Fighting those health problems & still very quick wit you can tell she really liked Johnny. The films I've seen with her in them her acting always made you listen carefully. Quite the actress !
People criticized Bette Davis for going out in public in that condition. I mean, she died the year after appearing on this show. My response was she could raise from the dead and come into my home any time.
why the hell are so many people going on about her looks? she was elderly, sick, had gone through hell physically, and beyond that, one of the greatest actors there has ever been! That alone is the only fact that is relevant.
OMG! When she chided the audience for lauging at her sincerety, you could hear a pin drop. Weak and sick with not long to live, still able to command and entire room. She lived her dream! Not many acheive that.
Magnetron33 - He was indeed! But, in honesty, the format “back then” allowed a TV host’s talents to shine so much more as compared to today’s highly scripted four-minute segments. Although Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas were not as brilliant as Carson (and, in any event, occupied a different segment of the television industry), their respective interviews of Martin Luther King, Jr. (easily found on RU-vid) are some of the most compelling interviews in the long history of television.
@@paulinbrooklyn All true, Johnny was the best interviewer I have ever seen. He could get info out of the most difficult and uncooperative of guests. Mike and Merv were also good, but johnny was on another level/ Cavett was also very good
I totally agree with you. I think it is she who should have had most victories in the Oscars. She deserved to win for Of Human Bondage, Jezebel, The Little Foxes, All About Eve and Baby Jane. A true legend! She is the best actor of all time!
What an egotistical old hag!Really showed how nasssty she is when she & martin short were on the show & she looked @ him as though he were trash.Old lady,get over yourself!
"I don't understand the laughter at all." Even my stomach dropped a bit, listening to the audience get scolded by Bette Davis LOL. Amazing that in the state she was in she could still be a force of nature. Always loved her!
Quickstar989 Lol despite that the audience was right to laugh, Bette was extremely unkind to Lillian Gish during the filming. By that time Lillian was quite hard of hearing Bette made various cracks including one about how Lillian couldn't do close-ups well which baffled her because she was around when they invented them. They had a huge birthday party for Lillian who celebrated her 93rd birthday while shooting, everybody in the cast was there except for Bette who refused to attend.
Quickstar989 No kidding. I just wanted to say, "Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am for my presumptuous laughter." She was a tough old bird, that's for sure. And, WHAT AN ACTRESS!! Amazing.
Quickstar989 I would be ashamed too if I was part of that snickering audience. 😔😔 I think they were probably thinking besides Joan Crawford that she may have a hidden gesture on her.
Funny, when she hit the movies in the late '60's, Faye always seemed more like an old time star. Joan Crawford thought so! Faye was WAY more pulled together than stars at that time who were doing through an anti-fashion era.
The sad part about the Dunaway burn is, I believe Bette. Bette was the consumate Professional. She was also brutally honest even about herself. One of the most real people I have ever seen
"If your going to smoke, Smoke and don't worry about it, if you're gonna Worry about it Quit"! A quote from my doctor whom finally quit at 73 - Point: Stress is far more dangerous...
It's amazing that after everything she had gone through, all the fights she fought, all the personal tragedies, she was still corageous and witty like a young girl would be. What a spirit and what an inspiration. She never gave up.
davis was tough because she insisted on good scripts..not because she was a difficult actor....she was in fact as she says...the consummate professional.
What an amazing woman...a stunning actress...with a HUGE dramatic ability "Who is the worst person to work with?"....LMFAO....Faye Dunaway...without 1 second hesitation........and she is 100% correct!!....At the time a bloody terror!
she's too smart and witty for Carson and the audience... People would automatically assume she was bitchy all the time when in fact she was one of the most respectable and classiest woman in Hollywood
Jason Ramos I played it back several times and never did understand what he said. I have a few guesses, but it doesn’t seem those would have been bleeped. Is it something you could write on RU-vid? After all, it is 32 years later. 😉
@@leonandrews7180 Nothing "angry" about a LEGEND admonishing a bunch of idiots that seems to think everything is "funny"! CLASSIC is what this clip is.
@Marie Marie I'll give ya 2. "Jezabel" and "What ever happened to Baby Jane." Imo I totally respect you not liking her tho. Some ppl think Will Ferrell is terrific but I, do not.
L-E-G-E-N-D in her own time, our time, and in all other future times. The epitomy of the word STAR. This was absolutely delightful to see! I respected her talent so much before, but now having seen this, I can see just how magnificently classy she actually was.
Geoffrey Rose A woman is a "controller" a man "controls." Such absolute bullsh*t. Ms. Davis did Ms. Davis, on her terms, by herself in a business run by men. Credit due!
***** Absolutely! Frank Sinatra's "My Way" was for him a powerful anthem but when a woman does it her way she's a man-hating controlling bitch...double standard and she acted the pants off them all. Kudos to Bette****ground breaker****!
She had courage in her career and off screen not to mention her immense talent that millions have benefited from. She fought the studio system at a time when women had little voice in their careers and then she fought betrayal and cancer right up to the bitter end. She had little vanity and made it more about her performance then a glamorous image. She always said it was all about the work. And for her it was. We have her enduring performances to attest to that.
"I do not know why you're laughing, I'm being sincere about Miss Gish. I don't understand the laughter AT ALL..I have no hidden meaning. She's a delightful, delightful person.." Audience: 😨suitably chastised [stunned silence] ..but don't get me started about Faye Dunaway😂
Seeing and listening to her sends shivers up my spine. At that time - and forever - she will be the Queen of Hollywood. She may in fact be the greatest actress of all time; move over Meryl Streep.
Meryl Streep is so f*cking overrated. She has another movie coming out, next week I think. How about giving these parts to other actresses and see what they can do with them, rather than give them to Meryl Streep all of the time. Half the reason Streep is lauded and applauded and rewarded with trophies, is that she has this Ivy League / patrician / Mayflower background. If she was just some middle-class woman from New Jersey with a electrician for a father, no one would give a shit about her.
Apocalypse Plough I don't understand people... BOTH Davis and Streep are astoundingly gifted and driven. One doesn't have to LIKE them but one can't deny their talent.
Apocalypse Plough I'll get crucified for saying this, but I agree with you: Meryl Streep is SO over-rated. And you are 100% correct about her Ivy League/patrician/Mayflower background. She's good enough -- don't get me wrong. She just isn't THE actress. Even Bette Davis said Streep was mannered, and it's true. The woman can do an accent, though; no question about that.
Betty Davis was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! She was SO humorous!!!!!!!!! I loved her interviews so much. I really miss her. RIP you wonderfully AMAZING ans TALENTED woman!!!!!!!!
She is a true professional actress and entertainer. Professional, intelligent, witty and laughs out loud. Full of life even in not the best of health. A real original.
There’s a hit song from the 1980 s called Bette Davis eyes. You young people should listen to it. And watch her films. Her eyes were mesmerizing. She could convey every emotion possible with her eyes. She was one of a kind for sure.
@HouseTM Thank you for clearing up Johnny's comment!! I have been listening to this few seconds over and over trying to understand him. Ms. Davis's reaction was wonderful too! 😂😂😂
Bette endured a lot and she worked up until the very end. She endured her ungrateful daughter's bio on her. She endured cancer and mastectomys and a major stroke.. She shows a lot of class and itelligence and tenacity. She also is one strong willed, confident and interesting actors that kept audiences entertained. These Boring fashion plate stars are either spouting off about politics or some mindless dribble that show's us how bad Hollywood has fallen.
I remember this interview from when it first aired. It sticks out in my mind because of the very frank comment at 10:12 about Faye Dunaway. It made me laugh then, and still does. A lot of people, when they reach the age she was here, lose their filter and speak very bluntly. If she had been asked the same question five years earlier, I think she would have answered much more carefully. But at this point, she spoke the complete truth and didn't give a darn.
perenceja What as ass you are! Very insulting and disrespectful! Go back under your rock you loser! The gloves were part of the outfit. I assume you cover up being as shriveled and dried up as you are!
@108833476889995179233 You know NOTHING about me. So cork it and I was answering the other person's question as to why she wore gloves. So shut your piehole. And I can't be disrespectful if she's dead.
A few days after her death I received a letter by Vincent Price: "What a great actress she was - and thanks to movies always will be! I liked her for many reasons but above all for her talent."
She was ravaged with cancer at this stage hence her being so very thin and had suffered a series of strokes, been through breast cancer and a mastectomy. The song Bette Davis Eyes did indeed apply to this star. In her younger days, she was a stunning woman with those infamous eyes.
Bless her--right to the end! "Every person you could put in this chair would tell you the same exact same thing!" Loved it...and thanks for sharing this!
One of my favorite interviews of Bette Davis on Johnny Carson's show ion 1988. She's funny, down to earth and not ashamed to tell the audience she didn't know why the were laughing when she spoke so highly of Lillian Gish that she was sincere in her comment' she set the audience in their place and the studio got quiet because they knew she meant it. She was a wonderful actress and a classy lady.
I love how Bette got her fashion on point later in life. The older she got, the more she upped the glam. Bravo for giving us your best even when you didn’t feel it. We love you.
Love her! I could listen to her all day. Funny she mentioned Faye Dunaway as being the most unprofessional person she’s ever worked with. It was in the news yesterday Faye was fired from a broadway play for being too difficult to work with. Guess she’s been that way all her life.
Even post-stroke, Bette was sharp as a tack all the way to the end ... freaking hilarious. Her rant about Faye Dunaway wouldn't even be aired today! One of the few good things about being old is being able to speak your mind!
On an early Saturday morning, a friend and teaching colleague phoned me and asked if I would like to be in a movie with Bette Davis;she knew how much I adored Miss Davis. Of course, I replied, what's the deal? Well, we can go to this old church in downtown (Denver) where they're doing a shoot and be extras. We must dress in 20s style so we can be in the congregation. Done, I said. And I hurriedly dressed on a white duck-cloth suit with bowtie and spectator shoes. When we arrived, lots and lots of people had the same idea. We were given a box lunch as pay and ushered in. Because we were later we were seated near the rear. And then we learn from others that the film was biopic of Aimee Semple McPherson, the evangelist, to be portrayed by Faye Dunaway; Miss Davis was to portray Aimee's mother. After a long while, using those old-fashioned palmetto fans in the backs of the pews, Miss Davis appears, wearing an obvious tailored, elegant, wool suit with a fur over her shoulders. Huge applause which she graciously acknowledged. And then she spoke. It seems, as she put it, that Miss Dunaway was still in her trailer learning her lines. (Davis was upset at the unprofessionalism of keeping us waiting as well as other actors and crew.) She then offered to entertain us a bit whilst we waited. Someone in the congregation yelled, "Sing "Ive Written a Letter to Daddy," (from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane) and she smiled---and did--sang the entire song with those childlike movements she used in the film, ones her character would have used eons ago on the burlesque circuit.) We were on our feet with joy and appreciation. She had thrown her fu on to the high-back pulpit area chair that she would sit in later, and unbuttoned her suit jacket;it was quite warm. Finally, Miss Dunaway appears and the applause was polite but mild. And the shoot began. It was a made for TV film and not a critical success. My friend and I watched but couldn't be seen as we were so far in the rear. And here, with Johnny Carson, Bette Davis relates this story. With all the scorn Dunaway is receiving about the Mommie Dearest stuff, it was as germane to our time as when it happened. But truly a thrill to see Miss Davis after all the pleasure she has brought me, especially "Now, Voyager" and "All about Eve!"
these 2 together - CHEMISTRY personified! Bette Davis is just SUCH a class act - Smart, witty, yet so down to earth and practical. The stroke and cancer didn't affect her great mind one tiny bit. What a shame life is so short; I wish she were still with us.
I remember this live performance like it was yesterday. The next night, Johnny explained to the prior nights audience that is what Bette is like...don't take it personally.
Bless her heart , I saw Bette Davis in London at the Palladian when I was in my early 20s. ..it really didn't matter what she looked like or how old she was because she was , and still is ,, a legend and a brilliant actress . Never vain or condescending , my Jewish mother was an evil , vicious bully who would beat myself and my siblings both physically and psychologically. ...the latter being the worst ...I have written a book about the childhood we had which includes private information from G.P.s and other medical sources who l contacted before having my own children . My father was not aware of most of her abuse because he worked so hard to provide for my mother and us , his children but during the last 10 to 14 years of his life I was able to talk in depth to him about my / our tortured childhood , as she is still alive and just as vicious I have no contact since my father died BUT l would never have the book published until after her death . Bette's daughter was quite wicked in publishing whilst her mother was suffering so badly from ill health .
@@SinfulCadence Not just because she's elderly, but because a gentleman would out of courtesy give an assist to a lady. There was a time when men would respectfully rise from their seats when a woman walked into a room and greet her. At the dinner table a gentleman would pull out a chair for her and help her be seated. Courtesy and respect.
@@annarodriguez9868 I get what you're driving at , but its difficult. Alot of women are bent out of shape to not have those things done for them because it's "suggesting that women are weak and need those things done for them". Gentleman are labeled creeps if they aren't attractive and all that good stuff. I hope you have or will find that gentleman though. Chivalry is nice. Times were simpler. Feminism didn't mean masculinity, and women were allowed to shine as inspirational beings who found pride and strength in their innate femininity. And men were allowed to appreciate it.
@@SinfulCadenceThank you for your kind wish for me, but I'm not a young woman looking for a good man. I was already very blessed to have a wonderful husband who was a dear friend from the time we met in high school. We were married in 1968 and had 3 children and would have had more if could. We had 4 grandchildren before he died in 2004 from cancer, but we had a beautiful life together. I only wish we had grown old together. If you have seen the beginning of the movie "Up" then you might have an idea of what my husband and I were like. He was quiet and shy and I was the outgoing chatterbox. We balanced each other so well. A true gentleman and a real man. At this time I'm blessed to be a great grandma of 7 beautiful children who love dearly. It's still a Wonderful Life. Peace and blessings to you and I pray you find the one who will love and appreciate you as you are.
I am in the safety of my home but I did NOT DARE laugh a 2nd time about the Lillian Gish coment when she asked "why are you laughing - I am serious" LOL
The one and only! Outspoken, no b/s. strong and fearless! What an incredible life she had. Thanks for all your artistic gifts, for advancing women's rights, your humor and the hours of entertainment you gave to the public, Ms. Davis!
Betty Davis turned 80 April 5 1988. She died Oct 6, 1989 almost 1 and 1/2 years after this interview. She was a great star, highly respected in the movie industry, and a woman of elegance.
Wow does this bring back some fond memories.......both legendary in their fields. When T.V. truly was entertaining and "clean". Those days are sadly and surely over.
zerkzy842 I was less bothered by the fact that she was in blackface than by the fact that she said she put on blackface and a "negro wig" because she was feeling "mournful." She's a product of her time; that's why I'm not shocked by her being in blackface. I just don't like that she described it as mournful. Like black is the saddest thing you could ever be.
I know it's hard to imagine, but blackface at that time is almost nothing like how we think of it today. There's another interview where she describes that as well that gives a bit better insight. It's very important we don't take our own modern selves in to the past to pass judgements on a single person.
@@Radjehuty not true. The lies u tell. We as African americans, black peopke, coloreds, negroes, etc were highly offended and hurt thrn as we would be now. The difference is that SOME of yall care more now as opposed to almost none then. Not one pause in the audience, huh...?????
she may have been physically in poor health at this point but she remained sharp mentally...a great actress and a truly real and honest person that has not been tainted by her celebrity status.
