Known as “Betty” growing up, Ruth Elizabeth Davis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on April 5, 1908. Davis’s parents divorced, and her single mother raised her, working multiple jobs. Changing her name to Bette Davis, she started acting in the 1920s, and she had a career up until her death in 1989. She exemplified the glamor and eccentricities of being a ‘Movie Star.’ Not that her formidable talents could ever be diminished by her persona. Davis was an auteur unto herself, crafting a career with rich and impressive performances.

Bette Davis had a wild, complicated life. It would be a herculean task to boil her life down into a single article. Her professional life was full of ups and downs, and her personal life was no smooth ride either. She married a few times, and had multiple affairs. Davis battled studios, directors, co-stars, and the press. She was a woman who regarded her own talents and box office clout highly and the numbers were on her side. Davis was the first actor of any gender to receive 10 Oscar nominations (she won two of them, and not even for her best roles).

Davis wanted to work with the best directors in the most interesting roles. She was a one-woman army against Hollywood’s patriarchal attempts to shut her up. In 1937, Davis wanted to move to England for better work than she was getting from Warner Bros. The studio tried to stop her, and she sued them. Her claim alleged that the studio locked her in a contract and kept her from working by offering roles that were beneath her. Davis lost the case, but her talent on screen was strong enough that the studio offered her the kind of roles she wanted. Perhaps she was known as a difficult bitch, but she took charge of her career and kept working for nearly 60 years.

Each period of Davis’s life brought a new form to her career. In the early 1930s, she was just starting out. By the late 1930s into 1950, she was a top star with a multitude of beautiful performances. Her career declined in the 1950s, though she worked consistently and received some praise. Then in the 1960s, she found new life in campy but knowing psycho-thrillers. Davis’s later career is often what people think of now: her wide eyes, grand dame theatricality, over the top acting, and features so striking they can seem horrific. She had a deep voice and a flair for drama, and it’s clear why she became an icon for drag queens.