Hemphrey DeForest Bogart has been rated by many, including Hollywood, as the greatest actor of Classic Hollywood. Bogart was born on December 25, 1899 in New York City. Although he went to many prestigious schools he showed little to no interest in school or other activities. In fact, in 1918 the greatest man in Hollywood was expelled from Yale. The real reason for this expulsion is unknown but one theory suggests that he threw either the headmaster or groundskeeper into a pond. It is more likely that he was a poor student and left because of that.In the spring of 1819 Bogart enlisted in the United States Navy. Most of his time was served after the Armistice that ended the First World War on November 11, 1918. Even if he had wanted to join the war effort earlier he most likely would not have been able to since he was not eighteen until December of 1917, although many young men at the time were successful in lying about their age. Either way Bogart was recorded as being a model sailor who spent most of his enlisted time by ferrying troops back from Europe.
After he returned to civilian life he took up a job as a shipper and than a bond salesman. He also joined the Coast Guard Reserve. Soon after he got a job working in William Brady Sr.'s company, World Films. He wanted to try his hand at screenwriting, directing, and production but was supposedly good at none of those. He made his stage debut as a Japanese butler in a 1921 play entitled Drifting. As did many in the roaring twenties, Bogart spent a lot of time in speakeasies and became a heavy drinker.
Bogart never took an acting class. Instead, he preferred to learn as he went. He appeared in at least seventeen Broadway productions between 1922 and 1935. Many critics have written that his early works were remarkably inadequate. When the stock market crashed in 1929 many stage actors made their way to Hollywood since most stage productions lost all of their money. His first film debut was in the 1928 production of The Dancing Town. A full copy of this film has never been found.Bogart's most successful films would be High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, and Casablanca. these movies shot him to stardom and made him a lead man of Hollywood. Some of his most breathtaking acting would come after these movies. In 1944 Bogart filmed the movie To have and Have Not, which was loosely based on the Ernest Hemingway novel. It was on this set that he met his fourth (yes fourth) and final wife, Lauren Bacall. To this day their pairing is looked to as one of the greatest duos in the history of Hollywood.
In January of 1956 his beloved wife, Lauren Bacall, convinced Bogart to see a doctor about his health. That was when they found out he had developed esophageal cancer. Over the next year the disease worsened. He passed away on January 14, 1957 at fifty seven years old. To this day he is still remembered as one of the greatest actors of all time.
By The Northern Rose
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