Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
Love Story
The great romance of Humphrey Bogart &
Lauren Bacall is one such story -- instantly smitten with one another,
many would have been concerned with the vast gap in their age;
but Humphrey & Lauren (or Bogie & Baby, as they so fondly
called one another) were besotted, and looked beyond the mere number
that is their age, and instead, let love flourish through their mutual
interests, their instant attraction to one another, and the sparks that
flew whenever they were in a room together . . .
Bogie & Baby First Meeting
One morning, while flicking through the latest Harper’s Bazaar, Howard’s wife noticed an absolutely stunning girl on the cover.
With high cheekbones, soft auburn hair, and a tall athletic build, Mrs
Hawks immediately showed the cover to her husband suggesting he call her
in for a screen test.
At that time, Lauren had no yet changed
her name and was known as Betty Bacall. She was a young, 19 year old
girl working as a model, and had never dreamed of the possibility of
Hollywood! Of course, Lauren was a natural at the screen test, and at their first meeting, at the Warner Bros, studio, she found Bogart
"slighter than I imagined wearing his costume of no-shape
trousers, cotton shirt and scarf around neck. Nothing of import was
said, but he seemed a friendly man." Some weeks later, after auditioning
for To Have and Have Not, she again bumped into Bogie. "I just saw your
test," he said. "We'll have a lot of fun together." The fun didn't
start at once. Though her character in the film was sophisticated, in
real life Bacall was sexually inexperienced and so nervous on the set
that she physically shook. During her first scene, "I realized that one
way to hold my trembling head still was to keep it down, chin low,
almost to my chest, and eyes up at Bogart," she wrote in her 1978
autobiography, Lauren Bacall: By Myself. "It worked." In fact, "the
Look" would be known as Bacall's trademark. Howard Hawks decided ‘Betty Bacall’ simply would not do for a
future silver screen star and insisted she change her name to Lauren.
Through out the movie, Humphrey took on
the role of mentor and teacher, and the pair instantly formed an
intimate bond. However, unfortunately at that time, Humphrey was
involved in a loveless marriage to actress Mayo Methot.
The pair began a very discreet affair, which was quite out of the norm
for Humphrey -- he was torn between loyalty to his wife, despite them
being almost estranged, and the deep feelings he felt for his new love.
The affair continued for some months until
finally, in February 1945, Humphrey & Mayo divorced. On May 21,
1946 on a farm in Pleasant Valley, Richland County, Ohio, Humphrey, aged
46, & Lauren, aged 20, were married. The farm belonged to
Humphrey’s good friend, Pulitzer winning author, Louis Bromfield.
The Wedding
Bacall: “In the bathroom I could hear the start of
the Wedding March. Oh God, why hadn’t they waited? Later George told me
Bogie looked up and said, ‘Where is she?’ George’s romantic reply:
‘Hold it! She’s in the can!’ I emerged -- [the piano player] started
again -- and George and I started our descent. My knees shook so, I was
sure I’d fall down the stairs. Bogie standing there looking so
vulnerable and so handsome . . .
“When
I reached Bogie, he took my hand -- the enormous, beautiful white
orchids I was holding were shaking themselves to pieces; as I stood
there, there wasn’t a particle of me that wasn’t moving visibly…As I
glanced at Bogie, I saw tears streaming down his face -- his ‘I do’ was
strong and clear, though. As Judge Shettler said, “I now pronounce you
man and wife,’ Bogie and I turned toward each other -- he leaned to kiss
me -- I shyly turned my cheek -- all those eyes watching made me very
self-conscious. He said, ‘Hello, Baby’. I hugged him and was reported to
have said, “Oh, goody.’ Hard to believe, but maybe I did.”
“Everyone
hugged and kissed everyone else and more tears were shed. Bogie said it
was when he heard the beautiful words of the ceremony and realized what
they meant -- what they should mean -- that he cried.”
In all, the pair acted in four big screen
movies together, as well as countless television and radio series. They
were one of the most successful acting couples in history. Settling down
with their two children in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, the pair seemed
to live an idyllic, immensely private life.
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It was on the New Year's of 1956, while out to lunch at Romanoffs that Bogie, a heavy smoker for many years, began coughing terribly. He visited his doctor, and it was discovered that he had cancer of the oesophagus. Two short months later, he endured a nine and a half hour operation to remove his oesophagus and returned home in a wheelchair. Frail and weak, Humphrey would live out the rest of his days bedridden.
His adoring wife was constantly at his side, tending to his every need, and accommodating all visitors as best she could. On January 12, 1957, good friends Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn called to visit. Katharine recounted of their visit that, as they left, "He (Bogie) looked up at Spencer with the most rueful smile and said, 'Goodbye Spence,' and you could tell that he meant it. He'd always said, 'Goodnight' before. When we went downstairs, Spence looked at me and said, 'Bogie's going to die.'"
The next morning, Lauren went to pick
their children up from Sunday school. Humphrey nodded as she left and
nonchalantly said, “Good bye, kid”. Upon her return, Lauren found
Humphrey in a coma -- a coma he was never to wake from. The next
morning, at 2:25am, Humphrey passed away and Lauren was left a widow at
32.
"I hope Bogie knew how much I loved him,
how much he meant to me, how I highly valued him. I've had another life
since then, but he was my first love. And you never forget your first
love" -- Lauren Bacall
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