Remembering Humphrey Bogart: January 14: Snapshots in History

On January 14 and beyond, take a moment to remember the life and acting career of Humphrey Bogart (Born: December 25, 1899, New York City, New York; Died: January 14, 1957, Los Angeles, California). In June 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Humphrey Bogart as the top male actor of all time in the history of American cinema.

Bogart’s scholastic record was undistinguished so he joined the United States Navy in spring 1918. Following World War One, he worked as a shipper, sold bonds and joined the Naval Reserve. Bogart got introduced to show business through a school friend’s father’s connections. He tried screenwriting, directing and producing but did not shine in these endeavours. However, he found his niche in stage acting, appearing in some 17 Broadway productions between 1922 and 1935. Bogart began acting in films in 1928. With the onset of the Great Depression, Bogart’s stage acting decreased so he turned more to film work but still had frequent periods of unemployment between 1930 and 1935.

Bogart starred in The Petrified Forest both on stage and on-screen in 1935-1936 but things began to look up for Humphrey Bogart as he landed major roles in the film noir productions High Sierra (1941) (with the screenplay written by his good friend John Huston) and The Maltese Falcon (1941) (directed by John Huston in his directorial debut). In 1942, Bogart starred for the first time in a romantic leading role in Casablanca (directed by Michael Curtiz), playing American expatriate nightclub owner Rick Blaine (for which he was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role but lost).

Bogart met his fourth (and final) wife Lauren Bacall when they acted together in To Have and Have Not in 1944 (directed by Howard Hawks). Bacall and Bogart also collaborated on the following film noir productions: The Big Sleep (1946) (directed by Howard Hawks), Dark Passage (1947) (directed by Delmer Daves) and Key Largo (1948) (directed by John Huston). Bogart also collaborated with director John Huston and his father actor Walter Huston on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) for which John Huston won'two Oscars (best directing and best writing – adapted screenplay) and Walter Huston won an Oscar for best supporting actor. Bogart won his only Oscar – for best actor – in The African Queen (1951) (directed by John Huston) in which he starred opposite Katharine Hepburn.

Humphrey Bogart also acted in The Caine Mutiny (1954) (for which he was nominated for best actor but lost to Marlon Brando), Sabrina (1954), The Barefoot Contessa (1954), We’re No Angels (1955), The Left Hand of God (1955), The Desperate Hours (1955), and finally, The Harder They Fall (1956). As a result of heavy smoking and drinking, Bogart developed cancer of the esophagus but did not seek treatment until it was too late to arrest the progress of the disease; he died in January 1957. Consider the following book titles for borrowing from Toronto Public Library collections:

Follow Bogart’s life and his breakthrough into the A-list acting parts in his early 40s in the early 1940s. See how his playing of bad guys and tough guys in acting roles contrasted with his privileged upbringing. Author Raymond Chandler was pleased with Bogart’s casting in The Big Sleep and made the telling comment that “Bogart can be tough without a gun”. Bogart’s rise to the top in the acting world was tempered by his poor health and ultimate death in 1957 from cancer.

Also available in Large Print format.

Contrast the public persona of Humphrey Bogart the actor with his personal demons and doubts, his upper-class background with playing mavericks and tough guys, and his ultimate success in acting with his distrust of celebrity and stardom.

Humphrey Bogart became a father later in life. His son, author Stephen Humphrey Bogart, took a look back at Humphrey Bogart the actor and the father in an attempt to dispel the anger towards the father that he lost when he was only eight years old.

Consider watching the following DVD documentary about Humphrey Bogart: