The Best Actress of the 1960s: Bette Davis

If you've been following my series on the best actress of each decade, that rumbling sound that's been growing in the distance is the sound of Bette Davis fans wondering how on earth I could have left their hero out. Bette Davis certainly was a finalist in the 30s and 40s, though I feel her work in the 50s peaked with All About Eve as the decade opened. I've always felt there was a certain element of the creepy about Bette Davis even in her early days when she could get away with being cast as the sexy young thing in movies like Of Human Bondage and The Petrified Forest. On the other hand, I've never bought the idea that Bette Davis is one of those actresses you either love or hate. At her best she was almost on par with Barbara Stanwyck. At her worst she could dip down to the level of Katherine Hepburn. (Just in case you misunderstand me, let me clarify: I think Katherine Hepburn is the most overrated actress of all time.)

Getting back to the creepy quality of Bette Davis, I just think that there was something about her-maybe her infamous eyes-that destined her for the work she would turn in during the 1960s. While Elizabeth Taylor turned from a sex symbol into a bona fide actress during the 60s, and while the decade witnessed the birth of new superstars from Anne Bancroft to Faye Dunaway, when one looks back upon the actress who really defines a decade only slightly better for actresses than the 1950s it is Bette Davis.