Humphrey Bogart on stage, screen, radio and television

Humphrey Bogart (1899–1957)[1][2] was an American actor and producer whose 36-year career began with live stage productions in New York in 1920. He had been born into an affluent family in New York's Upper West Side,[3] the first-born child and only son of illustrator Maud Humphrey and physician Belmont DeForest Bogart.[1] The family eventually came to include his sisters Patricia and Catherine.[4] His parents believed he would excel academically, possibly matriculate at Yale University and become a surgeon.[5] They enrolled him in the private schools of Delancey, Trinity, and Phillips Academy, but Bogart was not inclined as a scholar and never completed his studies at Phillips, joining the United States Navy in 1918.[5]

Bogart in Brother Orchid, 1940

On the completion of his military service, Bogart began working in theatrical productions. He was initially employed as a manager behind the scenes for the plays Experience and The Ruined Lady, before trying his talents on stage in the 1922 play Drifting. A recurring legend about Bogart is that his dialog in the 1925 play Hell's Bells was "Tennis anyone?", but Bogart denied it, saying his line was, "It's forty-love outside. Anyone care to watch?"[6] His body of stage work included more than a dozen plays, and lasted a little over a decade. He began to pursue a career in film by 1928, first appearing in the short film The Dancing Town, and then in the 1930 short film Broadway's Like That. Bogart appeared in 75 feature films, and initially believed he was on the road to stardom when he secured a 1929 contract with Fox Film. The resulting productions of A Devil with Women, Up the River, A Holy Terror, Body and Soul and Women of All Nations for Fox, as well as Bad Sister for Universal Pictures, were collectively a disappointment to him, and he returned to stage work in New York.

Bogart's break-out role was that of escaped murderer Duke Mantee whom he played in 197 performances of the 1935 Broadway theatre production of The Petrified Forest, with actor Leslie Howard in the lead. The play, and his subsequent casting in the movie version, propelled him to stardom, and secured him a movie contract with Warner Bros. He made 48 films for them, including The Maltese Falcon, To Have and Have Not, Key Largo, and Casablanca, the last of which earned Bogart his first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Bogart won the award on his second nomination, for his 1951 performance in the United Artists production The African Queen. His third Oscar nomination was for his performance in the 1954 Columbia Pictures production The Caine Mutiny. In addition to his film work, Bogart guest-starred in numerous radio and television programs, primarily reprising his film roles. He formed Santana Productions in 1948; the company's 1950 production of In a Lonely Place was chosen by the National Film Registry in 2007 for permanent preservation as "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. Santana Productions also created the 1951–1952 Bold Venture half-hour radio series as a vehicle for Bogart and his wife Lauren Bacall.

Broadway theatre (1920–1935)

Bogart and Shirley Booth in Hell's Bells, 1925

After Bogart completed his World War I service with the United States Navy, he found theatrical employment in New York. He stage-managed the 1920 play Experience, and later became a road manager for The Ruined Lady.[1] When he began to pursue an acting career, his debut role was in the 1922 play Drifting.[7]

He appeared in 18 productions on Broadway, including the role that would propel him to fame and success in the movie industry; from January through June 1935, he appeared in 197 performances of The Petrified Forest as Duke Mantee, a murderer fleeing across the Arizona-Mexico border to evade capture by law enforcement.[8] Leslie Howard appeared in the lead role as intellectual idealist Alan Squier.[9] With the exception of The Petrified Forest, the sources do not indicate whether or not Bogart was in the entire run of any production.

Broadway theatre credits of Humphrey Bogart[10]
TitleYearRoleTheatreNotesRef.
Drifting1922Multiple rolesPlayhouse Theatre[7]
Swifty1922Tom ProctorPlayhouse Theatre[11]
Meet the Wife1923Gregory BrownKlaw Theatre[12]
Nerves1924Bob ThatchComedy Theatre[13]
Hell's Bells1925Jimmy TodhunterWallack's Theatre[14]
Cradle Snatchers1925Jose VallejoMusic Box Theatre[15]
Baby Mine1927Alfred HardyChanin's 46th Street Theatre[16][17]
Saturday's Children1927Rims O'NeilBooth Theatre[18]
Saturday's Children1928Rims O'NeilForrest Theatre[19]
Skyrocket1929Vic. EwingLyceum Theatre[20]
It's a Wise Child1929–1930Roger BaldwinBelasco Theatre[21]
After All1931Duff WilsonBooth Theatre[22]
I Loved You Wednesday1932Randall WilliamsSam H. Harris Theatre[23]
Chrysalis1932Don EllisMartin Beck Theatre[24]
Our Wife1933Jerry MarvinBooth Theatre[25]
The Mask and the Face1933Luciano SpinaGuild Theatre[26]
Invitation to a Murder1934Horatio ChanningTheatre Masque[27]
The Petrified Forest1935Duke ManteeBroadhurst Theatre197 performances, with Leslie Howard in the lead role of Alan Squier[9]

Short films (1928–1930)

Bogart always believed that the future of his profession was ultimately in the burgeoning film industry. After signing with Charles Frohman Productions, he was cast as the male lead opposite stage actress Helen Hayes in a two-reel silent The Dancing Town (1928) for Paramount Pictures.[28] He appeared in a Vitaphone short musical Broadway's Like That (1930), which also featured Joan Blondell and Ruth Etting.[29]

Film short credits of Humphrey Bogart
TitleYearRoleNotesRef.
The Dancing Town1928Man in Doorway at DanceParamount Pictures[30]
Broadway's Like That1930Ruth's FiancéSoundtrack lost
Vitaphone
[31]

Feature-length films (1930–1956)

Claire Luce and Bogart in John Ford's Up the River (1930)
Bogart, Leslie Howard and Bette Davis, in The Petrified Forest, 1936
The Petrified Forest trailer (1936)
James Cagney and Bogart in The Roaring Twenties (1939)
The Maltese Falcon (1941 film poster)
Bogart as Sam Spade in the trailer for The Maltese Falcon
Dooley Wilson and Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
Bacall and Bogart in To Have and Have Not (1944)
In a Lonely Place (1950 poster)
Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951)

He made 75 feature-length films during his career. Two serendipitous events helped pave a path for his career ambitions. During the last half of the 1920s, the film industry's transition from the silent era to sound shifted focus towards stage actors whose vocal talents had been honed in front of live audiences.[32] When the 1929 stock market crash triggered the Great Depression in the United States, funding for stage shows became precarious.[32] Bogart's brother-in-law, Stuart Rose,[33] had become an employee of Fox Film, and was able to arrange a screen test for him with Fox executive Al Lewis. After viewing the test, the Hollywood home office of Fox sent Lewis a directive that Bogart was to be signed to a $750 per week contract, with an option of raising it to $1,000 per week if he performed as expected:[32]

I'm going to become the biggest movie star Hollywood's ever seen.

— Humphrey Bogart after signing his Fox contract in 1929[34]

The films made in Hollywood under his Fox contract were Up the River (1930), A Devil with Women (1930), A Holy Terror (1931), Body and Soul (1931), and Women of All Nations (1931; all Bogart's scenes were cut). While still in California, he also made Bad Sister (1931) for Universal Pictures. Bogart was less than impressed with the end products, and returned to his stage career in New York.[16]

When Warner Bros. purchased the film rights for The Petrified Forest, the studio retained Leslie Howard in the lead role he had performed on Broadway, but replaced Bogart with Edward G. Robinson in the role of Mantee. Howard intervened on Bogart's behalf to reclaim the role for him.[35][8] Following the success of Bogart's performance in the 1936 film, Jack L. Warner put him under contract for $550 a week, with a morals clause, and financial options which could potentially more than triple Bogart's weekly salary.[36]

He continued to appear in feature films for the rest of his life, and claimed that "at Warner Bros. in the 30s, I became a one-man film factory."[37] He made 48 films for Warner Bros. (including First National Pictures, which Warner Bros. owned at that time), more than any other studio he was affiliated with. His body of work there included some of his most acclaimed films: Dark Victory (1939), High Sierra (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) and Key Largo (1948).[38] By comparison, he only made seven films with Fox, five films each with Columbia Pictures and his own Santana Productions, three films for Paramount Pictures, two for United Artists, and one each for United States Pictures, Universal Pictures, Samuel Goldwyn Productions, MGM and Walter Wanger Productions.

Bogart created Santana Productions in 1948. The company produced Knock on Any Door (1949), Tokyo Joe (1949), And Baby Makes Three (1949) starring Robert Young and Barbara Hale, Sirocco (1951), The Family Secret (1951) starring John Derek and Lee J. Cobb, and Beat the Devil (1951), Bogart's spoof of The Maltese Falcon. The company's production of In a Lonely Place (1950) was added to the National Film Registry in 2007, "to be preserved for all time". Inclusion of films in the registry are based on their "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant quality.[39]

List of feature films

Feature-length films of Humphrey Bogart[40]
TitleYearDirectorRoleNotesRef.
A Devil with Women1930Irving CummingsTom StandishFox Film[41]
Up the River1930John FordSteve JordanFox Film[42]
Bad Sister1931Hobart HenleyValentine CorlissUniversal Pictures
distributed through Warner Bros.
[43]
A Holy Terror1931Irving CummingsSteve NashFox Film[44]
Body and Soul1931Alfred SantellJim WatsonFox Film[45]
Women of All Nations1931Raoul WalshStone
(Deleted scenes)[46]
Fox Film[47]
Big City Blues1932Mervyn LeRoyShep AdkinsWarner Bros.[48]
Three on a Match1932Mervyn LeRoyHarveWarner Bros.[49]
Love Affair1932Thornton FreelandJim LeonardColumbia Pictures[50]
Midnight1934Chester Erskine Gar Boniaka Call It Murder
Universal Pictures
[51]
The Petrified Forest1936Archie MayoDuke ManteeWarner Bros.[52]
Bullets or Ballots1936William KeighleyNick "Bugs" FennerWarner Bros.[53]
Two Against the World1936William C. McGannSherry Scottaka One Fatal Hour
Warner Bros.
[54]
China Clipper1936Ray EnrightHap StuartWarner Bros.[55]
Isle of Fury1936Frank McDonaldValentine "Val" StevensWarner Bros.[56]
Black Legion1937Archie Mayo
Michael Curtiz (uncredited)
Frank TaylorWarner Bros.[57]
The Great O'Malley1937William DieterleJohn PhillipsWarner Bros.[58]
Marked Woman1937Lloyd Bacon
Michael Curtiz (uncredited)
District Attorney David GrahamWarner Bros.[59]
San Quentin1937Lloyd BaconJoe "Red" KennedyWarner Bros.[60]
Kid Galahad1937Michael CurtizTurkey MorganWarner Bros.[61]
Dead End1937William WylerHugh "Baby Face" MartinSamuel Goldwyn Productions[62]
Stand-In1937Tay GarnettDoug QuintainWalter Wanger Productions[63]
Swing Your Lady1938Ray EnrightEd HatchWarner Bros.[64]
Crime School1938Lewis SeilerDeputy Commissioner Mark BradenWarner Bros.[65]
Men Are Such Fools1938Busby BerkeleyHarry GalleonWarner Bros.[66]
Racket Busters1938Lloyd BaconPete "Czar" MartinWarner Bros.[67]
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse1938Anatole Litvak"Rocks" ValentineWarner Bros.[68]
Angels with Dirty Faces1938Michael CurtizJames FrazierWarner Bros.[69]
King of the Underworld1939Lewis SeilerJoe GurneyWarner Bros.[70]
The Oklahoma Kid1939Lloyd BaconWhip McCordWarner Bros.[71]
You Can't Get Away with Murder1939Lewis SeilerFrank WilsonWarner Bros.[72]
Dark Victory1939Edmund GouldingMichael O'LearyWarner Bros.[73]
The Roaring Twenties1939Raoul WalshGeorge HallyWarner Bros.[74]
The Return of Doctor X1939Vincent ShermanDr. Maurice Xavier, aka Marshall QuesneWarner Bros.[75]
Invisible Stripes1939Lloyd BaconChuck MartinWarner Bros.[76]
They Drive by Night1940Raoul WalshPaul FabriniWarner Bros.[77]
Virginia City1940Michael CurtizJohn MurrellWarner Bros.[78]
It All Came True1940Lewis SeilerGrasselli aka Chips MaguireWarner Bros.[79]
Brother Orchid1940Lloyd BaconJack BuckWarner Bros.[80]
High Sierra1941Raoul WalshRoy EarleWarner Bros.[81]
The Wagons Roll at Night1941Ray EnrightNick CosterWarner Bros.[82]
The Maltese Falcon1941John HustonSam SpadeFirst film appearance of Sydney Greenstreet
Warner Bros.
[83]
All Through the Night1942Vincent ShermanAlfred 'Gloves' DonahueWarner Bros.[84]
The Big Shot1942Lewis SeilerJoseph "Duke" BerneWarner Bros.[85]
Across the Pacific1942John HustonRick LelandWarner Bros.[86]
Casablanca1942Michael CurtizRick BlaineNominated for Best Actor Oscar
Warner Bros.
[87]
Action in the North Atlantic1943Lloyd Bacon
Raoul Walsh (uncredited)
Byron Haskin (uncredited)
Lt. Joe RossiWarner Bros.[88]
Sahara1943Zoltan KordaSgt. Joe GunnColumbia Pictures[89]
Thank Your Lucky Stars1943David ButlerHimselfWarner Bros.[90]
Passage to Marseille1944Michael CurtizJean MatracWarner Bros.[91]
To Have and Have Not1944Howard HawksHarry "Steve" MorganLauren Bacall's debut film
Warner Bros.
[92]
Conflict1945Curtis BernhardtRichard MasonWarner Bros.[93]
The Big Sleep1946Howard HawksPhilip MarloweWarner Bros.[94]
Dead Reckoning1947John CromwellCapt. Warren "Rip" MurdockColumbia Pictures[95]
The Two Mrs. Carrolls1947Peter GodfreyGeoffrey CarrollWarner Bros.[96]
Dark Passage1947Delmer DavesVincent ParryWarner Bros.[97]
Always Together1947Frederick de CordovaHimselfWarner Bros.[98]
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre1948John HustonFred C. DobbsWarner Bros.[99]
Key Largo1948John HustonFrank McCloudWarner Bros.[100]
Knock on Any Door1949Nicholas RayAndrew MortonSantana Productions, Bogart's company founded in 1948[101]
Tokyo Joe1949Stuart HeislerJoseph "Joe" BarrettSantana Productions[101]
Chain Lightning1950Stuart HeislerLt. Col. Matthew "Matt" BrennanWarner Bros.[102]
In a Lonely Place1950Nicholas RayDixon SteeleSantana Productions;added to the National Film Registry in 2007, as "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant.[103][39]
The Enforcer1951Bretaigne Windust
Raoul Walsh (uncredited)
Dist. Atty. Martin FergusonUnited States Pictures[101]
Sirocco1951Curtis BernhardtHarry SmithSantana Productions[104]
The African Queen1951John HustonCharlie AllnutWon the Best Actor Oscar
United Artists
[105]
Deadline – U.S.A.1952Richard BrooksEd HutchesonFox Film[106]
Battle Circus1953Richard BrooksMaj. Jed WebbeMGM[107]
Beat the Devil1953John HustonBilly DannreutherRomulus Films
Santana Pictures Corporation
[108]
The Caine Mutiny1954Edward DmytrykLt. Cmdr. Philip Francis QueegNominated for Best Actor Oscar
Columbia Pictures
[109]
Sabrina1954Billy Wilder Linus LarrabeeParamount Pictures[110]
The Barefoot Contessa1954Joseph L. MankiewiczHarry DawesFigaro
United Artists
[111]
We're No Angels1955Michael CurtizJosephParamount Pictures[112]
The Left Hand of God1955Edward DmytrykJames "Jim" CarmodyFox Film[113]
The Desperate Hours1955William WylerGlenn GriffinParamount Pictures[114]
The Harder They Fall1956Mark RobsonEddie WillisColumbia Pictures[115]

Miscellaneous and uncredited film appearances (1944–1954)

Occasionally Bogart made public fund-raising or patriotic appearances on film. He also appeared in cameos, some uncredited, in a small handful of other films.

Miscellaneous and uncredited films of Humphrey Bogart[40]
TitleYearNotesRef.
I Am an American1944Produced for Constitution Day[note 1]
Report from the Front1944American Red Cross fund-raising short[29]
Hollywood Victory Caravan1944Victory Bond tour[29]
Two Guys From Milwaukee1946A Warner Bros. film, with Bogart and Bacall cameo uncredited sitting at a table
[29]
Always Together1948Bit part spoof of Stella Dallas, Bogart cameo crying against a window pane.[29]
Road to Bali1952A clip from The African Queen[29]
US Savings Bond trailer1952Bogart urging Americans to buy savings bonds[29]
The Love Lottery1954Uncredited cameo
David Niven film for Ealing Studios
[29]

Radio and television (1939–1955)

He made numerous radio and television appearances throughout his career. The Lux Radio Theatre was an anthology series featuring adaptations of Broadway plays and film scripts. It aired on the National Broadcasting Company's Blue Network (the forerunner of the American Broadcasting Company) (1934–35);[117] CBS Radio network (1935–54), and NBC Radio (1954–55). The Screen Guild Theater (aka Gulf Screen Guild Theater aka Stars in the Air) was a radio anthology series broadcast from 1939 until 1952.[118] Academy Award Theatre was a 1946 radio anthology series featuring adaptations of film scripts.[119] Kraft Music Hall was a radio musical variety show on NBC radio from 1933 to 1949.[120] The Bold Venture half-hour radio series ran for 78 episodes during 1951–1952, and was developed by Bogart's Santana Productions, as a starring vehicle for Bogart and his wife Lauren Bacall.[121]

Radio and television credits of Humphrey Bogart
ProgramEpisodeAir dateRef.
Lux Radio TheatreBullets or BallotsApril 17, 1939[122]
The Gulf Screen Guild TheaterThe Petrified ForestJanuary 7, 1940[123]
The Gulf Screen Guild TheaterIf You Could Only CookNovember 23, 1941[123]
The Gulf Screen Guild TheaterThe Amazing Dr. ClitterhouseNovember 2, 1941[124]
The Screen Guild TheaterHigh SierraJanuary 4, 1942[125]
Jack Benny Radio ProgramThe Frightwig Murder CaseFebruary 2, 1942[126]
The Screen Guild TheaterCasablancaApril 26, 1943[127]
The Screen Guild TheaterThe Maltese FalconSeptember 20, 1943[128]
Screen Guild PlayersHigh SierraApril 17, 1944[129]
Lux Radio TheatreMoontideApril 30, 1945[130]
Academy Award TheatreThe Maltese FalconJuly 3, 1946[128]
Lux Radio TheatreTo Have and Have NotOctober 14, 1946[131]
Jack Benny Radio ProgramJanuary 5, 1947[132]
Kraft Music HallNovember 6, 1947[133]
Lux Radio TheatreTreasure of the Sierra MadreApril 18, 1949[134]
Bold Venture78-episode seriesMarch 26, 1951[135]
Stars in the Air
(Screen Guild Theater)
The House on 92nd StreetMay 3, 1952[136]
Lux Radio TheatreThe African QueenDecember 15, 1952[137]
Jack Benny television program (CBS -TV)October 25, 1953[138]
Producers' Showcase (NBC -TV)The Petrified ForestMay 30, 1955[52]

Awards and honors

Bogart's first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor was for Casablanca (1942),[139] a film that he and co-stars Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid initially believed was of little significance.[note 2][139] Bogart won the award on his second nomination, for his 1951 performance in the United Artists production The African Queen. He was nominated a third time for The Caine Mutiny (1954).[141] He posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.[142] The United States Postal Service honored Bogart in 1997, at a ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre unveiling Bogart's stamp as part of the postal service's "Legends of Hollywood" series.[143] In 2006, the street in front of his boyhood home was renamed Humphrey Bogart Place.[144]

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links