998) as Self
- Doris Day: It's Magic (1998) as Self
- Hollywood Hall Of Fame - Marilyn Monroe (1998)
- The View (1997) as Self
- Scene by Scene (1997) as Self
- Bogart: The Untold Story (1997) as Self
- Howard Hawks: American Artist (1997) as Self
- Sports on the Silver Screen (1997) as Self (archive footage)
- Day and Night (1997) as Sonia
- The Music of Kander & Ebb: Razzle Dazzle (1997) as Self
- Bogart: Here's Looking at You, Kid (1997) as Self
- The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1996) as Self - Guest
- The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) as Hannah Morgan
- My Fellow Americans (1996) as Margaret Kramer
- The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story (1996) as Self
- A Benefit Celebration: A Tribute to Angela Lansbury (1996) as Self
- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1995) as Mrs. Basil E. Frankkweiler
- Marilyn Monroe: Portrait of a Legend...Suicide Or Murder? (1995)
- Chicago Hope (1994) as Samara Visco Klein
- Prêt-à-Porter (1994) as Slim Chrysler
- Inside the Actors Studio (1994) as Self
- Intimate Portrait (1993) as Self
- La Classe américaine (1993) as Christelle (archive footage)
- The Portrait (1993) as Fanny Church
- A Foreign Field (1993) as Lisa
- Leonard Bernstein: The Gift of Music (1993) as Narrator
- On The Bridge (1993) as Herself
- Vicki! (1992) as Self
- You Must Remember This: A Tribute to 'Casablanca' (1992) as Narrator
- All I Want For Christmas (1991) as Lillian Brooks
- The General Motors Playwrights Theater (1991) as Self - Host
- A Star for Two (1991) as Edwige
- Kisses (1991) as Herself - Presenter
- Misery (1990) as Marcia Sindell
- A Little Piece of Sunshine (1990) as Beatrix Coltrane
- The Real Story of the Three Little Kittens (1990) as Freezelda (voice)
- Screen One (1989) as Lisa
- Frederick Forsyth Presents (1989) as Beatrix
- Tree of Hands (1989) as Marsha Archdale
- Dinner at Eight (1989) as Carlotta Vance
- Appointment with Death (1988) as Lady Westholme
- Mr. North (1988) as Mrs. Cranston
- Gregory Peck: His Own Man (1988) as Self
- John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick (1988) as Self
- In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton (1988) as Self
- Bacall on Bogart (1988) as Self
- The Dame Edna Experience (1987) as Self
- Hollywood's Hidden Secrets (1987) as Self - Host / Narrator
- Super Duper Bloopers (1986) as Self
- Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage (1983) as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Night of 100 Stars (1982) as Self
- Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady (1982)
- Entertainment Tonight (1981) as Self
- The Fan (1981) as Sally Ross
- HealtH (1980) as Esther Brill
- The Kennedy Center Honors (1978) as Self
- Perfect Gentlemen (1978) as Ms. Lizzie Martin
- The Shootist (1976) as Bond Rogers
- Apostrophes (1975) as Self
- Les Rendez-vous du dimanche (1975) as Self
- The Rockford Files (1974) as Kendall Warren
- Murder on the Orient Express (1974) as Mrs. Harriet Belinda Hubbard
- The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks (1973) as Self (archive footage)
- Applause (1973) as Margo Channing
- Great Performances (1971) as Narrator
- Great Performances (1971) as Self
- Film '72 (1971) as Self
- The Dick Cavett Show (1968) as Self - Guest
- ABC Stage 67 (1966) as Self
- ABC Stage 67 (1966) as Self (archive footage)
- Harper (1966) as Elaine Sampson
- The Legend of Marilyn Monroe (1966)
- Sex and the Single Girl (1964) as Sylvia Broderick
- Mr. Broadway (1964)
- Shock Treatment (1964) as Dr. Edwina Beighley
- Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963) as Amanda / Barbara
- The Danny Kaye Show (1963) as Self
- Marilyn (1963) as archive footage
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) as Self
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) as Self (archive footage)
- The Mike Douglas Show (1961) as Self
- Dr. Kildare (1961) as Virginia Herson
- North West Frontier (1959) as Catherine Wyatt
- Small World (1958) as Self
- The Gift of Love (1958) as Julie Beck
- Designing Woman (1957) as Marilla Brown Hagen
- Tony Awards (1956) as Self - Host / Performer
- Tony Awards (1956) as Self - Presenter
- Tony Awards (1956) as Self - Nominee / Performer
- Tony Awards (1956) as Self - Co-Hostess / Performer
- Written on the Wind (1956) as Lucy Moore Hadley
- Blithe Spirit (1956) as Elvira Condomine
- The Cobweb (1955) as Meg Faversen Rinehart
- Blood Alley (1955) as Cathy Grainger
- Ford Star Jubilee (1955)
- The Petrified Forest (1955) as Gabby Maple
- Producers' Showcase (1954) as Gaby
- Woman's World (1954) as Elizabeth Burns
- A Star Is Born World Premiere (1954) as Self
- The Oscars (1953) as Self
- How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) as Schatze Page
- What's My Line? (1950) as Self
- The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950) as Self
- Young Man with a Horn (1950) as Amy North
- Bright Leaf (1950) as Sonia Kovac
- The Hollywood Ten (1950) as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Breakdowns of 1949 (1949) as Self
- The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) as Self
- Key Largo (1948) as Nora Temple
- Dark Passage (1947) as Irene Jansen
- The Big Sleep (1946) as Vivian Sternwood Rutledge
- Two Guys from Milwaukee (1946) as Self (uncredited)
- Blow-Ups of 1946 (1946) as Self
- To Have and Have Not (1945) as Marie Browning
- Confidential Agent (1945) as Rose Cullen
- Golden Globe Awards (1944) as Self - Presenter
- Golden Globe Awards (1944) as Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient
- Golden Globe Awards (1944) as Self - Winner
- Breakdowns of 1944 (1944) as Self