AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Bette Davis

Artist:Bette Davis

Song:They're Either Too Young or Too Old

Album:Did You Know These Stars Also Sang?

Of course Bette Davis was one of the all time Hollywood greats mostly during her days at Warner Bros. in the 30s and 40s. She made her only singing appearance in the 1943 all star extravaganza Thank Your Lucky Stars. She made some other singing appearances later on including an album in the 70s. She was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis Apr. 5, 1908 in Lowell, MA. Betty was a childhood nickname which she changed to Bette after the main character in the novel La Cousine Bette. Bette got into acting while attending the boarding school Cushing Academy. She went to see a play starring British actress Peg Entwistle. Bette made her Broadway debut in the 1929 play Broken Dishes. Of course with the advent of sound, Bette wanted to move to Hollywood. At first she worked for Universal and things didn't go well. She was going to return to New York when actor George Arliss cast her in the 1932 film The Man Who Played God. Warner Bros. signed her to a five year contract and she stayed for 18 years. Bette's breakthrough as a star was the 1934 film Of Human Bondage. She was loaned out to RKO. Despite her stardom, Bette had a contentious relationship with Warner Bros. mostly about wanting more money to appear in films that she didn't want to do. This led to Bette signing to do a film in England which led to a lawsuit which she lost. Bette's career picked up when she appeared in the 1938 film Jezebel. She had a lot of success for the next few years in films like The Letter (1940), All This, and Heaven Too (1940) and The Little Foxes (1941). Bette was Warner Bros.' most profitable star and she was successful until she left the studio in the late 40s. During WWII, all the studios made all star extravaganzas. That's what Thank Your Lucky Stars was. It starred Edward Everett Horton and S.Z Sakall as producers forced to allow Eddie Cantor to take over an all star show. Many Warner Bros. stars made cameos. Some of them sang. It was the only singing film appearance for Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Haviland and Ida Lupino. Normally the studio dubbed their singing. But Bette Davis did her own singing. So there was a lot of buzz about that. They're Either Too Young or Too Old was written for the film by Frank Loesser and Arthur Schwartz. It was never a hit. It's mainly known as the song Bette Davis sang in a movie. She does a pretty good job. You can get it on this 2CD various artists CD from the oldies label Jasmine Records. Bette sang in a couple of 60s films, appeared in the Broadway musical Two's Company and even recorded an album in the 70s. But this was her only memorable singing performance. Here's Bette Davis performing They're Either To Young or Too Old in the 1943 film Thank Your Lucky Stars.