Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey DeForest Bogart was born December 25, 1899. His father was Dr. Belmont DeForest Bogart, a surgeon. His mother was Maud Humphrey, a famous children's illustrator. He had two sisters, Kay who died at 34 from peritonitis and Frances Rose who had a breakdown during a difficult 27 hour childbirth. Both his parents were addicted to alcohol and morphine, and his mother, who made as much as $50,000/year doing illustrations of children for advertisements and magazines, was incapable of showing any affection. Consequently, Bogie's (nickname given to him by friend, Spencer Tracy) childhood was terribly unhappy.

Bogart was expelled from Andover in 1918 and joined the Naval Reserve. After his honorable discharge, he made his professional debut as a Japanese butler in a 1921 play in Brooklyn. He would go on to appear in over 20 Broadway productions during his early career and in eleven films between 1930 and 1934.

In 1934, he appeared in a hit play called, "The Petrified Forest" with Leslie Howard. He played the role of Duke Mantee, a ruthless, escaped killer. When Warner Brothers bought the rights to turn it into a film, they wanted Leslie Howard to reprise his role from the play, but they did not want Bogart. Howard refused to do the film unless Bogart was signed. The role won him a contract with Warner Brothers and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. This 1936 film turned out to be his big break.

Bogie would battle with Warner Brothers about film and director choices until 1943 when he starred as the unforgettable Rick Blaine in "Casablanca." The success of this film resulted in a new contract with Warner Brothers that would pay him $200,000 per film and give him the freedom to make decisions about roles.

During production of several of his movies in the forties, Bogart's personal problems caused problems on the set. At the time, he was married to Mayo Methot, and their relationship was reported to be volatile and violent. He had been married twice before, first to Helen Menken from 1926-1927, then to Mary Phillips from 1928-1937. In 1945, he finally found happiness when he divorced Methot and married Lauren Bacall. He and Bacall met and fell in love on the set of "To Have and Have Not," the film debut of the nineteen year old Bacall.

The marriage to Bacall produced two children. In 1945, Stephen Humphrey Bogart was born and named after Bogart's character in "To Have and Have Not" because it was the movie his parents were filming when they met. In 1952, Leslie Howard Bogart was born and named after Leslie Howard, Bogart's friend who had played such an important role in the advancement of Bogart's career.

In 1947, he formed Santana, his own production company. The company produced many films, some memorable, and some not. In 1954, Santana was sold to Columbia for one million dollars.

Bogart's most memorable roles were those of Duke Mantee in "The Petrified Forest," Rick Blaine in "Casablanca," Fred C. Dobbs in "The Treasure of Sierra Madre," Charlie Allnut in "The African Queen," and Captain Queeg in "Caine Mutiny." His only Academy Award win was for "The African Queen," a great 1951 film made with Katharine Hepburn.

Humphrey Bogart died on January 14, 1957 after a battle with cancer. He was a legend while he lived, and now after more than fifty years since his death, he is not only still a legend, but he is larger than life. Many believe that he was the greatest actor to ever grace the screen, and I agree.