It’s not often that we get a peek into the daily working life of a top movie star, so this shot is quite rare. It was Bette Davis’s dressing room on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank. I would have expected something a little more elaborate. After all, Marion Davies had an 11-room bungalow at the same studio. But then again, Bette didn’t have America’s richest man in her arm. But in a way, I think it does reflect Bette’s no-nonsense, straight-forward approach to how she lived her life. Still, the upholstery does match the curtains around the vanity, which also matches the drapes bracketing the window, as well as the counter beneath it. And unless I’m mistaken, I think the top of that stool is also covered in the same material. Wouldn’t you love to have been a fly on that wall?
Bette Davis’s dressing room on the Warner Bros studio lot, Burbank, California
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Well, that’s partly also because Marion Davies was at MGM which was the richest studio at the time. Warner Brothers were a successful studio, but were more low budget. Still, it’s a nice dressing room. My only quibble is that that stool looks a bit too high to sit at the ledge it’s sitting next to .
P.S. I grew up about two blocks south of the Thalberg Building.
Marion and her bungalow moved from MGM to Warners in 1934, so depending on when this photo was taken, it could have been at a time when both Bette and Marion were working on the lot.
Interesting. So, as her career was waning. I always thought she got a bad rap. She was a pretty good comedienne, but apparently Hearst wanted her to do heavy dramas. I think some critics got back at Hearst by panning her…easier than attacking him directly.