Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske and went on to become one of the icons of classic Hollywood. (Los Angeles Times)
By RYAN PARKER , DENNIS MCLELLAN
ren Bacall, the smoky-voiced movie legend who taught Humphrey Bogart how to whistle in "To Have and Have Not," has died at the age of 89, according to her family.
Details of the location and the cause of her death were not immediately available. Her death was confirmed by Robbert de Klerk, the co-managing partner of the Humphrey Bogart Estate. Her daughter, Leslie Bogart, said no other information was available.
Bacall launched her career with the 1944 film that turned "Bogie and Bacall" into one of Hollywood's legendary couples on screen and off.
She was born Betty Joan Perske on Sept. 16, 1924, in New York.
Bacall was a fledgling New York stage actress and a model whose pictures in Harper's Bazaar came to the attention of director Howard Hawks, who placed her under contract and cast her opposite Bogart in the wartime drama "To Have and Have Not."
Bogart and Bacall were teamed up in three more Warner Bros. movies, "The Big Sleep," "Dark Passage" and "Key Largo."
Bacall also costarred in "Young Man With a Horn" with Kirk Douglas, "Bright Leaf" with Gary Cooper, "How to Marry a Millionaire" with Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe, "Blood Alley" with John Wayne, "Written on the Wind" with Rock Hudson and "Designing Woman" with Gregory Peck.
Bacall returned to Broadway to appear in the 1959-60 comedy "Goodbye Charlie," the 1965-68 comedy "Cactus Flower" and the 1970-72 musical "Applause," which earned her her first Tony Award.
In 1996, Bacall appeared as the meddling mother to Barbra Streisand in "The Mirror Has Two Faces," a role for which Bacall received her only Academy Award nomination as supporting actress.
She was considered a shoo-in to take home the Oscar but lost out to Juliette Binoche for "The English Patient."
The actress told The Times in 1998 that she wasn't bitter.
"The part I had in Barbra's movie was a terrific part just on its own," she said. "The opportunity to work with her was great, but you know, the whole thing of awards is a nightmare, I think. It has gotten out of hand. There are too many awards."
She said she was surprised when she received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor in 1997, calling it "a very special honor."
"Listen, I never went into this business thinking of winning anything," she said. "I went into it because I loved it and I wanted to be good at it. It was a form of expression for me. I love to hide behind characters. So [any recognition] I get is a perk. It's just an extra. Just the fact that all that happened to me last year, it is--well--fabulous."
Times staff writer Susan King contributed to this report.
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