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Prime Times Weekly feature of the Mail Tribune , Medford, Oregon AP The magic of... Lauren Bacall Hollywood performer whose famous "just whistle" line entranced film audiences and superstar Humphrey Bogart still looms larger than life By BOB THOMAS The Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- They are a vanishing breed: the larger-than-life movie stars whose personal lives matched the drama of their on-screen performances. Highlights of Bacall's life Born : Betty Jane Perske, Sept. 16, 1924, the Bronx, N.Y. Education : Julia Richman High School, Manhattan; American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Broadway debut : "Johnny 2X4," 1942. Notable Broadway shows : "Goodbye Charlie," "Cactus Flower," "Applause," "Woman of the Year." Film debut : "To Have and Have Not," 1944. Notable films : "To Have and Have Not," 1944; "The Big Sleep," 1946; "Dark Passage," 1947; "Key Largo," 1948; "Young Man With a Horn," 1950; "How to Marry a Millionaire," 1953; "Woman's World," 1954; "Blood Alley," 1955; "Written on the Wind," ``Designing Woman," 1957; "Flame Over India," 1959; "Harper," 1964; "Murder on the Orient Express," 1974; "The Shootist," 1976; "Misery," 1990; "The Mirror Has Two Faces," "My Fellow Americans," 1996. Honors : Tony Award, best actress in a musical, "Applause," 1970; Academy Award nomination, supporting actress, "The Mirror Has Two Faces," 1996. Personal : married Humphrey Bogart 1945-1957, son Stephen, daughter Leslie; married Jason Robards 1961-1969, son Sam. Certainly Lauren Bacall deserves a berth on that elite ship. Her early co-starrings with Humphrey Bogart in such movies as "Key Largo" and "To Have and Have Not" were enough to establish her film reputation. Unfortunately, Hollywood never recognized the depth of her talent, and for many years she devoted herself mostly to the theater and television. It was not until 1996 that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences accorded her an Oscar nomination -- for her supporting role as Barbra Streisand's mother in "The Mirror Has Two Faces." But despite widespread support, she lost the coveted trophy to Juliette Binoche for her performance in "The English Patient." With her smoky voice and smoldering looks, Bacall has become a Hollywood legend. The storied romance with Bogart and their remarkable marriage; her devoted care during his final illness; her bravery after his death and the care of their two children; the stormy marriage to Jason Robards. Through it all, she spoke her mind with a tart wit. From the time she sat atop Vice President Harry Truman's piano as he serenaded her, she has been devoted to the Democratic Party; her antipathy toward the political right reaches extraordinary proportions. From the time of her 1944 film debut in "To Have and Have Not," she has remained in the spotlight. This month she stars on Broadway with Rosemary Harris in Noel Coward's "Waiting in the Wings." Its premiere Dec. 16 at the Walter Kerr Theater commemorates Coward's 100th birthday. "I love the theater, and I go to the theater a lot," Bacall said. "I've been thinking of doing a play, but I was not interested in a revival. I think I might drop dead if I did a musical now; eight shows a week would kill me. "When this play was sent to me, I was interested. Noel Coward was a friend, and I had worked with him in 'Blithe Spirit,' which we shot live on television." "Waiting in the Wings" takes place in a retirement home for actresses. Bacall plays a new resident coming face to face with a longtime rival, played by Rosemary Harris. "It was produced in England in 1960, but never in America," said Bacall. "I was told that he didn't quite polish it because the thought of retiring actresses upset him a little bit. He was getting close to that age himself, although he never really retired." (Coward died in 1973 at age 74.) Bacall was interviewed in the classic movie-star setting: beside a hotel swimming pool. When she visits Los Angeles from her New York City residence, which is as often as possible since her sons Steven Bogart and Sam Robards live here, she stays at the Bel-Air Hotel. She enjoys sitting by the pool and taking periodic swims. "It's one thing I miss in the East," she explained. "I can't stand indoor pools." Betty Jane Perske (her birth name) grew up in the Bronx with a fierce desire to act on the stage. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and managed to land a few minor roles in Broadway plays. "I always wanted the stage; I never thought of myself in terms of film," she remarked. "But life takes different routes." To earn money between acting jobs, she modeled. "Slim" Hawks, wife of director Howard Hawks, spotted her on the cover of Harper's Bazaar and recommended the 18-year-old to her husband. He signed her to a contract, gave her the glamour treatment and persuaded Jack Warner to star her with Humphrey Bogart in Hawks' film "To Have and Have Not." "That changed my life," she recalled. "Suddenly I was thinking of myself in terms of movies because I was there and it was a job. "It's funny, I never thought in terms of becoming a star. I thought of being an actress, and having my name in lights on a Broadway marquee." She became a star with one deathless line in "To Have and Have Not." Leaving Bogart's hotel room, she indicated that if he ever needed her back, he had only to whistle. "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve?" she purred. "You just put your lips together and blow." Along with stardom came a romance with the leading man. "I was so blinded by Bogie I couldn't think of anything else," she admitted. "All I thought of was being with him. He didn't ask me not to be an actress. But he said he had been married to three actresses and their careers always came first. If I wanted a career that badly, OK, he would help me as much as he could but he wouldn't marry me. "I had to promise to put our life together first. That's what I did. As soon as Howard realized he wasn't going to be my Svengali and was not going to have an affair with me, he sold the rest of my contract to Warners in a huff, washed his hands of me. That upset me." She believes she would have had a more successful career had she stayed with Hawks. "Suddenly a lot of people in the industry began to think of me only as Bogie's wife," she said. "We were a great pair, had great times together. I was not thought of much as an actress. Even today, I think there are people who don't know whether I'm an actress or not -- if they even think about it." The Bogart-Bacall idyll ended on Jan. 14, 1957, when the actor died at age 57 after suffering from cancer of the esophagus. His widow wonders if his longtime smoking was the only cause. "Bogie was not a drunk. But he was a heavy drinker," she said. "As you know, he tapered off gradually when we were married, just because he found he didn't need to drink anymore, not to that degree anyway; he always enjoyed his booze. He ate badly; he was not a good eater. So I think it was just a combination of all those things." Bacall marveled at the durability of the Bogart mystique. He led the list of a recent American Film Institute poll of the all-time greatest stars. "After all these years, he's still No. 1," she said. "Isn't that amazing? He certainly would not have believed it. He would have said, 'Bah!' Because he was not a man of giant ego. "His persona was so all-encompassing and so strong, because he was really pure. He could not be bought by anyone, you see. Nobody could understand anyone's success being like that." She still remembers his lessons when they first met: "Don't believe any of your publicity; remember somebody at Warner Bros. planted it." "And also remember that nobody in the business gives a damn about your life; you have to separate your work from your life, and walk the straight and narrow." The transition to widowhood came hard for Bacall. A romance with Frank Sinatra went sour, and she found people were only asking him -- not her -- to dinner parties. "When you've had a complete life you thought was going to continue and suddenly it's over, your life stops," she said, her angular face turning serious. "Also, I didn't have a secure movie career. I'd been in some very good movies-- very successful movies -- but I wasn't that kind of individual star. ... It just seemed that I should get out, because I was not in very good shape. "My mother was in New York, and all my family was in New York. I grew up there. I couldn't imagine myself living in California alone, knowing all those people and suddenly being left out of everything." First she took the children, Leslie and Steve, to England for a year while she made "Storm Over India." Then she settled in New York City, where her many friends gathered around and she felt a sense of belonging. She returned to the theater in a George Axelrod comedy, "Goodbye Charlie." The critics loved her but hated the play. Bacall's marriage to Jason Robards produced a son, Sam, and some good times. But it ended after nine years because of his drinking and dalliances. Film roles for Bacall grew sparse, but she became a Broadway star with three smash hits: "Cactus Flower," "Applause" and "Woman of the Year." Her recent career has been notable for "The Mirror Has Two Faces," which brought her only Oscar nomination, and a television miniseries as heiress Doris Duke. Despite all her achievements in theater, film and television, the Bacall name remains inextricably connected with Bogart. "Bogie's just always there (and) I don't want to change that, I don't want to deny it, I don't want to bury it," she said. "I just want someone to say, 'Listen, kid, you've done a lot yourself; it's not bad.' " Prime Times front page Mail Tribune front page Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA