Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey Bogart

Bogart in 1940
Born	Humphrey DeForest Bogart (1899-12-25)December 25, 1899 New York City, U.S.
Died	January 14, 1957(1957-01-14) (aged 57) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1921–1956
Spouse	Helen Menken ​ ​ (m. 1926; div. 1927)​ Mary Philips ​ ​ (m. 1928; div. 1937)​ Mayo Methot ​ ​ (m. 1938; div. 1945)​ Lauren Bacall ​ (m. 1945)​
Children	2, including Stephen Humphrey
Parents	Maud Humphrey

Humphrey DeForest Bogart (December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart as the greatest male star of classic American cinema.

Early life and education

Plaque commemorating Bogart's birthplace, 245 W. 103rd St., New York City

Humphrey DeForest Bogart was born on Christmas Day 1899 in New York City, the eldest child of Belmont DeForest Bogart and Maud Humphrey. Belmont was the only child of the unhappy marriage of Adam Welty Bogart, an innkeeper from Canandaigua, New York, and Julia Augusta Stiles, a wealthy heiress. The name "Bogart" derives from the Dutch surname "Bogaert," meaning "orchard." Belmont and Maud married in June 1898. He was a Presbyterian, of English and Dutch descent, and a descendant of Sarah Rapelje, the first European Christian girl born in New Netherland. Maud was an Episcopalian of English heritage and a descendant of Mayflower passenger John Howland. Humphrey was raised Episcopalian but was non-practicing for most of his adult life.

The date of Bogart's birth has been disputed. Clifford McCarty wrote that Warner Bros.' publicity department had altered it to January 23, 1900, "to foster the view that a man born on Christmas Day couldn't be as villainous as he appeared to be on screen." The "corrected" January birth date subsequently appeared and, in some cases, remains in many otherwise-authoritative sources. According to biographers Ann M. Sperber and Eric Lax, Bogart always celebrated his birthday on December 25 and listed it on official records, including his marriage license. Lauren Bacall wrote that Bogart's birthday was always celebrated on Christmas Day, and he joked about being cheated out of a present every year. A birth announcement in the Ontario County Times of January 10, 1900, along with state and federal census records from 1900, confirm a December 25, 1899, birth date. Bogart's birth record also confirms this.

Maud Humphrey in the 1897 book American Women

Belmont, Bogart's father, was a cardiopulmonary surgeon. Maud was a commercial illustrator who received her art training in New York and France, including study with James Abbott McNeill Whistler. She later became art director of the fashion magazine The Delineator and a militant suffragette. Maud used a drawing of baby Humphrey in an advertising campaign for Mellins Baby Food. She earned over $50,000 a year at the peak of her career, considerably more than her husband's $20,000. The Bogarts lived in an Upper West Side apartment, and had a cottage on a 55-acre estate on Canandaigua Lake in upstate New York. When he was young, Bogart's group of friends at the lake would put on plays, fostering early exposure to performance.

He had two younger sisters, Frances ("Pat") and Catherine Elizabeth ("Kay"). Bogart's parents were busy in their careers and frequently fought, showing little emotion towards their children. Maud instructed her offspring to call her "Maud" instead of "Mother" and displayed little, if any, physical affection. When she was pleased, she "clapped you on the shoulder, almost the way a man does," Bogart recalled. "I was brought up very unsentimentally but very straightforwardly. A kiss, in our family, was an event. Our mother and father didn't glug over my two sisters and me."

Bogart was teased as a boy for his curls, tidiness, the "cute" pictures his mother had him pose for, and the Little Lord Fauntleroy clothes in which she dressed him, and for his first name. He inherited from his father a tendency to needle, a fondness for fishing, a lifelong love of boating, and an attraction to strong-willed women.

Bogart attended the private Delancey School until the fifth grade and then attended the prestigious Trinity School. He was an indifferent, sullen student who showed no interest in after-school activities. Bogart later attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, a boarding school to which he was admitted based on family connections. Although his parents hoped he would go on to Yale University, Bogart left Phillips in 1918 after one semester, although the Phillips Academy website claims he was in the graduating class of 1920. He failed four out of six classes. Several reasons have been given: according to one, he was expelled for throwing the headmaster or a groundskeeper into Rabbit Pond on campus; another cited smoking, drinking, poor academic performance, and possibly inappropriate comments made to the staff. In a third scenario, Bogart was withdrawn by his father for failing to improve his grades. His parents were deeply disappointed in their failed plans for his future.

Navy

Bogart joined the United States Navy in the spring of 1918, at the age of eighteen, during the last months of World War I. Bogart, who had abandoned his education and did not have a professional path in mind, has said that he joined the Navy as an escape and an adventure. In interviews conducted decades later, Bogart remembered the appeal that the war had for young men of his generation, as a chance to see the world and prove their independence from their families.

He received training at the Naval Training Station at Pelham Bay Park in New York before being posted for duty on naval transport ships. After the armistice, Bogart was on ships that were transporting American soldiers back from Europe on the troop transport USS Leviathan. Though he saw no combat action, his military records indicate that he was a well-disciplined and dependable sailor. He rose to the rank of Petty Officer 2nd Class before being honorably discharged on June 18, 1919.

Bogart later spoke of his time in the Navy as one of the few periods of organized structure in his youth. It has been observed that the Navy was the first institution in which he was exposed to a strict system of hierarchy, repression of emotions, and a code of masculine stoicism that would later prove so resonant with the screen character he created in Hollywood. His disciplined physicality, clipped dialogue, and repression of emotional expression have often been attributed to this period.

One of the most enduring myths about Bogart’s naval career is the origin of the scar above his upper lip and his well-known lisp. There are a number of conflicting stories. One wartime publicity story had the injury being caused by enemy shelling of the “Leviathan,” though the ship was never shelled and Bogart may not have been at sea before the armistice. A more credible story, as told by Bogart himself and by long-time friend Nathaniel Benchley, took place when Bogart was escorting a handcuffed prisoner to the Portsmouth Naval Prison in Kittery, Maine when the prisoner swung his handcuffs and struck Bogart in the mouth during a brief distraction, slashing his lip before making his escape.

Other contemporaries had alternative theories. Actor David Niven would later say that Bogart told him that the scar was from a childhood accident, and the rest were just stories of wartime injuries to flesh out his tough image. There was no mention of a serious lip injury in the medical tests after Bogart left the military, although there were several minor scars. Actress Louise Brooks, who knew Bogart in the early 1920s, said that he already had noticeable scar tissue on his upper lip and that it may have been partially repaired before he made sound films. Brooks also said that the injury did not cause a speech impediment, which meant that Bogart’s lisp was probably affectation.

Whatever its actual source, the scar itself became a characteristic physical trait and a fundamental aspect of Bogart’s movie image. Rather than trying to hide the scar, the studios later capitalized on the flaw, linking it to the persona of the tough, world-weary characters Bogart played. The ambivalence of the scar, its mixture of truth and fiction, reflected the struggle between truth and myth that was a hallmark of Bogart’s public image. Bogart's affinity with life at sea persisted even after his release from service. He became an avid sailor and owned several sailing vessels in his later years, including the yacht Santana. During World War II, he tried to re-enlist in the Navy but was denied due to his age. He then chose to volunteer for the United States Coast Guard Temporary Reserve in 1944, using the Santana to patrol the coast of California. Although this act was more symbolic than substantive, Bogart spoke of it with great pride, as if it were an extension of the persona he had created for himself during his youth. In retrospect, Bogart’s time in the navy is a small but important part of military history, and an even more important part of the legend that was created around him. It is the source of the lived experience that later combined with the legend to create the archetype that Bogart embodied in his films: disciplined but rebellious, emotionally reserved, questioning of authority, and living in a world that was larger and more brutal than himself.

Early career

After leaving Phillips Academy, Bogart's life seemed aimless for a time, effectively ending any formal academic trajectory. Upon returning to civilian life, he chose to pursue a career in the theater rather than the conventional profession his family had expected. This decision was not entirely accidental; his mother’s established connections in artistic and publishing circles facilitated his entry into the Broadway theater world.

In his early years, Bogart worked primarily behind the scenes, initially as a stage manager before securing small acting roles. These formative experiences provided him with practical knowledge of stagecraft and production, allowing him to develop an understanding of performance beyond acting alone.

By the early 1920s, Bogart began appearing on Broadway in romantic leading-man roles. His tall frame, polished appearance, and aristocratic demeanor made him well suited to such characters, although critics often noted that his performances lacked emotional depth at this stage. Nevertheless, he remained consistently employed throughout the decade, gradually establishing himself as a reliable and professional stage actor.

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Bogart achieved a measure of stability in his theatrical career, even as his personal life became increasingly turbulent. His first marriage to actress Helen Menken ended quickly, and his subsequent marriage to Mary Philips was strained by professional uncertainty and his growing dependence on alcohol. His heavy drinking during this period became a defining element of his private life, one that would later shape both his public image and long-term health.

Transition to film and breakthrough

With the emergence of sound films in 1930, Bogart transitioned from stage performances to motion pictures, a move that many Broadway actors of the era were making. He signed a contract with Warner Bros., marking the beginning of his Hollywood career. Despite his stage experience, the studio largely confined him to supporting roles for much of the 1930s. He was most frequently cast as villains or morally complex characters, rarely receiving opportunities to play leading men.

Bogart often portrayed gangsters, hitmen, and hardened criminals—figures defined by physical toughness, cynicism, and limited narrative authority. These characters typically served as obstacles to the film’s protagonists and frequently met violent or tragic ends. Leading roles were usually assigned to other actors whom the studio viewed as more commercially reliable. As a result, Bogart became associated with secondary roles, developing a reputation as a capable but underutilized performer. He grew increasingly frustrated with this typecasting and openly expressed dissatisfaction with the limitations imposed by the studio system.

Nevertheless, Bogart’s extensive work during this period allowed him to refine a distinctive screen presence. His restrained delivery, understated emotion, and ironic detachment gradually set him apart from other character actors. Although these qualities were not immediately recognized as leading-man material, they laid the groundwork for his later success.

Bogart’s career underwent a dramatic transformation in 1941 with the release of High Sierra. In the film, he portrayed Roy Earle, a doomed criminal whose vulnerability and moral complexity distinguished the role from his earlier performances. The film received significant attention and marked the first time Bogart was widely acknowledged as a potential leading actor.

Later the same year, he starred in The Maltese Falcon, portraying private detective Sam Spade. The role proved to be a defining moment in his career. As Spade, Bogart embodied a new kind of screen hero—emotionally restrained, verbally sharp, cynical yet guided by a personal moral code. The performance helped establish the hard-boiled protagonist archetype that became central to film noir.

Following these successes, Bogart was no longer regarded merely as a supporting player but emerged as a major star. His screen persona came to symbolize a distinctly American form of toughness, combining irony, independence, and moral ambiguity. From this point forward, he was widely recognized not just as an actor, but as a defining figure in classical Hollywood cinema.

Later career and death

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Bogart reached the peak of his career, starring in films like To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, and The African Queen. His performance in The African Queen (1951) earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. Ironically, after being considered unfit for leading roles for years, he achieved the highest honor in the film industry.

Years of heavy smoking and drinking eventually took a serious toll on his health. In 1956, Bogart was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Despite undergoing several surgeries and treatments, his health quickly declined. He died on January 14, 1957, in Los Angeles, California. True to his well-known humor, a note left with him read, "I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis."