Humphrey Bogart's Biography

Humphrey DeForest Bogart was born on 25 December 1899 in New York and died on 14 January 1957.

Humphrey Bogart's mother was a portrait painter and his father, Dr Belmont DeForest Bogart had inherited money. As well as their house on upper Riverside Drive, New York, the family had a home in the Finger Lakes.

After going to an Episcopal school, Humphrey Bogart was sent to Andover where he was thrown out for "irreverence" and "uncontrollable high spirits".

Bogart described himself as: "Democrat in politics, Episcopalian by upbringing. dissenter by disposition." He had an admiration of Roosevelt and a contempt for Senator Joseph McCarthy.

One of Humphrey Bogart's greatest performances was as Rick in the classic film, Casablanca. Alistair Cooke in "Six Men" claims that in the role: "the audience saw once for all Bogart behaving as a decent approximation to the melancholy man whose wryness was the mask of the incorruptibility he mocked. And it brings us back to Humphrey Bogart, the son of Dr Bogart, who was thrown out of school, did a stint in the Navy, fumbled around the theatre and eventually became the big Hollywood star."

Bogart said: "Acting is a job like any other. It takes practice to be good at it. After that you learn your lines, concentrate on nothing else, get dressed and go home."

In his last year he was confined to his house for many months. He said of Lauren Bacall: "She's my wife and my nurse. So she stays home. Maybe that's the way you tell the ladies from the broads in this town."

Humphrey Bogart came 36th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Movie Stars.

Bogart came first in the American Film Institute's list of American male screen legends.