Watch CBS News

Legendary actress Lauren Bacall dies at age 89

Known for her husky voice and sultry looks, Lauren Bacall, the model-turned-actress who starred with husband Humphrey Bogart in classic movies such as "Key Largo" and "To Have and Have Not," has died at age 89.

Her son told CBS News that she died Tuesday morning in New York City. The Humphrey Bogart estate also confirmed the death.

Born Betty Joan Perske in New York City, she was the daughter of Jewish immigrants and first cousin to Israeli statesman Shimon Peres. As a teenager she became a model and caught the eye of director Howard Hawks. He changed her first name to Lauren; she took her mother's maiden name of Bacal, adding an L -- and her career took off.

Her film debut, in 1944's "To Have and Have Not," immediately made her one of Hollywood's leading ladies. She also met her future husband -- the movie's star, Humphrey Bogart. Bacall was 19 and Bogart was 45.

They starred together again in "The Big Sleep," "Dark Passage" and "Key Largo."

bacall02.jpg
Lauren Bacall CBS News

While the couple continued making movies, they also started a family. They had two children, Stephen H. Bogart and Leslie Bogart.

In 1954, the Hollywood power couple talked with legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow, sharing details about their life together on the CBS interview show "Person to Person."

Bogart died of cancer in 1957. Bacall said she never got over the loss.

She was briefly engaged to Frank Sinatra and later married Jason Robards, with whom she had one child, the actor Sam Robards. The marriage ended in divorce.

And she kept her career alive. She won Tony Awards for her Broadway performances in "Applause" and "Woman of the Year." She was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for 1996's "The Mirror Has Two Faces," in which she played the still-glamorous mother of a dowdy professor played by Barbra Streisand.

In 2010, she was recognized with an honorary Academy Award.

bacall06.jpg
Her most famous pairing: Bogie and Bacall.

With her husky voice, lanky figure and heavy-lidded, green eyes, Bacall at once embodied a cool languor and a smoky sexiness. She was nicknamed "The Look."

Although she became famous as one half of "Bogie and Bacall," she also had memorable roles without Bogart in films such as "How to Marry a Millionaire" (1953), "Designing Woman" (1957), "Sex and the Single Girl" (1964) and "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974).

She appeared in the 1990 film adaptation of Stephen King's thriller "Misery" and co-starred with Jack Lemmon and James Garner in 1996's "My Fellow Americans."

One of her last roles came this year, when she provided the voice of Evelyn for the animated TV show "Family Guy."

Bacall once worried her obituary would be all about Bogart. But stealing Bogie's heart was just the opening act in a career that lasted decades and made her one of the last of the stars of Hollywood's Golden Age.

She uttered some of the most memorable lines in cinematic history. In "The Big Sleep," Bogart's Philip Marlowe asks her, "What's wrong with you?" Bacall's Vivian Rutledge replies, "Nothing you can't fix."

But her most famous line came in the movie "To Have and Have Not":

"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together ... and blow."

In 2005, Bacall said she never realized how iconic that line would become.

"I had no idea, no idea that it would have that effect," she said.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.