Lauren Bacall (born Betty Joan Perske) was an American actress. She was named the 20th greatest actress of the 20th century by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “in recognition of her central place in the Golden Age of motion pictures.”
Bacall began her career as a model, before making her debut as a leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have and Have Not (1944). She continued in the film noir genre with appearances in Bogart’s The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948), and starred in the romantic comedies How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Marilyn Monroe and Designing Woman (1957) with Gregory Peck. She co-starred with John Wayne in his final film, The Shootist (1976). Bacall worked on Broadway in musicals, earning Tony Awards for Applause (1970) and Woman of the Year (1981). Her performance in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination.