Tuesday, 7 June 2011

A bit about Bogie

Did some research on Humphrey:

Humphrey DeForest Bogart was born December 25, 1899 in New York City, New York to Belmont and Maud Bogart.

Humphrey was married 4 times, the 4th being Lauren Bacall who he met in 1944 and married a year later. They had two children: Stephen Humphrey Bogart on January 6, 1949 (named after Bogart's character's nickname in To Have and Have Not) and Leslie Howard Bogart on August 23, 1952, (named after British actor Leslie Howard)

Bogart, Bacall and Sinatra
I confirmed my father's understanding; that he started losing his hair in 1947 reportedly due to hormone shots among other things. He was apparently completely bald by the time he got to Mexico to shoot Dark Passage. Vitamin B shots reportedly helped restore some of his hair but regularly wore toupees from then on. This leads me to think my figure being bald and having fair hair may have been a true to life version of Bogie and not the more common Character portrayal (Casablanca, African Queen, etc.) version. At least that’s what I hope.

During a film career of almost thirty years, he appeared in 75 feature films.

By the mid-1950s, being both a heavy smoker and drinker, Bogart's health was failing. Reportedly, after signing a long-term deal with Warner Bros., Bogart predicted with glee that his teeth and hair would fall out before the contract ended.

January of 1956 Humphrey was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus and passed away at the early age of 57 in 1957.

His cremated remains are interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California. Buried with him is a small gold whistle, which he had given to Lauren, before they married. In reference to their first movie together, it was inscribed: "If you want anything, just whistle."

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