The Big Sleep star Lauren Bacall dies aged 89

Lauren Bacall, the renowned actress and former wife of cinematic legend Humphrey Bogart, has died at the grand old age of 89.

Remembered by many for her husky voice and sexual looks, the award-winning legend suffered a stroke in her Manhattan home on Tuesday morning.

The Humphrey Bogart Estate announced her passing via its Facebook page:

“With deep sorrow for the magnitude of our loss, yet with great gratitude for her amazing life, we confirm the passing of Lauren Bacall.”

Born in the Bronx in 1924, Bacall made her big break in films at the age of 19 when she starred alongside her future husband Bogart in the 1944 thriller To Have and Have Not.

The role was made memorable by her iconic line “You know how to whistle, don’t you Steve? You just put your lips together, and blow.”

The pair then married in 1945 before reuniting for an even more acclaimed film in the shape of the crime-thriller The Big Sleep (1946), in which Bacall played the role of Vivian Rutledge.

They then starred in a third film together in Key Largo (1948) which was their final on-screen collaboration before Bogart’s death in 1957.

During the 50s, Bacall also had the distinct pleasure of working alongside other legendary stars like Marilyn Monroe in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and Gregory Peck in Designing Women (1957).

She went on to marry future two-time Oscar winning actor Jason Robards in 1961 with their marriage ending in 1969.

From then on, her roles became more or less memorable though she did feature in renowned films like Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Shootist (1976) and the brilliant Misery (1990).

After a career spanning fifty years, Bacall finally received major awards recognition when she clinched a Best Supporting Actress award at the Golden Globes for her performance as Barbara Streisand’s bitchy mother in the romantic drama The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996).

She also received her sole Oscar nomination for the role and was seen as the sentimental favourite to win it only to lose out to Juliette Binoche for The English Patient (’96).

Towards the end of her long career, she went on to star in Nicole Kidman films Dogville (2003) and Birth (2004) and also made a cameo as herself in the acclaimed TV series The Sopranos.

She also lent her voice to animated productions like Howl’s Moving Castle (2003) and Ernest and Celestine (2012) with her final ever role being the voice of Peter Griffin’s elderly admirer in Family Guy.

In 2009, Bacall deservedly received an Honorary Oscar for her outstanding contribution to the golden age of cinema over the past seventy years of her life.

The actress had two children with Bogart, Stephen and Leslie, and one child with Jason, Sam.

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