Lauren Bacall

The talented Lauren Bacall was born on September 16, 1924 in New York City as Betty Joan Perske. At the age of thirteen, Bacall began studying dancing and worked as a fashion model in California. Bacall made her acting debut in 1942 in the Broadway play Johnny Two by Four. However, her big break didn't come until Howard Hawks's wife saw Bacall's photo on the cover of a magazine and Hawks invited her to Hollywood for a screen test.

After a name change to Lauren Bacall and several screen tests, she was cast in the 1944 film, To Have and Have Not, which propelled Bacall into the spotlight and introduced her to Humphrey Bogart, whom she began to date off set. She later appeared with Bogart in three additional films during the 1940s: The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, and Key Largo. In 1945, Bogart and Bacall wed and remain married until his death in 1957. They had two children together, Stephen Bogart, a film maker, and Leslie Bogart, a nurse.

During the 1950s, Bacall continued to land starring roles in a myriad of films, including Young Man with a Horn, How to Marry a Millionaire, and Designing Woman. Bacall also shifted attention to the 1952 presidential election and spoke on behalf of Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson.

By the 1960s, Bacall's career began to slow down and she only appeared in a few films, which included Murder on the Orient Express with Sean Connery and The Shootist, John Wayne's final film. From 1961 to 1969, Bacall was married to actor Jason Robards. Together they had one child, Sam Robards, who is also an actor.

In 1997, Bacall was nominated for her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Mirror Has Two Faces and won a Golden Globe for her role in the film. During the same year, Bacall received the Kennedy Center Honors and was later voted one of the 25 most significant female movie actresses by the AFI in 1999.

Recently, Bacall has appeared in three films during the 2000s -- Dogville, The Limit, and Birth -- and had a role in an episode of The Sopranos.

Currently, Bacall is the spokesperson for Tuesday Morning stores and has released two autobiographies: Lauren Bacall By Myself and Now. She is set to appear in the upcoming 2007 film The Walker.