Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall's passing on August 12 was somewhat overshadowed by the Robin Williams news frenzy.  She was one of the last great actresses to witness the golden age of Hollywood. Born Betty Joan Perske in 1924, she was discovered by the wife of American film director Howard Hanks after she appeared as a teenage model on the (now iconic) cover of Harper's Bazaar in 1943.

During screen tests for her first film "To Have and Have Not" in 1944 she was so nervous she pressed her chin down to keep from quivering and tilted her eyes upward.  This became known as "The Look" and became her trademark.

On the movie set, Humphrey Bogart, who was unhappily married at the time, initiated a relationship with her and in 1945 they married. Bacall was 20 and Bogart was 45.  They remained married until Bogart's death from esophageal cancer. 

Her first autobiography, "Lauren Bacall: By Myself," won the National Book Award in 1980. I read it many years ago, and still remember her poignant description of Bogart's death at home. The word "cancer" was not discussed so openly in those days, and Bogart never mentioned his declining health even with his family.  The kids remember their father spending increasing amounts of time upstairs in his room, until...one day he was just gone.

Lauren Bacall made many memorable quotes.  She said this about keeping secrets:

A man's illness is his private territory and, no matter how much he loves you and how close you are, you stay an outsider. You are healthy.

Lauren Bacall lived at The Dakota in NYC for many years in an art and memento-filled apartment with her beloved dog.  She was beautiful, shrewd and tough, and when she died on August 12 at the age of 89, she left an estate worth more than 26 million. $10,000 was set aside for the care for her Papillon, Sophie.