Bette Davis fourth husband: All about Gary Merrill

Ruth Elizabeth “Bette” Davis was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical films, suspense horror, and occasional comedies, although her greater successes were in romantic dramas. A recipient of two Academy Awards, she was the first thespian to accrue ten nominations.

Bette Davis’s Fourth Husband: All about Gary Merrill

Classic Hollywood star Bette Davis’ fourth and final husband Gary Merrill was frequently violent after heavy drinking, according to James Spada, a biographer of Davis who authored Bette Davis: More Than a Woman in 2013.

Davis met Merrill during the making of the Oscar-winning film All About Eve, in which she portrayed Margo Channing.

According to Spada, “When she met [Merrill] she was impressed by his rugged good looks and pleasurably stirred by his unforced masculinity and lack of pretension.”

Their courtship was loving and promising, and once married, Merrill formally adopted Davis’ daughter, B.D. The couple also adopted two more children. Soon, they began arguing constantly.