Lauren Bacall: 23 Unforgettable Moments From a Dazzling Life

'To Have and Have Not' (1944)

Lauren Bacall was a 19-year-old fashion model when she won her breakthrough part in a screen test. To brace herself from shaking with nervousness during the shoot, Bacall sunk her chin into her chest and gazed upward, a gaze that became known as "The Look" — and that made her an instant star. "To Have and Have Not" not only marked the beginning of her career, but the start of her romance with co-star Humphrey Bogart, the great romance.

Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart

From October 1946: Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart reading 'Sea' magazine between acts at rehearsals for the CBS Lux Radio Theater.

'The Big Sleep' (1946)

Her second movie with Humphrey Bogart was Howard Hawks's adaptation of Raymond Chandler's noir novel. Bogie plays private dick Philip Marlowe, Bacall plays the daughter of his rich client, and their interplay here gets impossibly electric, particularly during their famous and highly suggestive conversation about horse racing.

'Key Largo' (1948)

The fourth and final time Bogart and Bacall appeared together on screen. The sultry tale of a tense standoff among gangsters in a tropical hotel during a hurricane, 'Largo' features what may be Bacall's most confident performance. It's certainly among the steamiest. 

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall

The couple rides bicycles while on the set of the film 'Key Largo' in Hollywood, 1948.

Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart

Bogart and Bacall attend a cocktail party at the Calvados cabaret club on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, 1951.

Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart

Posing for a portrait at the Academy Awards, held at the RKO Pantages Theater on March 20, 1952, in Los Angeles. Bogart holds the Oscar he won for best actor in John Huston's film 'The African Queen.'

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall

Sitting outside a cafe in Portofino, Italy, 1954.

'How to Marry a Millionaire' (1953)

Bacall makes a luscious trio along with Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe in this fizzy romantic comedy about scheming New York City roommates who are on the hunt for rich husbands (it was 1953, after all — a girl needed a life goal). Bacall later said of her co-stars: 'Betty Grable [was] one of the funniest, most adorable women. I was crazy about her. And Marilyn [was] just sweet. There was nothing mean about Marilyn.'

Governors Award

Roger Corman, Lauren Bacall, and Gordon Willis after receiving their Governors Awards from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in 2009.

Angelica Huston and Lauren Bacall

Attending the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences's inaugural Governors Awards in 2009. 

The Grande Dame

Arriving at the 2010 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in West Hollywood, California.