Introduced last week to Nicole Kidman, her co-star in the film Birth, as a legend, Lauren Bacall replied: “She can’t be one, she’s not old enough. She’s a beginner”. Back in the 1940s, Bacall was spotted by Howard Hawks on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, and the photo prompted him to take “this fresh, raw material” and create a movie star. She was hailed as “the most sensational newcomer of 1944”. At 19 she was desperately nervous, and to stop herself shaking she glanced upwards every time she spoke, which won her the nickname “The Look” and was said to make her appear sexy and alluring. She was cast opposite Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not (1944) and she delivered the legendary line “If you want anything, just whistle”. The couple subsequently married and lived together until Bogie’s death in 1957. Lauren Bacall is 80 today.
RGT
Keith Bosley, poet and translator, 67; Lord Brassey of Apethorpe, Vice-Lord-Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, 72; Tommy Carberry, racehorse trainer, 63; Professor Kenneth Coates, Special Professor in Continuing Education, Nottingham University, 70; Loyd Grossman, broadcaster and writer, 54; Charles Haughey, Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland, 1979-81, 1982 and 1987-92, 79; Dame Deirdre Hine, chief medical officer, Welsh Office, 1990-97, 67; Andy Irvine, rugby player, 53; the Very Rev W. B. Johnston, Chaplain to the Queen in Scotland, 1981-91, 83; B. B. King, guitarist and singer, 79; Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore, 1959-90, 81; Judith Miller, author and publishing consultant, 53; Dame Sheila Quinn, Life President of the Royal College of Nursing, 84; Major-General Sir Roy Redgrave, Commander British Forces Hong Kong, 1978-80, 79; Mickey Rourke, actor, 48; Dame Stephanie Shirley, IT entrepreneur and philanthropist, 71.