Lauren Bacall is a Golden Age film icon. She oozed confidence, and had a “been there, done that” maturity that infiltrated every role she took.

Before taking on Hollywood, Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske on September 16, 1924 in New York City. Her father left the family when she was six, leading her mother to change the family name to Bacall – her grandmother’s maiden name. In high school Bacall worked as an usher at a theater, then performed plays, including on Broadway.

She also worked as a fashion magazine cover model and her cover of Harper’s Bazaar in 1943 got the attention of Nancy Hawks, wife of director Howard Hawks. After a successful screen test, Hawks took Bacall to Hollywood, then taught her to speak in a lower voice register and convinced her to use the name Lauren as a way to deemphasize her Jewish roots.

Bacall’s film debut was in To Have and Have Not when she was just 19 years old, opposite future husband Humphrey Bogart. It was while filming the movie that she created her trademark look. Bacall began each take by pressing her chin to her chest to squelch nervous shaking. Thus, each time the camera rolled, the first shot of Bacall was always her gaze moving upward. Her performance in To Have and Have Not led to leading lady roles in film noir, which often called for femme fatales and mysterious women.

Despite a 25-year age difference, Bacall and Bogart fell in love, and got married on May 21, 1945. While they were married, the pair starred in The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, and Key Largo together.

She found solo success as part of a Golden Age dream team with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable in the 1953 comedy How to Marry a Millionaire. Bacall starred as Schatze, the leader of the three women planning to use an impressive apartment to attract rich husbands. Bacall played Schatze as a savvy, world weary woman, unlike her happy go lucky friends.

Bogart died of lung cancer in 1957, leaving behind a heartbroken Bacall and their two children. After a brief fling with Frank Sinatra she went back to New York to reconnect with her work on stage.

She performed on Broadway in Goodbye, Charlie in 1959 and Cactus Flower in 1965. Then, in 1969 she was sought for a starring role in Applause, based on the 1950 film All About Eve. She received glowing reviews of her performance as the famed actress Margo Channing and won a Tony for Best Actress. Her second Tony came in 1981 for the semi-autobiographical role in Woman of the Year. In 1996 she earned an Oscar nomination for her role in The Mirror Has Two Faces, costarring with Barbra Streisand.

Bacall worked consistently throughout her entire life, accepting fewer roles during both of her marriages, she also starred in short films and voice acted. Her final film was The Forger with Josh Hutcherson and Hayden Panettiere in 2012 and her final role was voice acting on Family Guy in 2014. She accepted an honorary Oscar in 2009 and passed away on August 12, 2014.