Screen legend Lauren Bacall, the actress and model who was known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks, died last night aged 89.
The Oscar winning actress is reported to have died after suffering a massive stroke at her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Her death was confirmed by the Humphrey Bogart estate last night.
A spokesman said: “With deep sorrow for the magnitude of our loss, yet with great gratitude for her amazing life, we confirm the passing of Lauren Bacall.”
Launched by a Harper’s Bazaar cover when she was a 19-year-old model, Bacall was born to Jewish immigrants in New York in 1924 and initially worked as an usherette.
Bacall - real name Betty Perske - was signed by Warner Bros. in 1943 and two years later married Humphrey Bogart.
The pair remained together until his death from esophageal cancer in 1957.
With deep sorrow, yet with great gratitude for her amazing life, we confirm the passing of Lauren Bacall. pic.twitter.com/B8ZJnZtKhN
— BogartEstate (@HumphreyBogart) August 12, 2014
At their time of their wedding, Bacall was 20 and he was 45. They had two children, Stephen Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Bogart.
She first emerged as his leading lady in the film To Have and Have Not in 1944.
Director Howard Hawks paid her $124 a week for what would prove to be her breakthrough role.
The film contained one of the icon’s most famous phrases when she asked Bogart: “You know how to whistle, don’t you? You just put your lips together .. and blow”
She continued to appear in the Bogart’s most famous performances.
She starred alongside him in The Big Sleep, Dark Passage , and Key Largo (1948), as well as comedic roles in How to Marry a Millionaire alongside Marilyn Monroe and Designing Woman with Gregory Peck.
In her in her 1978 autobiography, Lauren Bacall: By Myself, she recalled the first time she worked alongside Bogart.
“During their first scene together, I realised 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.
“It worked.”
The look would be known as Bacall’s trademark and she went on to carve a glittering career playing a series of tough-talking femmes fatales.
The actress also worked on Broadway in musicals, gaining Tony Awards for Applause in 1970 and Woman of the Year in 1981.
Her performance in the movie The Mirror Has Two Faces earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination.
But it wasn’t until 2009 when she was selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to receive an Honorary Oscar “in recognition of her central place in the Golden Age of motion pictures.”
RIP star struckRT @NathAt: Lauren Bacall. She of supreme "Come hither...if you dare" glance. Dame-est of the dames. pic.twitter.com/hAjGbgtc9D
— John Cusack (@johncusack) August 13, 2014
Sad to hear we've lost one of the last legends of the Golden Age of Hollywood. I met Lauren Bacall once... a serious "pinch me!" moment!
— Dita Von Teese (@DitaVonTeese) August 13, 2014
RIP Lauren Bacall #HollywoodScreenGoddess
— Dannii Minogue (@DanniiMinogue) August 13, 2014
After a brief romance with Frank Sinatra following Bogart’s death, Bacall married Jason Robards Jr in 1961 and divorced him in 1969 mainly because of his alcoholism. They had one son, Sam Robards.
Bacall is the only Oscar winner to be married to two other winners.
Off screen Bacall threw her weight behind lineral causes, campaigning for Democratic hopefuls including Robert Kennedy and enjoyed a reputation for being fiery and outspoken.
She is survived by son Sam Robards, 52, daughter Leslie Bogart, 61 and Stephen Bogart, 65.
RIP Lauren
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