Betty Joan Perske (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014), known professionally as Lauren Bacall, was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute. She received an Academy Honorary Award in 2009 in recognition of her contribution to the Golden Age of motion pictures. Bacall was one of the last surviving major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Bacall was the only child of Natalie Weinstein-Bacal, a Romanian-Jewish immigrant, and William Perske, a salesman of Polish-Jewish descent. Her parents divorced when she was five, after which she no longer saw her father. She later took her mother’s Romanian surname, Bacal, but added a fanciful “L”.
She grew up in Manhattan, primarily in the Bronx and later the Upper West Side. Bacall attended Public School 6 and later the prestigious Julia Richman High School, where she first developed an interest in drama. Her mother enrolled her in acting lessons at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, though she could only attend for a short time due to financial constraints.
From a young age, Bacall loved movies and theater. She idolized actresses like Bette Davis and Marlene Dietrich, whose confident screen presence inspired her. She spent hours practicing her low, sultry voice—later one of her most famous trademarks—though naturally it was partly due to nerves and a slightly husky tone.
While still a teenager, she began modeling to help with household expenses. At 16, she worked as an usher at Broadway theaters, soaking up stagecraft and dreaming of acting. By 17, she was appearing in small stage productions and was soon discovered by Harper’s Bazaar editor Diana Vreeland, which led to the magazine cover that caught the eye of director Howard Hawks and launched her Hollywood career.
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