Soister, John T., with JoAnna Wioskowski. Claude Rains: A Comprehensive Ill.u.s.trated Reference to His Work in Film, Stage, Radio, Television and Recordings. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999.

Spada, James. More than a Woman: An Intimate Biography of Bette Davis. New York: Bantam Books, 1993.

---. Peter Lawford: The Man Who Kept the Secrets. New York: Bantam Books, 1991.

Sperber, A. M., and Eric Lax. Bogart. New York: William Morrow, 1997.

Sperling, Ca.s.s Warner, and Cork Millner, with Jack Warner Jr. Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story. Rocklin, Calif.: Prima, 1994.

Spoto, Donald. The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams. Boston: Little, Brown, 1985.

---. Notorious: The Life of Ingrid Bergman. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.

Stack, Robert, with Mark Evans. Straight Shooting. New York: Macmillan, 1980.

Staggs, Sam. All About "All About Eve." New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.

---. "Everything about Eve." Vanity Fair, April 1999, pp. 28494, 3026.

Stapleton, Maureen, and Jane Scovell. A h.e.l.l of a Life: An Autobiography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995.

Steen, Mike. Hollywood Speaks! An Oral History. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1974.

Stempel, Tom. Screenwriter: Nunnally Johnson. San Diego: A. S. Barnes, 1980.

Stine, Whitney. "I'd Love to Kiss You . . .": Conversations with Bette Davis. New York: Pocket Books, 1990.

Stine, Whitney, and Bette Davis. Mother G.o.ddam: The Story of the Career of Bette Davis. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1974.

Stricklyn, Ray. Angels and Demons: One Actor's Hollywood Journey. Los Angeles: Belle, 1999.

Styron, William. "Mrs. Aadland's Little Girl, Beverly." Esquire, November 1961, p. 142.

Suskin, Steven. More Opening Nights on Broadway. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997.

Swanson, Gloria. Swanson on Swanson. New York: Random House, 1980.

Swindell, Larry. Body and Soul: The Story of John Garfield. New York: William Morrow, 1975.

---. Charles Boyer: The Reluctant Lover. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983.

---. Spencer Tracy: A Biography. New York: New American Library, 1969.

Tannen, Lee. I Loved Lucy: My Friendship with Lucille Ball. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001.

Taylor, John Russell. Alec Guinness: A Celebration. Boston: Little, Brown, 1984.

Thomas, Bob. Clown Prince of Hollywood: The Antic Life and Times of Jack L. Warner. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990.

---. Joan Crawford. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978.

Thomson, David. The New Biographical Dictionary of Film. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.

Todd, Richard. In Camera: An Autobiography Continued. London: Hutchinson, 1989.

Troyan, Michael. A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999.

Vidal, Gore. Palimpsest: A Memoir. New York: Random House, 1995.

Vidor, King. On Film Making. New York: David McKay, 1972.

Vidor, King, Nancy Dowd, and David Shepard. King Vidor: A Directors Guild of America Oral History. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1988.

Vieira, Mark A. Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999.

Walker, Alexander. Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Star. New York: Harper and Row, 1983.

Wallis, Hal, and Charles Higham. Starmaker. New York: Macmillan, 1980.

Walsh, Frank. Sin and Censorship: The Catholic Church and the Motion Picture Industry. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1996.

Ward, Geoffrey C., ed. Closest Companion: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995.

Warner, Jack L., with Dean Jennings. My First Hundred Years in Hollywood. New York: Random House, 1964.

Warren, Doug, with James Cagney. Cagney: The Authorized Biography. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1983.

Warwick, Christopher. The Universal Ustinov. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1990.

Wayne, Jane Ellen. Crawford's Men. New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1988.

Weaver, Tom. Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1988.

Westmore, Frank, and Muriel Davidson. The Westmores of Hollywood. New York: J. B. Lippincott, 1976.

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Gra.s.s. Philadelphia: David McKay, 189192.

Wiles, Buster, with William Donati. My Days with Errol Flynn: The Autobiography of Stuntman Buster Wiles. Santa Monica, Calif.: Roundtable, 1988.

Wiley, Mason, and Damien Bona. Inside Oscar. New York: Ballantine Books, 1993.

Williams, Esther, with Digby Diehl. The Million Dollar Mermaid. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999.

Williams, Tennessee. Memoirs. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1975.

Williams, Tennessee, and Maria St. Just. Five O'Clock Angel: Letters of Tennessee Williams to Mona St. Just, 19481982. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.

Williamson, Bruce. "Playboy Interview: Bette Davis." Playboy, July 1982, pp. 6794.

Winters, Sh.e.l.ley. Sh.e.l.ley II: The Middle of My Century. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.

Wood, Audrey, and Max Wilk. Represented by Audrey Wood. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1981.

Wood, Lana. Natalie: A Memoir by Her Sister. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1984.

Wright, William. Lillian h.e.l.lman: The Image, The Woman. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1986.

Zierold, Norman. The Moguls. New York: Coward-McCann, 1969.

Zollo, Paul. Hollywood Remembered: An Oral History of Its Golden Age. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2002.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

My deepest appreciation goes to my trusty psychotherapist, Dr. Gerald Perlman, who had to listen to a lot of the unpleasant muck this book stirred up. Thanks also to my psychiatrist, Dr. Barry Richman, who kept me on medication. And a round of applause certainly goes to the prescient Dr. Scott Goldsmith, who warned me, as both a psychiatrist and a friend, that I might feel some of the emotions I imagined my subject probably felt. As Miss Davis would have said, Oh, brother!

I relied, as usual, on a group of thoughtful and supportive readers, chief among them Chris Bram, to whom I dedicate this book. Others included my ace research a.s.sistant, Gregor Meyer; Tom Phillips, Bette fan extraordinaire, who also provided the What's My Line? material; Matthew Mirapaul, who never fails to prop me up in times of need; and Martin Shingler, the world's greatest Davis scholar. David Boxwell, Dan Callahan, and Jim Aquino lent me hard-to-find films and recordings. My pals in the New York Independent Film Critics Circle-Damien Bona, Howard Karren, Joe Smith, George Robinson, Andy d.i.c.kos, Adam Orman, Michael Giltz, M. George Stevenson, Daryl Chin, Jeff Zeitlin, Alex Lewin, and Jace Weaver-all contributed a mix of arcana and wit.

I thank the many friends, acquaintances, a.s.sociates, and admirers of Bette Davis who spent time helping me to understand her better: Edward Albee, Dame Eileen Atkins, Don Bachardy, Martin Baum, Jim Brochu, Betty Buckley (not that Betty Buckley), Charles Busch, d.i.c.k Cavett, David Chierichetti, Roy Christopher, Wendy Craig, Mart Crowley, Jon Dosa, Bryan England, John Epperson, David Galligan, Kim Garfield, Vik Greenfield, John Guillermin, the late Ellen Hanley, Sheldon Harnick, Anthony Harvey, Robert Hofler, Waris Hussein, John Kane, Mike Kaplan, John Kuri, Jack and Elaine LaLanne, Robert Lantz, Lionel Larner, James McCourt, Lynda Pearl, Charles Pollack, Dr. Ivin Prince, Dotson Rader, Alvin Rakoff, David Rothenberg, Ann Kaufman Schneider, Reggie Schwartzwalder, Tom Smothers, Gary Springer, Tulip Traber, and Margot Webb.

Biographies couldn't be written without the librarians and archivists who care for the infinitely valuable records in which famous people's lives are chronicled, in this case: J. C. Johnson, Sean Noel, and the staff of the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University; Haden Guest and the staff of the Warner Bros. Archive at the University of Southern California; Barbara Hall and her colleagues at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Margaret Herrick Library; Michael Neault and Jim Healy at George Eastman House; and Vicky Hedley, Ayesha Khan, Anastasis Kerameos, and the other librarians at the British Film Inst.i.tute.

I also thank the many people who helped me with this project in less definable ways: Christopher Anderson, Per sberg, John Belton, Steven DeRosa, Judy Englander, Ron Fried, Kenneth Geist, David Germain, Warren Goldfarb, Chris Gorman, Dr. Nathaniel Hupert, Dr. Rainu Kaushal, Neal Leibowitz, William J. Mann, Patrick Merla, Ethan Minovitz, Evan Mirapaul, Eric Myers, S. I. Newhouse IV, Gregory Orr, Robert Rees, Tom Rhoads, Hank Sartin, Dulcie and Walter Schackman, Draper Shreeve, Jason Simos, Frances Smith, Linnell Smith, and James Yaffe.

My editors, Jennifer Barth and David Patterson, had confidence in me when I did not, and I'm enormously grateful for their continuing support, not to mention their sharp critical skills. I also thank my expert copy editor, Vicki Haire; Kenn Russell, the executive managing editor at Henry Holt; and Lindsay Ross and Patrick Clark.

As always, I'm in awe of my agent, the superb Edward Hibbert, who relayed details of the contract negotiations for this book in the uncannily precise voice of Bette Davis. Finally, I owe a profound debt of grat.i.tude to my shockingly stable family, particularly my mother, Betty Sikov; my brother, Costas Karakatsanis; and my partner, Bruce Schackman.

ILl.u.s.tRATION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

The Davis Girls: From the Bette Davis Collection in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University Harlow Morell Davis: From the Bette Davis Collection in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University With a Ribbon in Her Hair: From the Bette Davis Collection in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University Bette, by Ruthie: From the Bette Davis Collection in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University Delicate Flower: Photofest.

Beauty in the Eyes: Photofest.

Unusual Portrait: Collection of the author "I always used to wipe my mouth!": Photofest Ham and Spuds: Photofest Bette as Rasputin? Photofest Jezebel: Collection of the author.

"Homely Dynamo": Photofest Wedding Day Number 2: Photofest Sisters on the Set: From the Bette Davis Collection in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University "Like a Mink": Photofest Wedding Day Number 3: From the Bette Davis Collection in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University The Evil Eye: Collection of the author Peritonitis Sets In: Photofest.

Maudlin and Magnificent: Collection of the author Two's Company: Photofest A Bette Davis western?: Photofest Designed by Bette: Photofest On Broadway: Photofest.

"Let's clear out. I draw the line at this crowd.": Tee and Charles Addams Foundation Joan, by Bette: From the Bette Davis Collection in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University Lush Life: From the Bette Davis Collection in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University Poetry Onstage: Photofest Bette, her Daughter Margot, and Dinner: From the Bette Davis Collection in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University Mother, Daughter, and Son: From the Bette Davis Collection in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University It Works: Photofest.

Miss Moffat: Photofest Madame Sin and her pet hawk: Collection of the author Last Picture Show: Photofest The World's Most Famous Smoker: Photofest P.s. Bette Davis: Photofest.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

ED SIKOV is a film historian whose other biographies include the critically acclaimed On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder and Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers. He has taught at Columbia University, Haverford College, and Colorado College, and lives in New York City.

www.edsikov.com.

ALSO BY ED SIKOV.

ON SUNSET BOULEVARD:.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BILLY WILDER.

MR. STRANGELOVE:.

A BIOGRAPHY OF PETER SELLERS.

LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY:.

AMERICAN SCREEN COMEDY OF THE 1950S.

SCREWBALL: HOLLYWOOD'S MADCAP ROMANTIC COMEDIES.