Humphrey Bogart

On December 25, 1899 in New York City Humphrey DeForest Bogart was born. He was nicknamed Bogie and was the son of a wealthy Manhattan surgeon. He went to Phillips Academy in Massachusetts to prepare for medical studies at Yale. Instead he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve. He managed a stage company after WWII and began acting in stage productions.
His acting ability was described as inadequate but in 1930 he signed a contract with Fox. His major acting debut was in Broadways' Like That in 1930. He spent the next five years on stage and in minor film roles. His breakthrough part was in The Petrified Forest in 1936. The film was a major commercial success and Bogart appeared in 28 films. He was usually a gangster, played in Westerns and a horror film. He starred in High Sierra in 1941, The Maltese Falcon in 1941, Casablanca in 1942, The Big Sleep in 1946 and Key Largo in 1948. Films on the AFI romance list include Sabrina in 1954 and To Have and Have Not in 1944.
Bogart was well read and often included writers and intellectuals in his circle of friends. In 1947 he and his wife Lauren Bacall protested the House Un-American Activities Committee.
He formed his own production company and made The Treasure of the Sierra Madre in 1948. He won the best actor Oscar for The African Queen in 1951. He also was nominated for an Oscar for The Caine Mutiny in 1954. He was quite ill when he was filming The Caine Mutiny and died at home after a battle with throat cancer (January 14, 1957). He was only 57. Bogart married four times. Helen Menken in 1926, Mary Philips n 1928, May Methot in 1938. He married Lauren Bacall in 1945 and they remained married until he died in 1957. They had 2 children.