People who have seen the classic Hollywood film "Casablanca" will be familiar with the actor's actor Humphrey Bogart. The legendary movie star, known for playing the "tough guy", ranked first on the American Film Institute's list of "the greatest actors in a hundred years".
Bogart was married four times in his lifetime, and his fourth wife, Lauren Baicall, was 25 years younger and an accomplished actor, ranking twentieth on the American Film Institute's list of "Greatest Actresses in a Hundred Years."
Their story is one of Hollywood's most famous romantic love stories, and the two men fell in love and lived together for 12 years until Bogart's death in 1957.
Bogart and White Kaul
Maybe heaven was going to test Bogart, and before he met the love of his life, his marriage was full of disaster and extreme violence. Bogart's first two wives were actresses Helen Menken and Mary Phillips, and Bogart believes that the failure of these two marriages is because the woman's career is too strong, resulting in the couple getting together less and more, and the feelings are weak. On August 21, 1938, Bogart married his third wife, Mayo Meitot.
At the age of 34, Meitotte was a very talented actress with a lively personality and a sweet voice, and at the peak of her career, many critics called her smart and beautiful, and her performance was infectious.
Mayo Meitota
Both Bogart and Meitot loved acting, loved good wine, and longed for a stable lifestyle. After two years of marriage, Mertott, who grew older and her appearance declined, began to be considered by directors to be no longer on camera. She simply gave up acting and went home to be the housewife she had always dreamed of becoming, taking care of the family's dogs full-time.
Meitota and Bogart
Bogart's career became more and more smooth, and began to play the male lead in more and more plays, and he played against young and beautiful girls. Gradually, the contradictions between the two increased.
When talking to outsiders about Meitot, Bogart's words were both positive and negative, saying, "I like my jealous wife... I don't like a wife who doesn't have a temper at all." "We get along very well because we have no illusions about each other."
In fact, their marriage has not been very smooth, and both of them are alcoholics, even to the point of alcoholism. When Meitol is drunk, he becomes extremely emotional, paranoid and violent. Under the influence of alcohol, the two had countless conflicts.
Some people think that this chicken-and-dog marriage is helpful to some extent to improve Bogart's acting skills. Actress Louise Brooks commented, "Mayo Meitott has made a huge contribution to Bogart's success, and her passions — jealousy, hatred and violence — are crucial to Bogart's role. Bogart has been tepid because he suppressed his emotions, and Meitto helped him release them. ”
Even if these conflicts are beneficial to Bogart's career, the feelings of the two people are slowly worn out in the fight. Their story is well known in Hollywood, dubbed by the media as the "Fighting Bogarts", and their public image is badly damaged.
In the middle of World War II, their marriage fell to the bottom. Bogart and Meitott were on a trip to Italy to visit their old friend, director John Houston. In the evening, everyone talked and drank together, and Mertott, who was drunk, remembered her early glory days on the stage and insisted on singing a song for everyone. Everyone advised her not to sing, but she still had to sing, and she sang intermittently, crying and crying out of tune, and Bogart, as a husband, felt extremely embarrassed.
Years later, Houston recreated the scene in one of his films, in which the actor who played the alcoholic woman won an Oscar for his brilliant performance.
Their friend Julius Epstein said: "Bogart and Meitot's marriage is a continuation of the American Civil War. ”
During a clash, Bogart was stabbed in the shoulder by Meitot, and Warner Bros. Propaganda's propaganda department suppressed the incident and did not let the media know about it. Bogart kept trying to save the marriage, and they separated and reconciled, repeated several times. However, Meitot's alcoholism became more and more serious, and their fight became more and more intense, and at one party, Meitot took out a pistol and threatened to shoot Bogart in public.
In 1943, during the filming of "The Man who was in the Fray", Bogart had an affair with his 19-year-old partner Lauren Baicall. Meitol smelled the wind and often ran off to the set to visit the class.
Lauren Baicall
Bogart is still trying to save the marriage. On October 19, 1944, he announced that he had moved out of the house, and on the 30th, he announced that he had reconciled with Meitota and that he wanted to "go home and return to our normal state of battle."
Reconciliation is short-lived. On December 3 of the same year, Meitott announced that Bogart had moved out of the house again. On May 10, 1945, Meitort signed his divorce papers in Las Vegas. Eleven days later, Bogart married Bai Kaul.
Stills from Bogart and Bai Kaul in "The Night Long Dreams"
After marrying Bogart, Meitott made only seven films, mostly in small roles. On June 9, 1951, Meitot died alone from complications of cancer at the age of 47 in a motel in Oregon, and her body was not found until days later.
When Bogart heard the news, she reportedly said: "It's a waste, she is really talented, but she threw away her life like this." ”
There were also reports that after Mertott's death, roses were sent to her grave every week until Bogart's death six years later.
Meitot's short life was full of successes and failures, and she was neither a purely tragic figure nor a Hollywood success model. She was talented, appeared in more than thirty films in her lifetime, and also shined on the Broadway stage, but in the end, what fans remembered was only the identity of "former Mrs. Bogart", and was considered a stumbling block to Bogart and Bai Kaul's romantic love.
It can be said that Metotel's life was ruined by alcohol, and she chose how to live her life, and also paid the price for this choice.
For Bogart, leaving her unhappy marriage to Mettott was the beginning of happiness. His marriage to Bai Kaul was not favored because of the age gap, but it was the only marriage that brought him happiness. In his love letter to Beckall, he said: "I never thought I could love anyone anymore... You are my last love, and I will love you for the rest of my life, take care of you, and be ready to help you at all times. ”
After Bogart's death, Beckall kept the memory of Bogart in her heart, saying: "There has never been a romance more romantic than our lives." ”
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