American Legends: The Life of Lauren Bacall

By: Charles River Editors

Narrated by: Liz Terry

"Imagination is the highest kite that can fly." - Lauren Bacall

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, learning interesting facts long forgotten or unknown.

It's exceedingly difficult to think about Lauren Bacall without also thinking of her famous husband, Humphrey Bogart. After all, it is no accident that Bacall was entirely unknown before starring at just 20 years old with her future husband in Howard Hawks' famous film To Have and Have Not in 1944. And of course, Bogart's infatuation with the young actress helped ensure she would continue to be cast in movies with him moving forward.

"Bogie and Bacall" are just one of a number of legendary romantic screen duos in film history, and there have been other famous screen couples who made headlines off the set as well, but few compare in terms of success. In the wake of their first film together, Bacall and Bogart captivated audiences in other films during the decade, including The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Victory (1947), and Key Largo (1948). Even though they didn't appear in a large number of films together, the popularity and cultural significance of these films solidified the status of "Bogie and Bacall" as one of the premier romantic couples in film history.

When Bogart died in 1957, Bacall was still in her 30s, yet from 1957 onward her name scarcely surfaces in popular culture, as though Bacall was simply wiped away with her late husband.

©2013 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Beacon Audiobooks

𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓻 𝓿𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓶𝓸𝓿𝓲𝓮𝓭𝓯𝓰𝓱𝓻

𝓣𝓸𝓸 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓽. 𝓜𝓲𝓼𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓭 𝓑𝓸𝔂𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓡𝓸𝓫𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓼. 𝓝𝓸𝓽 𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓿𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓭𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓼.