It’s been a hard month for Hollywood icons… First, we said goodbye to James Garner, then Robin Williams. And Tuesday, we lost one of the greatest leading ladies of the silver screen, from when it really was silver. Lauren Bacall has died in New York at 89. She didn’t start out as an icon of glamor. She didn’t even start out as Lauren Bacall. A true American Dream story, she was born Betty Joan Perske in Brooklyn, the daughter of poor Jewish immigrants. Her parents soon divorced, and she had to work for every scrap. But her drop-dead beauty won her a modeling contract at 18. It’s hard to believe, but when she ignited the screen in her movie debut, “To Have and Have Not,” wrapping future husband Humphrey Bogart around her little finger with her femme fatale looks and sultry voice, she was all of 19 years old. Some writers are saying that Lauren Bacall was the last link to the Golden Age of Hollywood. How could they forget the great Olivia DeHaviland? Still going strong in Paris at 98.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 12:00:34 +0000