Bogart began acting inBroadway shows. Debuting in film inThe Dancing Town (1928), he appeared in supporting roles for more than a decade, regularly portraying gangsters. He was praised for his work as Duke Mantee inThe Petrified Forest (1936). Bogart also received positive reviews for his performance as gangster Hugh "Baby Face" Martin inWilliam Wyler'sDead End (1937).
44-year-old Bogart and 19-year-oldLauren Bacall fell in love during the filming ofTo Have and Have Not (1944). In 1945, a few months after principal photography forThe Big Sleep, their second film together, he divorcedhis third wife and married Bacall. After their marriage, they played each other's love interest in the mystery thrillersDark Passage (1947) andKey Largo (1948). Bogart's performances in Huston'sThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) andNicholas Ray'sIn a Lonely Place (1950) are now considered among his best, although they were not recognized as such when the films were released.[6] He reprised those unsettled, unstable characters as a World War II naval-vessel commander inThe Caine Mutiny (1954), which was a critical and commercial hit and earned him a third Academy Award nomination forBest Actor, followingCasablanca and his win for his portrayal of a cantankerous river steam launch skipper oppositeKatharine Hepburn's missionary in the World War I African adventureThe African Queen (1951), another collaboration with Huston. Other significant roles in his later years includedThe Barefoot Contessa (1954) withAva Gardner and his on-screen competition withWilliam Holden forAudrey Hepburn inSabrina (1954).
A heavy smoker and drinker, Bogart died fromesophageal cancer in January 1957.Casablanca,The Maltese Falcon,The Treasure of the Sierra Madre andThe African Queen, made the American Film Institute's1998 list of the greatest American movies of all time, withCasablanca ranked second. Regarding her husband's enduring popularity, Bacall later said, "There was something that made him able to be a man of his own, and it showed through his work. There was also a purity, which is amazing considering the parts he played. Something solid too. I think as time goes by, we all believe less and less. Here was someone who believed in something."[7]
Plaque commemorating Bogart's birthplace, 245 W. 103rd St., New York City
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was born onChristmas Day 1899 in New York City, the eldest child of Belmont DeForest Bogart andMaud Humphrey.[8][9] Belmont was the only child of the unhappy marriage of Adam Welty Bogart (aCanandaigua, New York, innkeeper) and Julia Augusta Stiles, a wealthy heiress.[10] The name "Bogart" derives from the Dutch surname "Bogaert", meaning "orchard".[11] Belmont and Maud married in June 1898. He was aPresbyterian, of English and Dutch descent, and a descendant ofSarah Rapelje (the first European Christian girl born inNew Netherland). Maud was anEpiscopalian of English heritage and a descendant ofMayflower passengerJohn Howland. Humphrey was raised Episcopalian but was non-practicing for most of his adult life.[12]
The date of Bogart's birth has been disputed. Clifford McCarty wrote thatWarner Bros. publicity department had altered it to January 23, 1900, "to foster the view that a man born on Christmas Day couldn't be as villainous as he appeared to be on screen".[further explanation needed][13] The "corrected" January birth date subsequently appeared—and in some cases, remains—in many otherwise-authoritative sources.[14][15] According to biographersAnn M. Sperber andEric Lax, Bogart always celebrated his birthday on December 25 and listed it on official records (including his marriage license).[16]
Lauren Bacall wrote in her autobiography that Bogart's birthday was always celebrated on Christmas Day, saying that he joked about being cheated out of a present every year.[17] Sperber and Lax noted that a birth announcement in theOntario County Times of January 10, 1900, rules out the possibility of a January 23 birth date;[18] state and federal census records from 1900 also report a Christmas 1899 birth date.[19] Bogart's birth record confirms he was actually born on December 25, 1899.[20][21]
Maud Humphrey in the 1897 bookAmerican Women
Belmont, Bogart's father, was acardiopulmonary surgeon. Maud was a commercial illustrator who received her art training in New York and France, including study withJames Abbott McNeill Whistler. She later became art director of the fashion magazineThe Delineator and a militantsuffragette.[22] Maud used a drawing of baby Humphrey in an advertising campaign for Mellins Baby Food.[23] She earned over $50,000 a year at the peak of her career – a very large sum of money at the time, and considerably more than her husband's $20,000.[24] The Bogarts lived in anUpper West Side apartment, and had a cottage on a 55-acre estate onCanandaigua Lake in upstate New York. When he was young, Bogart's group of friends at the lake would put on plays.[25]
He had two younger sisters: Frances ("Pat") and Catherine Elizabeth ("Kay").[23] Bogart's parents were busy in their careers, and frequently fought. Very formal, they showed little emotion towards their children. Maud told her offspring to call her "Maud" instead of "Mother", and showed little, if any, physical affection for them. When she was pleased, she "[c]lapped you on the shoulder, almost the way a man does", Bogart recalled.[26] "I was brought up very unsentimentally but very straightforwardly. A kiss, in our family, was an event. Our mother and father didn't glug over my two sisters and me."[27]
Bogart was teased as a boy for his curls, tidiness, the "cute" pictures his mother had him pose for, theLittle Lord Fauntleroy clothes in which she dressed him, and for his first name.[28] He inherited from his father a tendency to needle, a fondness for fishing, a lifelong love of boating, and an attraction to strong-willed women.[29]
Bogart attended the private Delancey School until the fifth grade and then attended the prestigiousTrinity School.[30] He was an indifferent, sullen student who showed no interest in after-school activities.[29] Bogart later attendedPhillips Academy inAndover, Massachusetts, a boarding school to which he was admitted based on family connections.[31] Although his parents hoped that he would go on toYale University, Bogart left Phillips in 1918 after one semester (although the Phillips Academy website claims he was in the graduating class of 1920).[32] He failed four out of six classes.[33] Several reasons have been given; according to one, he was expelled for throwing the headmaster (or a groundskeeper) into Rabbit Pond on campus. Another cited smoking, drinking, poor academic performance, and (possibly) inappropriate comments made to the staff. In a third scenario, Bogart was withdrawn by his father for failing to improve his grades. His parents were deeply disappointed in their failed plans for his future.[34]
Enlisting at 18 in the U.S. Navy in 1918, Bogart was recorded as a model sailor.
With no viable career options, Bogart enlisted in theUnited States Navy in the spring of 1918, duringWorld War I. He recalled later, "At eighteen, war was great stuff. Paris! Sexy French girls! Hot damn!"[35] Bogart was recorded as a model sailor, who spent most of his sea time after thearmistice ferrying troops back from Europe.[36] Bogart left the service on June 18, 1919,[37] at the rank ofPetty Officer 2nd Class.[35] DuringWorld War II, Bogart attempted to re-enlist in the Navy but was rejected due to his age. He then volunteered for theCoast Guard Temporary Reserve in 1944, patrolling the California coastline in his yacht, theSantana.[38]
He may have received his trademark scar and developed his characteristic lisp during his naval stint. There are several conflicting stories. In one, his lip was cut by shrapnel when his ship (theUSS Leviathan) was shelled. The ship was never shelled, however, and Bogart may not have been at sea before the armistice. Another story, held by longtime friendNathaniel Benchley, was that Bogart was injured while taking a prisoner toPortsmouth Naval Prison inKittery, Maine. While changing trains inBoston, the handcuffed prisoner reportedly asked Bogart for a cigarette. When Bogart looked for a match, the prisoner smashed him across the mouth with the cuffs (cutting Bogart's lip) and fled before being recaptured and imprisoned. In an alternative version, Bogart was struck in the mouth by a handcuff loosened while freeing his charge; the other handcuff was still around the prisoner's wrist.[39] By the time Bogart was treated by a doctor, a scar had formed.David Niven said that when he first asked Bogart about his scar, however, he said that it was caused by a childhood accident. "Goddamn doctor", Bogart later told Niven. "Instead of stitching it up, he screwed it up." According to Niven, the stories that Bogart got the scar during wartime were made up by the studios. His post-service physical did not mention the lip scar, although it noted many smaller scars.[36] When actressLouise Brooks met Bogart in 1924, he had scar tissue on his upper lip which Brooks said Bogart may have had partially repaired before entering the film industry in 1930.[34] Brooks said that his "lip wound gave him no speech impediment, either before or after it was mended."[40]
Bogart returned home to find his father in poor health, his medical practice faltering, and much of the family's wealth lost in bad timber investments.[41] His character and values developed separately from his family during his navy days, and he began to rebel. Bogart became a liberal who disliked pretension, phonies and snobs, sometimes defying conventional behavior and authority; he was also well-mannered, articulate, punctual, self-effacing and standoffish.[42] After his naval service, he worked as a shipper and a bond salesman,[43] joining theCoast Guard Reserve.
Bogart was praised in an October 15, 1922, newspaper review of the playSwifty: "Humphrey Bogart as the erring young man, Tom Proctor, did an excellent bit of work in the main".[44]
Frank Kelly Rich writes that Bogart "dove headfirst into the Jazz Age lifestyle, always up for late night revels... When his meager wages were exhausted, he'd playchess against all comers in arcades for a dollar a match (he was a brilliant player) to fund his outings." Mike Doyle ofChess.com writes that "Before he made any money from acting, he would hustle players for dimes and quarters, playing in New York parks and at Coney Island."[45] Bogart resumed his friendship with Bill Brady Jr. (whose father had show-business connections), and obtained an office job withWilliam A. Brady's new World Films company.[46] Although he wanted to try his hand at screenwriting, directing, and production, he excelled at none. Bogart wasstage manager for Brady's daughterAlice's playA Ruined Lady. He made his stage debut a few months later as a Japanese butler in Alice's 1921 playDrifting (nervously delivering one line of dialogue), and appeared in several of her subsequent plays.[47]
Although Bogart had been raised to believe that acting was a lowly profession, he liked the late hours actors kept and the attention they received: "I was born to be indolent and this was the softest of rackets."[43] He spent much of his free time inspeakeasies, drinking heavily. A bar-room brawl at this time was also a purported cause of Bogart's lip damage, dovetailing with Louise Brooks's account.[48]
Preferring to learn by doing, he never took acting lessons. Bogart was persistent and worked steadily at his craft, appearing in at least 18 Broadway productions between 1922 and 1935, 11 of which were comedies.[49] He played juveniles or romantic supporting roles in drawing-room comedies and is reportedly the first actor to say, "Tennis, anyone?" on stage.[50] According toAlexander Woollcott, Bogart "is what is usually and mercifully described as inadequate."[51] Other critics were kinder.Heywood Broun, reviewingNerves, wrote: "Humphrey Bogart gives the most effective performance ... both dry and fresh, if that be possible".[52] He played a juvenile lead (reporter Gregory Brown) inLynn Starling's comedyMeet the Wife, which had a successful 232-performance run at theKlaw Theatre from November 1923 through July 1924. Bogart disliked his trivial, effeminate early-career parts, calling them "White Pants Willie" roles.[53]
While playing a double role inDrifting at the Playhouse Theatre in 1922, he met actressHelen Menken; they were married on May 20, 1926, at theGramercy Park Hotel in New York City. Divorced on November 18, 1927, they remained friends.[54] Menken said in her divorce filing that Bogart valued his career more than marriage, citing neglect and abuse.[55] He married actressMary Philips on April 3, 1928, at her mother's apartment inHartford, Connecticut; Bogart and Philips had worked together in the playNerves during its brief run at the Comedy Theatre in 1924.
Bogart signed a contract with theFox Film Corporation for $750 a week (about $13,933 in 2025). There he metSpencer Tracy, a Broadway actor whom Bogart liked and admired, and the two men became close friends and drinking companions. In 1930, Tracy first called him "Bogie".[58] Tracy made his feature film debut in his only movie with Bogart,John Ford's earlysound filmUp the River (1930), in which their leading roles were as inmates. Tracy received top billing, but Bogart's picture appeared on the film's posters.[59] He was billed fourth behind Tracy,Claire Luce andWarren Hymer but his role was almost as large as Tracy's and much larger than Luce's or Hymer's. A quarter of a century later, the two men planned to makeThe Desperate Hours together. Both insisted upon top billing, however; Tracy dropped out, and was replaced byFredric March.[60]
Bogart then had a supporting role inBad Sister (1931) withBette Davis.[61] Bogart shuttled back and forth between Hollywood and the New York stage from 1930 to 1935, out of work for long periods. His parents had separated; his father died in 1934 in debt, which Bogart eventually paid off. He inherited his father's gold ring, which he wore in many of his films. At his father's deathbed, Bogart finally told him how much he loved him.[62] Bogart's second marriage was rocky; dissatisfied with his acting career, depressed and irritable, he drank heavily.[18]
In 1934, Bogart starred in theBroadway playInvitation to a Murder at the Theatre Masque (renamed theJohn Golden Theatre in 1937). Its producer,Arthur Hopkins, heard the play from offstage; he sent for Bogart and offered him the role of escaped murderer Duke Mantee inRobert E. Sherwood's forthcoming play,The Petrified Forest.[18] Hopkins later recalled:
When I saw the actor I was somewhat taken aback, for [I realized] he was the one I never much admired. He was an antiquated juvenile who spent most of his stage life in white pants swinging a tennis racquet. He seemed as far from a cold-blooded killer as one could get, but the voice[,] dry and tired[,] persisted, and the voice was Mantee's.[63]
The play had 197 performances at theBroadhurst Theatre in New York in 1935.[64] AlthoughLeslie Howard was the star,The New York Times criticBrooks Atkinson said that the play was "a peach ... a roaring Western melodrama ... Humphrey Bogart does the best work of his career as an actor."[65] Bogart said that the play "marked my deliverance from the ranks of the sleek, sybaritic, stiff-shirted, swallow-tailed 'smoothies' to which I seemed condemned to life." However, he still felt insecure.[64] Warner Bros. bought the screen rights toThe Petrified Forest in 1935.[66] The play seemed ideal for the studio, which was known for its socially-realistic pictures for a public entranced by real-life criminals such asJohn Dillinger[67] andDutch Schultz.[68]Bette Davis and Leslie Howard were cast. Howard, who held the production rights, made it clear that he wanted Bogart to star with him.
The Petrified Forest trailer (1936)
The studio tested several Hollywood veterans for the Duke Mantee role and choseEdward G. Robinson, who had star appeal and was due to make a film to fulfill his contract. Bogart cabled news of this development to Howard in Scotland, who replied: "Att: Jack Warner Insist Bogart Play Mantee No Bogart No Deal L.H.". When Warner Bros. saw that Howard would not budge, they gave in and cast Bogart.[69] Jack Warner wanted Bogart to use astage name but Bogart declined, having built a reputation with his name in Broadway theater.[70][71] The film version ofThe Petrified Forest was released in 1936. According toVariety, "Bogart's menace leaves nothing wanting".[72]Frank S. Nugent wrote forThe New York Times that the actor "can be a psychopathic gangster more like Dillinger than the outlaw himself".[73] The film was successful at the box office, earning $500,000 in rentals ($11,427,014 in 2025), and made Bogart a star.[74] He never forgot Howard's favor and named his only daughter, Leslie Howard Bogart, after him in 1952.
Despite his success inThe Petrified Forest (an "A movie"), Bogart signed a tepid 26-week contract at $550 ($12,570 in 2025) per week and wastypecast as a gangster in a series ofB movie crime dramas.[75] Although he was proud of his success, the fact that it derived fromgangster roles weighed on him: "I can't get in a mild discussion without turning it into an argument. There must be something in my tone of voice, or this arrogant face—something that antagonizes everybody. Nobody likes me on sight. I suppose that's why I'm cast as the heavy."[76]
In spite of his success, Warner Bros. had no interest in raising Bogart's profile. His roles were repetitive and physically demanding; studios were not yetair-conditioned, and his tightly scheduled job at Warners was anything but the indolent and "peachy" actor's life he hoped for.[77] Although Bogart disliked the roles chosen for him, he worked steadily. "In the first 34 pictures" for Warner's, he told journalistGeorge Frazier, "I was shot in 12, electrocuted or hanged in 8, and was a jailbird in 9".[78] He averaged a film every two months between 1936 and 1940, sometimes working on two films at the same time. Bogart used these years to begin developing his film persona: a wounded, stoical, cynical, charming, vulnerable, self-mocking loner with a code of honor.
Amenities at Warners were few, compared to the prestigiousMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Bogart thought that the Warners wardrobe department was cheap, and often wore his own suits in his films. He chose his own dog named Zero, to play Pard (his character's dog) inHigh Sierra. His disputes with Warner Bros. over roles and money were similar to those waged by the studio with more established and less malleable stars such as Bette Davis andJames Cagney.[79]
Bogart played violent roles so often that inNevil Shute's 1939 novel,What Happened to the Corbetts, the protagonist replies "I've seen Humphrey Bogart with one often enough" when asked if he knows how to operate an automatic weapon.[81] Although he played a variety of supporting roles in films such asAngels with Dirty Faces (1938), Bogart's roles were either rivals of characters played by Cagney and Robinson or a secondary member of their gang.[78] InBlack Legion (1937), a movieGraham Greene described as "intelligent and exciting, if rather earnest",[82] he played a good man who was caught up with (and destroyed by) a racist organization.
The studio cast Bogart as a wrestling promoter inSwing Your Lady (1938), a "hillbilly musical" which he reportedly considered his worst film performance.[83] He played a rejuvenated, formerly-dead scientist inThe Return of Doctor X (1939), his only horror film: "If it'd beenJack Warner's blood ... I wouldn't have minded so much. The trouble was they were drinking mine and I was making this stinking movie."[84] His wife, Mary, had a stage hit inA Touch of Brimstone and refused to abandon her Broadway career for Hollywood. After the play closed, Mary relented; she insisted on continuing her career, however, and they divorced in 1937.[85]
On August 21, 1938, Bogart entered a turbulent third marriage to actressMayo Methot, a lively, friendly woman when sober butparanoid and aggressive when drunk. She became convinced that Bogart was unfaithful to her (which he eventually was, with Lauren Bacall, while filmingTo Have and Have Not in 1944).[86] They drifted apart; Methot's drinking increased, and she threw plants, crockery and other objects at Bogart. She set their house afire, stabbed him with a knife, and slashed her wrists several times. Bogart needled her; apparently enjoying confrontation, he was sometimes violent as well. The press called them "the Battling Bogarts".[87]
According to their friend,Julius Epstein, "The Bogart-Methot marriage was the sequel to theCivil War".[88] Bogart bought a motor launch which he namedSluggy, his nickname for Methot: "I like a jealous wife .. We get on so well together (because) we don't have illusions about each other ... I wouldn't give you two cents for adame without a temper." Louise Brooks said that "except for Leslie Howard, no one contributed as much to Humphrey's success as his third wife, Mayo Methot."[89] Methot's influence was increasingly destructive, however,[89] and Bogart also continued to drink.[86]
He had a lifelong disdain forpretension and phoniness,[90] and was again irritated by his inferior films. Bogart rarely watched his own films and avoided premieres, issuing fake press releases about his private life to satisfy journalistic and public curiosity.[91] When he thought an actor, director or studio had done something shoddy, he spoke up publicly about it. Bogart advisedRobert Mitchum that the only way to stay alive in Hollywood was to be an "againster". He was not the most popular of actors, and some in the Hollywood community shunned him privately to avoid trouble with the studios.[92] Bogart once said,[93]
All over Hollywood, they are continually advising me, "Oh, you mustn't say that. That will get you in a lot of trouble," when I remark that some picture or writer or director or producer is no good. I don't get it. If he isn't any good, why can't you say so? If more people would mention it, pretty soon it might start having some effect. The local idea that anyone making a thousand dollars a week is sacred and is beyond the realm of criticism never strikes me as particularly sound.
The Hollywood press, unaccustomed to such candor, was delighted.[94]
High Sierra (1941, directed byRaoul Walsh) featured a screenplay written byJohn Huston, Bogart's friend and drinking partner, adapted from a novel byW. R. Burnett, author of the novel on whichLittle Caesar was based.[95]Paul Muni, George Raft, Cagney and Robinson turned down the lead role,[78] giving Bogart the opportunity to play a character with some depth. Walsh initially opposed Bogart's casting, preferring Raft for the part. It was Bogart's last major film as a gangster; a supporting role followed inThe Big Shot, released in 1942. He worked well withIda Lupino, sparking jealousy from Mayo Methot.[96]
The film cemented a strong personal and professional connection between Bogart and Huston. Bogart admired (and somewhat envied) Huston for his skill as a writer; a poor student, Bogart was a lifelong reader. He could quotePlato,Alexander Pope,Ralph Waldo Emerson and over a thousand lines ofShakespeare, and subscribed to theHarvard Law Review.[97] Bogart admired writers; some of his best friends were screenwriters, includingLouis Bromfield,Nathaniel Benchley, andNunnally Johnson. He enjoyed intense, provocative conversation (accompanied by stiff drinks), as did Huston. Both were rebellious and enjoyed playing childish pranks. Huston was reportedly easily bored during production and admired Bogart (also bored easily off-camera) for his acting talent and his intense concentration on-set.[98]
Complementing Bogart were co-starsSydney Greenstreet,Peter Lorre,Elisha Cook Jr., andMary Astor as the treacherous female foil.[100] Bogart's sharp timing and facial expressions were praised by the cast and director as vital to the film's quick action and rapid-fire dialogue.[97] It was a commercial hit, and a major triumph for Huston. Bogart was unusually happy with the film: "It is practically a masterpiece. I don't have many things I'm proud of ... but that's one".[101]
Bogart and Bergman's on-screen relationship was based on professionalism rather than actual rapport, although Mayo Methot assumed otherwise. Off the set, the co-stars hardly spoke. Bergman (who had a reputation for affairs with her leading men)[103] later said about Bogart, "I kissed him but I never knew him."[104] Because she was taller, Bogart had 3-inch (76 mm) blocks attached to his shoes in some scenes.[103]
Bogart is reported to have been responsible for the notion that Rick Blaine should be portrayed as achess player, a metaphor for the relationships he maintained with friends, enemies, and allies. He played tournament-level chess (one division below master) in real life,[105] often enjoying games with crew members and cast but finding his better in Paul Henreid.[106] During the production, Bogart also began playing games ofcorrespondence chess against AmericanG.I.s through mail.[107] The series of long distance matches began after aprivate who Bogart versed on set was transferred to the South Pacific. The letters began to be intercepted by theFBI due to fears thealgebraic notation used in chess games was actually anencrypted message.[108][109]
Bogart went onUnited Service Organizations andWar Bond tours with Methot in 1943 and 1944, making arduous trips to Italy and North Africa (including Casablanca).[110] He was still required to perform in films with weak scripts, leading to conflicts with the front office. He starred inConflict (1945,[111] again with Greenstreet), but turned downGod Is My Co-Pilot that year.[112]
With Lauren Bacall andMarcel Dalio inTo Have and Have Not (1944)Bogart and Bacall inThe Big Sleep (1946)
Howard Hawks introduced Bogart and Lauren Bacall while Bogart was filmingPassage to Marseille (1944).[113] The three subsequently collaborated onTo Have and Have Not (1944), a loose adaptation of theErnest Hemingway novel, and Bacall's film debut. It has several similarities toCasablanca: the same kind of hero and enemies, and a piano player (portrayed this time byHoagy Carmichael) as a supporting character.[114] When they met, Bacall was 19 and Bogart 44; he nicknamed her "Baby". A model since age 16, she had appeared in two failed plays. Bogart was attracted by Bacall's high cheekbones, green eyes, tawny blond hair, lean body, maturity, poise and earthy, outspoken honesty;[115] he reportedly said, "I just saw your test. We'll have a lot of fun together".[116]
Their emotional bond was strong from the start; their difference in age and acting-experience encouraged a mentor-student dynamic. In contrast to the Hollywood norm, their affair was Bogart's first with a leading lady.[117] His early meetings with Bacall were discreet and brief, their separations bridged by love letters.[118] The relationship made it easier for Bacall to make her first film, and Bogart did his best to put her at ease with jokes and quiet coaching.[86] He encouraged her to steal scenes;Howard Hawks also did his best to highlight her role, and found Bogart easy to direct.[119]
However, Hawks began to disapprove of the relationship.[86] He considered himself Bacall's protector and mentor, and Bogart was usurping that role. Not usually drawn to his starlets, the married director also fell for Bacall; he told her that she meant nothing to Bogart and threatened to send her to the poverty-row studioMonogram Pictures. Bogart calmed her down, and then went after Hawks; Jack Warner settled the dispute, and filming resumed.[120] Hawks said about Bacall, "Bogie fell in love with the character she played, so she had to keep playing it the rest of her life."[121] However, Bacall wrote in her memoir about the love she and Bogart shared, "No one has ever written a romance better than we lived it." and she said regarding Bogart's personality, "He was a very gentle soul. He was very strong, and very sure about what he believed in and what he thought was important and not important. He couldn't be pushed around. But he was a gentle man. I was very, very lucky to have even met him, much less have been married to him. He had extraordinary gifts. He was much more of a complete individual than most people are. He had the kind of standards my mother had. Their values were very much the same. It was very interesting. He had tremendous character and a great sense of honor and would not tolerate lies, even if they asked him what he thought of a movie."[122]
Months after wrappingTo Have and Have Not, Bogart and Bacall were reunited for an encore: the film noirThe Big Sleep (1946), based on the novel byRaymond Chandler with script help fromWilliam Faulkner. Chandler admired the actor's performance: "Bogart can be tough without a gun. Also, he has a sense of humor that contains that grating undertone of contempt."[123] Although the film was completed and scheduled for release in 1945, it was withdrawn and re-edited to add scenes exploiting Bogart and Bacall's box-office chemistry inTo Have and Have Not and the publicity surrounding their offscreen relationship. At the insistence of director Howard Hawks, production partnerCharles K. Feldman agreed to a rewrite of Bacall's scenes to heighten the "insolent" quality which had intrigued critics such asJames Agee and audiences of the earlier film, and a memo was sent to studio head Jack Warner.[124]
The dialogue, especially in the added scenes supplied by Hawks, was full of sexualinnuendo. The film was successful, although some critics found its plot confusing and overly complicated.[125] According to Chandler, Hawks and Bogart argued about who killed the chauffeur; when Chandler received an inquiry by telegram, he could not provide an answer.[126][127]
Bogart filed for divorce from Methot in February 1945. He and Bacall married in a small ceremony at the country home of Bogart's close friend,Pulitzer Prize-winning authorLouis Bromfield,[86] atMalabar Farm (nearLucas, Ohio) on May 21, 1945.[74] They moved into a $160,000 ($2,790,000 in 2024) white brick mansion in an exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles'Holmby Hills.[128] At the time of the1950 United States census, the couple was living at 2707 Benedict Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills with their son and nursemaid. Bacall is listed as Betty Bogart.[129] The marriage was a mostly happy one but not without its troubles. Bogart's drinking was sometimes problematic and he initially wasn't happy about having his first child, fearing that it would create distance between himself and Bacall. He was a homebody, and Bacall liked the nightlife; he loved the sea, and it made herseasick.[86] However, Bogart and Bacall never stopped loving each other, a fact Bacall mentions throughout her memoirBy Myself.[130] In a 1997Parade magazine cover story, she told reporter Dotson Rader that Bogart said "'If you want a career more than anything, I will do everything I can to help you, and I will send you on your way, but I will not marry you. I've been through it, and I know it doesn't work.' He was right. He loved me and wanted me with him. I made the deal, and I stuck to it, and I'm damn glad that I did."[131][132][133]
Bogart bought theSantana, a 55-foot (17 m) sailing yacht, from actorDick Powell in 1945. He found the sea a sanctuary[134] and spent about thirty weekends a year on the water, with a particular fondness for sailing aroundCatalina Island: "An actor needs something to stabilize his personality, something to nail down what he really is, not what he is currently pretending to be."[135] Bogart joined theCoast Guard Temporary Reserve (a forerunner of the modern Coast Guard Auxiliary), offering the Coast Guard use of theSantana.[136] He reportedly attempted to enlist, but was turned down due to his age.[137]
The suspensefulDark Passage (1947) was Bogart and Bacall's next collaboration.[86] Vincent Parry (Bogart) is intent on finding the real murderer for a crime of which he was convicted and sentenced to prison.[138] According to Bogart's biographer, Stefan Kanfer, it was "a production line film noir with no particular distinction".[139]
Bogart and Bacall's last pairing in a film was inKey Largo (1948). Directed by John Huston,Edward G. Robinson was billed second (behind Bogart) as gangster Johnny Rocco: a seething, older synthesis of many of his early bad-guy roles. The billing question was hard-fought and at the end of at least one of the trailers, Robinson is listed above Bogart in a list of the actors' names in the last frame; and in the film itself, Robinson's name, appearing between Bogart's and Bacall's, is pictured slightly higher onscreen than the other two. Robinson had top billing over Bogart in their four previous films together:Bullets or Ballots (1936),Kid Galahad (1937),The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) andBrother Orchid (1940). In some posters forKey Largo, Robinson's picture is substantially larger than Bogart's, and in the foreground manhandling Bacall while Bogart is in the background. The characters are trapped during a hurricane in a hotel owned by Bacall's father-in-law, portrayed byLionel Barrymore.Claire Trevor won anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Rocco's physically abused, alcoholic girlfriend.
Riding high in 1947 with a new 15-year contract with Warners which provided limited script refusal and the right to form his own production company, Bogart rejoined with John Huston forThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre: a stark tale of greed among three gold prospectors in Mexico. Lacking a love interest or a happy ending, it was considered a risky project.[140][141] Bogart later said about co-star (and John Huston's father)Walter Huston, "He's probably the only performer in Hollywood to whom I'd gladly lose a scene."[142]
The film was shot in the heat of summer for greater realism and atmosphere and was grueling to make.[143]James Agee wrote, "Bogart does a wonderful job with this character ... miles ahead of the very good work he has done before." Although John Huston won theAcademy Award for Best Director and screenplay and his father won theBest Supporting Actor award, the film had mediocre box-office results. Bogart complained, "An intelligent script, beautifully directed—something different—and the public turned a cold shoulder on it."[144]
Bogart, a liberalDemocrat,[145] organized theCommittee for the First Amendment (a delegation to Washington, D.C.) opposing what he saw as theHouse Un-American Activities Committee's harassment of Hollywood screenwriters and actors. He later wrote an article, "I'm No Communist", for the March 1948 issue ofPhotoplay magazine distancing himself from theHollywood Ten to counter negative publicity resulting from his appearance. Bogart wrote, "The ten men cited for contempt by the House Un-American Activities Committee were not defended by us."[146]
Bogart created his film company,Santana Productions (named after his yacht and the cabin cruiser inKey Largo), in 1948.[147] The right to create his own company had left Jack Warner furious, fearful that other stars would do the same and further erode the major studios' power. In addition to pressure from freelancing actors such as Bogart,James Stewart, andHenry Fonda, they were beginning to buckle from the impact of television and the enforcement of antitrust laws which broke up theater chains.[148] Bogart's new contract with Warners had required him to make one film a year for Warners but he only madeChain Lightning (1950) andThe Enforcer (1951) for them during the contract period. In 1953, his contract with Warners was dissolved by mutual consent.[140]
Although most lost money at the box office (ultimately forcing Santana's sale), at least two retain a reputation;In a Lonely Place is considered a film-noir high point. Bogart plays Dixon Steele, an embittered writer with a violent reputation who is the primary suspect in the murder of a young woman and falls in love with failed actress Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame).[150] Several Bogart biographers, and actress-writer Louise Brooks, have felt that this role is closest to the real Bogart. According to Brooks, the film "gave him a role that he could play with complexity, because the film character's pride in his art, his selfishness, drunkenness, lack of energy stabbed with lightning strokes of violence were shared by the real Bogart". The character mimics some of Bogart's personal habits, twice ordering the actor's favorite meal (ham and eggs).[151]
A parody of sorts ofThe Maltese Falcon,Beat the Devil was the final film for Bogart andJohn Huston. Co-written byTruman Capote, the eccentrically filmed story follows an amoral group of rogues, one of whom was portrayed byPeter Lorre, chasing an unattainable treasure.[152] Bogart sold his interest in Santana to Columbia for over $1 million in 1955.[153]
Outside Santana Productions, Bogart starred withKatharine Hepburn in the John Huston-directedThe African Queen in 1951. TheC. S. Forester novel on which it was based was overlooked and left undeveloped for 15 years until producerSam Spiegel and Huston bought the rights. Spiegel sent Katharine Hepburn the book; she suggested Bogart for the male lead, believing that "he was the only man who could have played that part".[154] Huston's love of adventure, his deep, longstanding friendship (and success) with Bogart, and the chance to work with Hepburn convinced the actor to leave Hollywood for a difficult shoot on location in theBelgian Congo. Bogart was to get 30 percent of the profits and Hepburn 10 percent, plus a relatively small salary for both. The stars met in London and announced that they would work together.
Bacall came for the over-four-month duration, leaving their young son in Los Angeles. The Bogarts began the trip with ajunket through Europe, including a visit withPope Pius XII.[155] Bacall later made herself useful as a cook, nurse and clothes washer; her husband said: "I don't know what we'd have done without her. SheLuxed my undies in darkest Africa."[156] Nearly everyone in the cast developeddysentery except Bogart and Huston, who subsisted on canned food and alcohol; Bogart said, "All I ate was baked beans, cannedasparagus andScotch whisky. Whenever a fly bit Huston or me, it dropped dead."[157] Hepburn (ateetotaler) fared worse in the difficult conditions, losing weight and at one point becoming very ill. Bogart resisted Huston's insistence on using realleeches in a key scene where Charlie has to drag his steam launch through an infested marsh, and reasonable fakes were employed.[158] The crew overcame illness,army-ant infestations, leaky boats, poor food, attackinghippos, poor water filters, extreme heat, isolation, and a boat fire to complete the film.[159] Despite the discomfort of jumping from the boat into swamps, rivers and marshes,The African Queen apparently rekindled Bogart's early love of boats; when he returned to California, he bought a classic mahoganyHacker-Craft runabout which he kept until his death.
His performance as cantankerous skipper Charlie Allnut earned Bogart anAcademy Award for Best Actor in 1951 (his only award of three nominations), and he considered it the best of his film career.[160] Promising friends that if he won his speech would break the convention of thanking everyone in sight, Bogart advisedClaire Trevor when she was nominated forKey Largo to "just say you did it all yourself and don't thank anyone". When Bogart won, however, he said: "It's a long way from the Belgian Congo to the stage of this theatre. It's nicer to be here. Thank you very much ... No one does it alone. As in tennis, you need a good opponent or partner to bring out the best in you. John and Katie helped me to be where I am now." Despite the award and its accompanying recognition, Bogart later said: "The way to survive an Oscar is never to try to win another one ... too many stars ... win it and then figure they have to top themselves ... they become afraid to take chances. The result: A lot of dull performances in dull pictures."[161]The African Queen was Bogart's first starringTechnicolor role.
Bogart dropped his asking price to obtain the role of Captain Queeg inEdward Dmytryk's drama,The Caine Mutiny (1954). Though he retained some of his old bitterness about having to do so,[162] he delivered a strong performance in the lead; he received his final Oscar nomination and was the subject of a June 7, 1954,Time magazine cover story.
Despite his success, Bogart was stillmelancholy; he grumbled to (and feuded with) the studio, while his health began to deteriorate. Like his portrayal of Fred C. Dobbs inThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Bogart's Queeg is a paranoid, self-pitying character whose small-mindedness eventually destroys him.Henry Fonda played a different role in the Broadway version ofThe Caine Mutiny, generating publicity for the film.[163]
ForSabrina (1954),Billy Wilder wantedCary Grant for the older male lead but chose Bogart to play the conservative brother who competes with his younger, playboy sibling (William Holden) for the affection of the Cinderella-like Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn). Although Bogart was lukewarm about the part, he agreed to it on a handshake with Wilder without a finished script but with the director's assurance that he would take good care of Bogart during filming.[164] The actor, however, got along poorly with his director and co-stars; he complained about the script's last-minute drafting and delivery, and accused Wilder of favoring Hepburn and Holden on and off the set. Wilder was the opposite of Bogart's ideal director (John Huston) in style and personality; Bogart complained to the press that Wilder was "overbearing" and "is [a] kind ofPrussian German with a riding crop. He is the type of director I don't like to work with ... the picture is a crock of crap. I got sick and tired of who gets Sabrina."[165] Wilder later said, "We parted as enemies but finally made up." Despite the acrimony, the film was successful; according to a review inThe New York Times, Bogart was "incredibly adroit ... the skill with which this old rock-ribbed actor blends the gags and such duplicities with a manly manner of melting is one of the incalculable joys of the show".[166]
Joseph L. Mankiewicz'sThe Barefoot Contessa (1954) was filmed inRome. In this Hollywood backstory, Bogart is a broken-down man, a cynical director-narrator who saves his career by making a star of aflamenco dancer modeled onRita Hayworth. He was uneasy withAva Gardner in the female lead; she had just broken up with hisRat Pack buddyFrank Sinatra, and Bogart was annoyed by her inexperienced performance. The actor was generally praised as the film's strongest part.[167] During filming and while Bacall was home, Bogart resumed his discreet affair withVerita Bouvaire-Thompson (his long-time studio assistant, whom he drank with and took sailing). When Bacall found them together, she extracted an expensive shopping spree from her husband; the three traveled together after the shooting.[168]
Bogart could be generous with actors, particularly those who were blacklisted, down on their luck or having personal problems. During the filming of theEdward Dmytryk–directedThe Left Hand of God (1955), he noticed his co-starGene Tierney having a hard time remembering her lines and behaving oddly; he coached her, feeding Tierney her lines. Familiar with mental illness because of his sister's bouts of depression, Bogart encouraged Tierney to seek treatment.[169][170] He also stood behindJoan Bennett and insisted on her as his co-star inMichael Curtiz'sWe're No Angels (1955) when a scandal made herpersona non grata with studio head Jack Warner.[171]
Bogart had already been diagnosed with terminal cancer when shootingThe Harder They Fall, a boxing drama withRod Steiger in a supporting role. Steiger later mentioned Bogart's courage and geniality during his final performance:
Bogey and I got on very well. Unlike some other stars, when they had closeups, you might have been relegated to a two-shot, or cut out altogether. Bogey didn't play those games. He was a professional and had tremendous authority. He'd come in exactly at 9 a.m. and leave at precisely 6 p.m. I remember once walking to lunch in between takes and seeing Bogey on the lot. I shouldn't have because his work was finished for the day. I asked him why he was still on the lot, and he said, "They want to shoot some retakes of my closeups because my eyes are too watery". A little while later, after the film, somebody came up to me with word of Bogey's death. Then it struck me. His eyes were watery because he was in pain with the cancer. I thought: "How dumb can you be, Rodney"![172]
With Bacall andHenry Fonda in the televised version ofThe Petrified Forest, 1955
Bogart rarely performed on television, but he and Bacall appeared onEdward R. Murrow'sPerson to Person and disagreed on the answer to every question. He also appeared onThe Jack Benny Program, where a survivingkinescope of the live telecast captures him in his only TV sketch-comedy performance (October 25, 1953).
Bogart and Bacall worked on an early color telecast in 1955, anNBC adaptation of "The Petrified Forest" forProducers' Showcase. Bogart receivedtop billing,Henry Fonda played Leslie Howard's role and Bacall playedBette Davis's part.Jack Klugman,Richard Jaeckel, andJack Warden played supporting roles. In the late 1990s, Bacall donated the only knownkinescope of the 1955 performance (in black and white) to the Museum of Television & Radio (now thePaley Center for Media), where it remains archived for viewing in New York City and Los Angeles. It is now in the public domain.
Bogart also performed radio adaptations of some of his best-known films, such asCasablanca andThe Maltese Falcon, and recorded a radio series entitledBold Venture with Bacall.
Bogart became a father at age 49, when Bacall gave birth to their sonStephen Humphrey Bogart on January 6, 1949, during the filming ofTokyo Joe.[86] The name was taken from Steve, Bogart's character's nickname inTo Have and Have Not.[173] Stephen became an author and biographer and hosted a television special about his father onTurner Classic Movies. The couple's second child and daughter, Leslie Howard Bogart, was born on August 23, 1952. Her first and middle names honorLeslie Howard, Bogart's friend and co-star inThe Petrified Forest.[74][86]
The name stuck and was made official at Romanoff's in Beverly Hills. Sinatra was dubbed pack president; Bacall den mother; Bogart director of public relations, and Sid Luft acting cage manager.[175] Asked by columnistEarl Wilson what the group's purpose was, Bacall replied: "To drink a lot of bourbon and stay up late."[174]
Bogart's niche in the Columbarium of Eternal Light, Garden of Memory of Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California
After signing a long-term deal with Warner Bros., Bogart predicted with glee that his teeth and hair would fall out before the contract ended. By 1955, however, his health was failing. In the wake of Santana, Bogart had formed a new company and had plans for a film (Melville Goodwin, U.S.A.) in which he would play a general and Bacall a press magnate. His persistent cough and difficulty eating became too serious to ignore, though, and he dropped the project.[177] The film was re-tooled asTop Secret Affair and released just two weeks after Bogart's death in 1957, withKirk Douglas andSusan Hayward replacing Bogart and Bacall.
A heavy smoker and drinker, Bogart had developedesophageal cancer. He did not talk about his health and visited a doctor in late January 1956 after considerable persuasion from Bacall. The disease worsened and several weeks later, on March 1, Bogart had surgery to remove hisesophagus, twolymph nodes and a rib. The surgery was unsuccessful, andchemotherapy followed.[178] He had additional surgery in November 1956, when the cancer had metastasized.[74] Although he became too weak to walk up and down stairs, he joked despite the pain: "Put me in thedumbwaiter and I'll ride down to the first floor in style." It was then altered to accommodate his wheelchair.[179]Frank Sinatra,Katharine Hepburn, andSpencer Tracy visited him on January 13, 1957. In an interview, Hepburn said:
Spence patted him on the shoulder and said, "Goodnight, Bogie." Bogie turned his eyes to Spence very quietly and with a sweet smile covered Spence's hand with his own and said, "Goodbye, Spence." Spence's heart stood still. He understood.[180]
Himself, he never took his work too seriously. He regarded the somewhat gaudy figure of Bogart, the star, with an amused cynicism; Bogart, the actor, he held in deep respect ... In each of the fountains at Versailles there is a pike which keeps all the carp active; otherwise they would grow over-fat and die. Bogie took rare delight in performing a similar duty in the fountains of Hollywood. Yet his victims seldom bore him any malice, and when they did, not for long. His shafts were fashioned only to stick into the outer layer of complacency, and not to penetrate through to the regions of the spirit where real injuries are done ... He is quite irreplaceable. There will never be another like him.[181]
Bogart was cremated, and his ashes were interred inForest Lawn Memorial Park's Columbarium of Eternal Light in its Garden of Memory inGlendale, California. He was buried with a small, gold whistle that had been part of a charm bracelet he had given to Bacall before they married. On it was inscribed, "If you want anything, just whistle." This alluded to a scene inTo Have and Have Not when Bacall's character says to Bogart shortly after their first meeting, "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."[182]Bogart's estate had a gross value of $910,146 and a net value of $737,668.[183]
Jean-Luc Godard'sBreathless (1960) was the first film to pay tribute to Bogart. Over a decade later, inWoody Allen's comic paeanPlay It Again, Sam (1972), Bogart's ghost aids Allen's character: a film critic having difficulties with women who says that his "sex life has turned into the 'Petrified Forest'".[187]
TheUnited States Postal Service honored Bogart with a stamp in its "Legends of Hollywood" series in 1997, the third figure recognized.[188] At a ceremony attended by Lauren Bacall and the Bogart children, Stephen and Leslie, USPS governing-board chairTirso del Junco delivered a tribute:
"Today, we mark another chapter in the Bogart legacy. With an image that is small and yet as powerful as the ones he left in celluloid, we will begin today to bring his artistry, his power, his unique star quality, to the messages that travel the world."[189]
On June 24, 2006, 103rd Street between Broadway and West End Avenue in New York City was renamed Humphrey Bogart Place. Lauren Bacall and her son, Stephen Bogart, attended the ceremony. "Bogie would never have believed it", she said to the assembled city officials and onlookers.[190]
Al Stewart's 1976 song "Year of the Cat" was influenced byCasablanca and begins with the line "In a morning from a Bogart movie, in a country where they turn back time..."[195]
^Steven Jay Scheider, Ed. pp. 244 and 263; 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Quintessence Editions Limited, 2003. pp. 244 and 263.ISBN0-7641-5907-0.
^abcShipman, David (1989).The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years (3rd ed.). London: Macdonald. p. 68. Shipman indicates the quote is from a 1965 book about Bogart by Richard Gehman citing Frazier. This outline also appears in Frazier's June 2, 1944, profile of Bogart inLife magazine, p. 59
Bogart (song by Nik Kershaw, from the album "Human Racing")
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