Bette Davis (53 page)

NOTES FOR CHAPTERS 9-17

At Boston University, vital information on Davis's film work at Universal iand Warner Bros, came from scrapbooks #4; #6; #7; #8; #9; #10; #11; #12; #13; #14; #15; #16; #17; #18; #19; #20; #21; #22; #23; #24; #25; #26; #27; !#28; #29; #30; #31; #32; #33; #34; #35; #36; #37; #38; #39; #40; #41; #42; |#43; #44; #45; #45a; #46; #47; #48; #49; #50; #55; #56; uncatalogued scrap-ibooks C, P, and G; Ruthie's 1934 gift scrapbook to Bette; uncatalogued Brown Album, Pink Album, and Black Album ("Houses, inside and out'*). Also Rev. Paul Favor's unpublished family history and Ruthie Davis's unpublished mem-loirs.

At the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, the Universal Collection—Shooting Record of Pictures 1930-1931-1932 and the John Stahl Collection provided information about Davis's Universal period.

Also at USC, I consulted the wealth of documentation on Davis's career at Warners on deposit in the Warner Bros. Collection. In addition to studio files on Davis and her films, I examined the collection's files on Hal Wallis, Jack Warner, Henry Blanke, Casey Robinson, William Wyler, Lenore Coffee, Edmund Goulding, Vincent Sherman, Julius and Philip Epstein, Michael Curtiz, Robert Lord, Darryl Zanuck, Irving Rapper, John Huston, Steve Trilling, Al Alleborn, R. J. Obringer, Archie Mayo, Al Green, William Keighley, George S. Kaufman.

Other essential Warner material was located in the Jack Warner Collection ; and the Bill Schaefer Collection (Warner Bros. Films—Casts/Grosses '22-'67) at USC.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, William Wyler's personal papers were an invaluable resource for this biography. Few people in Holly-jwood understood Davis's work as an actress as well as Wyler did. Read in ! conjunction with Bette's annotations on her scripts for the films she and Wyler made together, Wyler's notes, rewrites, and annotated scripts provided much fascinating information about their creative collaboration.

At the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, I examined the Hal Wallis Collection, the Perc Westmore Collection, the John Huston Collection, the Edith Head Collection, the Hedda Hopper Collection, and the Irving Rapper Collection.

Of many books on the Hollywood studio system consulted, four proved particularly useful: Rudy Behlmer, Inside Warner Bros. ; Neal Gaoler, An Empire of Their Own; Ethan Mordden, The Hollywood Studios; and Thomas Schatz, The Genius of the System.

Other material came from the following sources: Bette Davis's FBI file #100-352574; Bette's letters to Robin Brown, various dates; William Grant Sherry's letters to Robin and Albert Brown, various dates; letter from A. L. Roper, Toeplitz Productions, to Bette, August 27, 1936; letter from Helen Hayes to

Bette, n.d.; letter from Ham Nelson to Bette, n.d.; letter from Bette to Teddy Newton, n.d.; marriage license and marriage certificate, Harmon Oscar Nelson, Jr. and Ruth Elizabeth Davis, August 18, 1932, Yuma, Arizona, Superior Court; divorce papers, Harmon Oscar Nelson, Jr. vs. Ruth Elizabeth Davis, Case #D 174595, Los Angeles Superior Court; death certificate, Harlow Mor-rell Davis, January 3, 1938, Middlesex County, Mass.; Mount Auburn Cemetery records, Cambridge, Mass.; Mount Pleasant Cemetery Records, Augusta, Me.; marriage certificate, Robert Woodbury Palmer and Ruth Favor Davis, November 27, 1945; marriage certificate, Otho W. Budd and Ruth Favor Davis, April 27, 1950; divorce papers, Barbara F. Pelgram vs. Robert Cole Pel-gram, Case #23491, February 28, 1945, Judicial District Court, Clark County, Nev.; marriage certificate, David Roscoe Berry and Barbara Davis Pelgram, June 25, 1947, Clark County, Nev.; birth certificate, Arthur Austin Farns-worth, January 2, 1909; death certificate, Arthur Austin Famsworth, August 31, 1943; marriage certificate, William Grant Sherry and Marion Dolores Richards, August 11, 1950.

NOTES FOR CHAPTER 17-EPILOGUE

At Boston University, vital information on Davis's post-Warners years came from scrapbooks #50; #51; #52; #53; #54; #55; #56; #59. Also uncatalogued scrapbooks: 1951 Life at Beach with Gary Merrill; Big Black Book; 1959-1960, annotated by B.D.; Keep as is—Gary and me; White Leather Scrapbook 1961-1963, annotated by B.D.; White Leather Scrapbook (1969); Lots of B.D.—houses, Charlotte; B.D.; Scrapbook of trip to Cannes and B.D. romance with Jeremy Hyman; Scrapbook of Italian trip, annotated by attorney Tom Hammond; Houses, inside and out; Big Brown Book 1976-1978; Miss D. and relatives; Very Special Photos 1980s; Awards— Family Reunion Party 1982; 1988-89 A Lot with Kath; AFI Award; Festival de Deauville; Whales; Plus de Deauville and Kennedy Center Awards; Caesars-Paris; Assorted Family and Professional.

I also read Davis's personal diaries for 1958,1967, 1968,1970,1971,1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1976.

Other material came from the following documents: Bette's letters to Robin Brown, various dates; Bette's letters to Charles Pollock, various dates; Bette's letters to Vik Greenfield, various dates; B.D. Hyman's letters to Vik Greenfield, various dates; B.D. Hyman's letters to Charles Pollock, various dates; B.D. Hyman's letters to Bette, various dates; Michael Merrill's letters to Bette, various dates; Gary Merrill's letters to Bette, various dates; letter from Gary Merrill to Robin Brown, n.d.; death certificate, Ruth Favor Davis, July 5, 1961; Tennessee Williams's unpublished letters to Bette, various dates; Tennessee Williams's unpublished letter to Bette, Maggie, Allen, and Pat, n.d.; Tennessee Williams's unpublished Author's Notes on Last Scene: For Maggie and Pat, n.d.; card from Bobby Davis to Bette, n.d.; divorce papers, Barbara Merrill vs. Gary Franklin Merrill, Case No. D 399,466, Los Angeles Superior Court; birth certificate, Barbara Davis Merrill (altered when Gary Merrill adopted B.D.); letter from Michael Merrill to Gary Merrill, July 1962; affidavit of Michael Parlow, investigator, February 18, 1964; divorce papers, Bette

Davis Merrill vs. Gary F. Merrill, Case No. WED 2895, Los Angeles Superior Court; Last Will and Testament, Gary F. Merrill, July 14, 1989; Consent of Parent or Guardian to Issuance of Marriage License for marriage of Barbara Davis Sherry to Jeremy Aubrey Hyman, December 23, 1963; Davis's handwritten notes on her actions regarding Miss Moffat; Kathryn Sermak's notes to Bette at the time of Davis's 1983 hospitalization; letter from Pierre Kalfon to Kathryn Sermak, August 22, 1987; Kathryn Sermak's annotated publicity schedule for Bette Davis; handwritten speech for Bette Davis's Lincoln Center Film Society tribute; Kathryn Sermak's notebook and yellow pad; Bette Davis's Social Security Administration file, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Important background on Davis's film and stage work in this period came from her annotated scripts for The Night of the Iguana, All About Eve, and other projects, deposited at Boston University. The Warners archive at USC provided information about her participation in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane ? and Dead Ringer, with additional material coming from the Jack Warner Collection, also at USC. Other career data came from the MGM Collection and the 20th Century-Fox Collection at USC.

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