Lauren Bacall passes away at 89

Another sad tragedy in the cinema world has hit us this week. US film and stage actress Lauren Bacall has died at the age of 89. According to reports, she died after suffering a major stroke at home in New York last August 12, 2014.

She first emerged as a leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have and Have Not (1944) and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in Bogart movies The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948), as well as comedic roles in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Marilyn Monroe and Designing Woman (1957) with Gregory Peck. Bacall worked on Broadway in musicals, earning Tony Awards for Applause in 1970 and Woman of the Year in 1981. Her performance in the movie The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination.
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Her Hollywood career spanned seven decades, with a memorable debut aged 19 opposite her future husband, Humphrey Bogart, in To Have and Have Not. More than 50 years later, The Mirror Has Two Faces earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924, she went on to become one of cinema's biggest stars, best known for her husky voice and smouldering looks. A Twitter account of the Bogart estate, run by Bacall's son, tweeted: "With deep sorrow, yet with great gratitude for her amazing life, we confirm the passing of Lauren Bacall."

Born Betty Joan Perske, Bacall took a variation of her mother's last name after her parents divorced. Her first film performance, as the tough and tender dame in To Have and Have Not, became one of the most powerful debuts in film history. The film featured her legendary lines: "You don't have to act with me, Steve. You don't have to say anything and you don't have to do anything. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow. She continued her on-screen partnership with Bogart in Key Largo, The Big Sleep and Dark Passage after the couple were married in 1945.

They had two children and were married until his death in 1957. She had another child with her second husband, Jason Robards. Lauren Bacall with Jason Robards Bacall with her second husband, Jason Robards, and their baby son Sam Lauren Bacall in 2007. 

Bacall appeared in more than 30 movies, including How to Marry a Millionaire and Murder on the Orient Express. She also acted on stage in New York, winning Tony Awards for best leading actress in a musical in 1970 for Applause and in 1981 for Woman of the Year. A second wave of film acting earned her an Academy Award nomination in 1996 for her role opposite Barbra Streisand in The Mirror Has Two Faces.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tweeted Bacall's own words, "I've been very lucky in life", along with footage of the actress receiving her honorary Oscar in 2010. Bacall's last credited role was voicing a character in animated series Family Guy. Its creator Seth McFarlane said: "Lauren Bacall's life is a life to be celebrated. I am told her last performance was on Family Guy. For that we are forever honoured and privileged. "Thank you, Lauren, for teaching us all how to whistle," he added, in reference to Bacall's famed line from To Have and Have Not: "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."

[source: bbc]