Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Lauren Bacall, 1924-2014, R.I.P.


With all the (deserved) media outpouring over the untimely and tragic death of Robin Williams, I thought I might devote a moment or two to the passing of another one of my personal favorites, Lauren Bacall, who has left us at eighty-nine. (I'm sure you can find something about Robin Williams elsewhere on the internet if you try hard enough...)


Ms. Bacall was as feisty as anyone would have had to have been, to have been happily married to Humphrey Bogart... which she was, for an unfortunately short time -- from 1945 to 1957 -- due to his premature death from lung cancer.

No, no, no.... That's a cigarette; she's not giving
us the finger... But I'm not sure Ms. Bacall would
hesitate to do so given the right circumstances!

Ms. Bacall's prominence did not end with the death of her husband and occasional co-star, of course. In 1970 she won a Tony Award for Applause, and again in 1981 for Woman of the Year. She received a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination for 1996's  The Mirror Has Two Faces.

She received an Honorary Academy Award "in recognition of her central place in the Golden Age of motion pictures" in 2009.


Usually, in my celebrity tributes, I try to inject a personal note explaining some sort of connection between myself and the subject, how he or she affected my life, or maybe an anecdote you may not have heard. I don't have any of that this time. All I can say is that Ms. Bacall was a reminder of Hollywood as it used to be, and a treasure that shall be missed.

Thanks for your time.

40 comments:

  1. She sure was, and still is in my heart as well. It is so sad to say good-bye to these people that have been such a part of our lives. She leaves many excellent films to watch her by when ever we need too. I just watched one of her funnier movies last night in fact! This one http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113126/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_25

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    1. Never heard of that one. I'll try to locate it! Thanks!

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  2. I was trying to remember where I saw her from when I heard she passed, My Fellow Americans, great movie.

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    1. Loved that flick. Wish she'd had a larger part in it.

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  3. dude...another rough week....between her and robin williams geez....

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  4. But I think her death is especially upsetting because so many of us already feel bad about Robin Williams. It's kind of strange that we mourn the loss of these people we never "met,
    yet we knew them. They walked across movie screens and showed up on our televisions at home. They became a part of our lives, and I miss them.

    Love,
    Janie

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    Replies
    1. That should have been "met," and I don't know why the rest of the sentence is on the next line.

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    2. Yes, it's a bit odd to feel the loss of people we never actually knew.

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  5. She was stunning, quite a person whenever I heard her interviewed and, of course one of the Hollywood greats. How many of those are left now?

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    1. Sadly, too few. I'm glad Debbie Reynolds is still with us.

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  6. Saw her in "Woman of the Year" on Broadway. She was dating her co-star Harry Guardino (ick) but she was very glamorous. Her still photos, Hollywood photos, are captivating; the downcast face with upward tilting eyes & slight pout. I read she adopted this pose from sheer "nerves". It sure worked.

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  7. She was quite a beauty. Her death is tragic, but it's also sad that the news of her passing was buried beneath the coverage of Robin Williams' death.

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    1. Sort of like how Ray Charles' death was eclipsed by Reagan's...

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  8. She was so gorgeous and sexy in a very classy way. Not many like her left, I'm afraid.

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  9. We will always have the films - a great body of work to look back on.

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    Replies
    1. So true. That's the "best" things about losing celebrities. Their music, their movies, etc.

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  10. Her too? It's so depressing. I mean, really depressing....

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    Replies
    1. I certainly don't. (And by the way, I want them to play that song at my funeral!)

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    2. Check! But if you don't mind my asking... why not?

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    3. Too many negative qualities about living in general. I hope I don't live to be very elderly.

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    4. I'm sorry to hear that. I'd love to see what's in store for the human race in the year 3000. But you know what they say.... curiosity likked the blue.

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  11. glamourous, classy, strong. i enjoy her work and wish hollywood could produce some new classics like the old days...

    ps - thanks for supporting my broken branch falls blog tour

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  12. It's a sad loss. What a beautiful and classy lady, she was.

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  13. Thank you for introducing her. She sounded like a wonderful person.

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    1. I'd seen her interviewed a few times. She seemed like a lady, albeit a lady who'd take no crap from anyone!

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  14. what a hottie! I totally remember her :D

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  15. This has been an especially rough year for celebrity deaths. So many icons I grew up with are giving up the ghost this year. It's bound to happen, but man ...

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    1. Yes, the inevitability of these deaths doesn't make them any easier to experience.

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  16. I wrote about the Great Lauren Bacall-she was one sassy, classy dame! She had a great life and went unappreciated in some ways -well, like no oscar but she is among the greats with no Oscar-Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Edward G. Robinson. I wrote about her-well my favourite flicks (I did Robin Williams and James Garner too). Nice to read your tribute. Now I better go teach my husband how to whistle:)

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