↑Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They acknowledge several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.
This is a list of Bette Davis's accolades for both her cinematic and television performances. Her career spans over six decades, from the beginning of the 1930s until the end of the 1980s, shortly before her death.
Her first acting "award" was being cited, alongside Joan Blondell and Ginger Rogers, as one of the "Stars of Tomorrow" in 1932. But it was two years later, when she had her breakthrough performance as Mildred Rogers in Of Human Bondage (1934), when she received her first major awards notice, or lack thereof. When the Academy Award nominations were announced and Davis's name was omitted, there was an uproar. The Academy was inundated with write-in votes demanding that she be nominated.[1] Due to that popular demand, they permitted Davis's name to remain a write-in candidate, even though she was not an official nominee. She finished third in the votes.[2] (They allowed this relaxed rule for the following year as well, wherein Paul Muni was a write-in nominee for Black Fury (1935). Despite being unofficial, he finished second in the votes. The academy discontinued this option as of 1936.)[3]
When Muni receive his write-in, Davis received her first Oscar for Best Actress, for the film Dangerous (1935).[4] Three years later, she would win again for Jezebel (1938).[5] Beginning with this film, she next set a record for the most consecutive nominations, receiving five in a row from 1938 through 1942.[6] These succeeding four films were Dark Victory (1939),[7]The Letter (1940),[8]The Little Foxes (1941),[9] and Now, Voyager (1942).[10] Her longstanding record would shortly be tied by Greer Garson, whose span went from 1941 to 1945 (with a win for 1942's Mrs. Miniver).[11] She and Davis had two overlapping years, plus a third year where they were simultaneously nominated when Davis received her next nomination for Mr. Skeffington (1944).[12]
Aside from Academy Awards, Davis also acquired a Volpi Cup for Best Actress in 1937 for both Marked Woman and Kid Galahad—the only recipient in their history to receive the prize for two performances. In addition to that, she received two Best Actress wins from the National Board of Review: one shared prize for both The Old Maid (1939) & Dark Victory; and another two years later, for The Little Foxes.
Davis continued receiving several other awards and nominations, including 3rd Place from the Laurel Awards for ...Baby Jane? followed by a win for her performance in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).[18]
The years listed in the columns are the corresponding years that the ceremonies occurred in which the awards were presented to the recipients. These are seldom the same years of the films' release dates.
A group of theater exhibitors named Joan Blondell, Bette Davis, and Ginger Rogers "Stars of Tomorrow". The ceremony was held at the Ambassador Hotel in Hollywood, and broadcast live on radio. This was Bette's first acting award.
Awarded by the Defense Department of USA (the highest civilian award given by the United States Department of Defense) for founding the Hollywood Canteen (which operated at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, California, between October 3, 1942, and November 22, 1945).
The award ceremony took place on June 11, 1983.[26]
Davis in Of Human Bondage (1934), one of her first major films. Her performance was critically acclaimed.
↑Some sources are inconsistent, with a few omitting Kid Galahad and one missing Marked Woman. But archived snapshot on Volpi Cup article page emphasizes she won for both titles.
12"Academy Story: 1930–1939". Oscars.org. Retrieved October 16, 2023. ...the first write-in campaign, seeking to nominate Bette Davis for her performance in Of Human Bondage.
12Batters, Paul (April 7, 2019). "Dangerous (1935): Bette Davis And Her First Best Actress Oscar Performance". Silver Screen Classics. Retrieved October 16, 2023. ...her performance in Dangerous...first Oscar for Best Actress. Hollywood folklore has long claimed...was a consolation for not being nominated for Of Human Bondage.
12Archerd, Army (July 20, 2001). Spielberg Buys Bette Davis Oscar at Auction (Broadcast). ABC News. Retrieved November 6, 2023– via Variety. The Oscar was part of the actress's memorabilia auctioned to benefit the Bette Davis Foundation, which provides financial aid to young people pursuing acting careers.
1234O'Dell, Cary (April 19, 2023). "Happy Birthday, Bette Davis–You Jezebel!". Now See Hear!. Retrieved October 16, 2023. Davis would win her second Best Actress Oscar for Jezebel, and she later received two more nominations under Wyler for The Letter (1940; also for Warner Bros.) and The Little Foxes (1941; for Goldwyn).
12Pronovost, Virginie (March 27, 2017). "How Bette Davis Mesmerizes us in The Letter". The Wonderful World of Cinema. Retrieved October 17, 2023. Well, there's that non-written rule that being in a William Wyler film almost assures you a place among the Oscar nominees.
12Spangenberg, Kami (March 17, 2023). "Call for Contentment: Now, Voyager". Classic Couple. Retrieved October 16, 2023. Bette Davis's Oscar-nominated performance held me captive,
12Rogers, Nathaniel (March 22, 2022). "Oscar Trivia: Who has had the most consecutive acting nominations?". The Film Experience. Retrieved October 16, 2023. Both of these runs were over by the mid-'40s. No actors in the subsequent 75+ years have equalled it with consistent every-year-Oscar-favor.
12Novak, Melanie (February 10, 2021). "Mr. Skeffington (1944): Ugly Bette". MelanieNovak.com. Retrieved October 16, 2023. The result was another Oscar nomination, Bette Davis's seventh.
123Elliott, Felicia (March 3, 2017). "Re-thinking the 23rd Academy Awards". The Cinessential. Retrieved October 17, 2023. But it's Bette Davis who will always have my vote.
12Rittersporn, Helen (December 12, 2015). "Pocketful of Miracles". Anchored Scraps. Retrieved October 17, 2023. Bette Davis was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress Motion Picture Musical or Comedy,
12McCallum, J.J. (February 6, 2022). "Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte". A Blast from the Passed. Retrieved October 17, 2023. Bette Davis won the Laurel Award for Best Female Dramatic Performance.
↑Harden, Jr., Ernest (October 9, 2019). "Ernest Harden Jr. Remembers Bette Davis". Miss D. And Me. Retrieved October 18, 2023. Anyway we took all of that in stride, did our best and the movie was later nominated for an Emmy.
↑Binford, Eric (December 12, 2022). "LITTLE GLORIA… HAPPY AT LAST (1982, TV-MINI-SERIES)". Diary of a Movie Maniac. Retrieved October 18, 2023. And there is Bette Davis stealing a few scenes as Gloria's paternal grandmother, Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt.
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