Random Facts About Lauren Bacall

Took journalism classes while in high school in the hopes of becoming a reporter. When she met Bette Davis, whom she admired greatly, she switched her ambitions to acting.

Contrary to some reports, Bacall did not have a vocal disorder. However, a type of one has been named after her and Humphrey Bogart. Bogart-Bacall Syndrome (or BBS) is a form of muscle tension dysphonia most common in professional voice users (actors, singers, TV/radio presenters, etc) who habitually use a very low speaking pitch. BBS is more common among women than men and has been blamed on the social pressure that professional women feel to compete with men in the business and professional arenas. The syndrome got its name from the low-pitch speaking tones that both actors used in their performances.

Daughter Leslie Bogart born August 23, 1952. She was named after actor Leslie Howard, who helped Bogart get his breakthrough role in the play, The Petrified Forest.

Having lost her job as a showroom model and quit acting school for lack of funds, the teenage Bacall found work as a Broadway theater usher. George Jean Nathan voted her the prettiest usher of the 1942 season in the pages of Esquire.

Her appearance on a cover of Harper’s Bazaar magazine at 18 years of age, led to her first film role; she was spotted by the wife of director Howard Hawks, who gave her a screen test and cast her in To Have and Have Not (1944).

Her autobiography, By Myself, won a National Book Award in 1980

Her marriage to Humphrey Bogart occurred at the Pleasant Valley area of Richland County, Ohio home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Louis Bromfield, Malabar Farm (now within the township of Lucas, Ohio). The home is now an Ohio State Park.

Her screen persona was totally based and modeled after Howard Hawks’s wife, Slim. She even uses her name in To Have and Have Not.

In 1951, Bacall co-starred with Bogart in the radio drama Bold Venture, playing the caustically affectionate Sailor Duval.

Is known for speaking out her mind and her sarcastic remarks on her colleagues and peers. She has also delivered some of the most iconic lines in movie history.

Is mentioned along with former husband Humphrey Bogart in the 1980s song Key Largo (We had it all, just like Bogie and Bacall).

Is portrayed by Kathryn Harrold in TV movie BOGIE (1980)

Katharine Hepburn, her long-time friend, is the godmother of her son, Sam Robards.

One of the initial Rat Pack with Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Irving Paul Lazar (aka Swifty Lazar) and their close friends.

Originally wanted to be a dancer.

Shortly after Humphrey Bogart’s death, she announced her engagement to Frank Sinatra to the press. Sinatra promptly backed out.

Son Stephen Bogart born January 6, 1949. He was named after Humphrey Bogart’s character from To Have and Have Not (1944).

Still undiscovered, Bacall volunteered as a hostess at the New York chapter of the Stage Door Canteen, working Monday nights when theaters were closed.

Used her mother’s maiden name of Bacal, but added an extra L when she entered the cinema.

Was staying in the same New York apartment building as Beatle John Lennon when he was shot (and later died on 8th December in the Roosevelt Hospital) in 1980. When interviewed on the subject in a UK TV programme hosted by former model Twiggy, Bacall said she had heard the gunshot but assumed that it was a car tire bursting or a vehicle backfiring.

Was crowned Miss Greenwich Village in 1942.

Was paid $125/week for To Have and Have Not (1944).