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Also by Ed Sikov:

Dark Victory, November 2007
Hardcover

DARK VICTORY
By: Ed Sikov

The Life of Bette Davis

Henry Holt
November 2007
On Sale: October 30, 2007
496 pages
ISBN: 0805075488
EAN: 9780805075489
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Biography

The legendary Hollywood star blazes a fiery trail in this enthralling portrait of a brilliant actress and the movies her talent elevated to greatness

She was magnificent and exasperating in equal measure. Jack Warner called her “an explosive little broad with a sharp left.” Humphrey Bogart once remarked, “Unless you’re very big she can knock you down.” Bette Davis was a force of nature—an idiosyncratic talent who nevertheless defined the words “movie star” for more than half a century and who created an extraordinary body of work filled with unforgettable performances.

In Dark Victory, the noted film critic and biographer Ed Sikov paints the most detailed picture ever delivered of this intelligent, opinionated, and unusual woman who was—in the words of a close friend—“one of the major events of the twentieth century.” Drawing on new interviews with friends, directors, and admirers, as well as archival research and a fresh look at the films, this stylish, intimate biography reveals Davis’s personal as well as professional life in a way that is both revealing and sympathetic. With his wise and well-informed take on the production and accomplishments of such movie milestones as Jezebel, All About Eve, and Now, Voyager, as well as the turbulent life and complicated personality of the actress who made them, Sikov’s Dark Victory brings to life the two-time Academy Award–winning actress’s unmistakable screen style, and shows the reader how Davis’s art was her own dark victory.

Media Buzz

Diane Rehm Show - NPR - October 31, 2007