In 1949, she did, what is generally considered to be her "worst film", Beyond the Forest. During the production she asked to be released from her Warner Brothers contract after 18 years. Lucky for her, Darryl F. Zanuck offered her the role of Margo Channing in All About Eve. Claudette Colbert had been forced to leave the production due to a back injury and although Bette was the third choice (Ingrid Bergman had been his second choice) she won the part. Its hard to think of anyone else in the role of Margo Channing since this part seems so tailored to Bette in every respect. Its probably the best screenplay ever written and the ensemble cast is superb. She met her fourth and last husband, Gary Merrill during the filming and the film was enhanced since they were truly falling in love themselves.

In the 1950's Bette began her period of character roles. She revived her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen (she had played her in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex in 1939 with Errol Flynn), played Debbie Reynold's mother in The Catered Affair and played Apple Annie in Frank Capra's redo of "Pocketful of Miracles".

However, in the 1960's she became known for horror films which began with her portrayal of Jane Hudson in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? with her old nemesis, Joan Crawford. Then again, in Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte with Olivia DeHavilland. During the remainder of her life she was in many TV productions and films, but always as a matriarch. In 1977, she was the first female recipient of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award.

She had three children of which one was retarded. In 1985, her daughter, Barbara Davis Hyman, published a scandalous book about Bette called My Mother's Keeper. In my opinion, its not worth reading.

In her later years she was very thin but continued to smoke. On October 6, 1989 she died of an undisclosed illness. Below she is seen with her assistant, Kathryn Sermak during the last years of her life.

The following are my favorite Bette Davis films and have their own pages with additional information: