Bette Davis went roughly a year without looking at herself in a mirror after a stroke, according to her longtime assistant Kathryn Sermak, who recalled the private struggle in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.
The two-time Oscar winner was 75 when she underwent breast cancer surgery in 1983 and suffered a severe stroke shortly afterward.
Sermak, whom Davis had hired in 1979, helped her through that recovery. Having seen the actress gravely ill, she measured progress in small improvements and thought Davis looked well as her strength returned.
Davis later told the Los Angeles Times that her greatest fear had been professional: “Will I ever work again?”
A Malibu Gathering Brought Robert Wagner and Other Friends Together
On Aug. 12, 1984, Davis prepared to host guests at a rented home in Malibu, including Robert Wagner, Jill St. John and future Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne. Sermak marked the occasion in her datebook as “Big Day.”
While getting dressed, Davis studied her reflection and took stock of what she had survived. Sermak recalled her assessment: “Okay, I’ve been through a lot, not bad.”
Wagner remembered Davis as funny and fully engaged that day. Sermak said she later learned how surprised the visitors had been by the changes in Davis’ appearance.
During a 1971 interview on the set of Madame Sin, Davis told Sight and Sound that Wagner, her costar and producer, was “a great administrator.”
Her First Production After the Stroke Tested Months of Preparation
Sermak remembered Davis beginning her days at 8 a.m. during three months of preparation for Murder With Mirrors. Rehearsing at home gave her practice with the dialogue, but she still worried about remembering it once she was working in front of a crew.
The Agatha Christie adaptation paired Davis with Helen Hayes. Sermak placed filming toward the end of 1984, and the television movie was released on Feb. 20, 1985. Its production went smoothly, according to her account.
Davis subsequently appeared with Jamie Lee Curtis in the 1986 television movie As Summers Die.
‘The Whales of August’ Used Six-Hour Workdays for Its Actors
In The Whales of August, Davis played Libby Strong, a blind widow whose sister, played by Lillian Gish, handles much of their daily life together at a seaside home in Maine. Vincent Price and Ann Sothern also starred in the Lindsay Anderson film, which reached theaters in 1987.
According to the American Film Institute, the production spent eight weeks on Maine’s Cliff Island in fall 1986. The actors stayed in island cottages and worked six-hour days, while crew members traveled to the set by boat from another island.
The producers also arranged screenings of their stars’ earlier films for the cast and crew. The selections included Davis’ All About Eve, Gish’s The Wind, Sothern’s Lady, Be Good and Price’s The Raven.
Davis Wrote About Recovery While Planning More Work
In her 1988 Times interview, Davis said she had written This ‘n That partly to encourage other stroke survivors. She wanted readers to understand the effort recovery required, even as she approached her 80th birthday with another movie on her schedule.
Sermak collaborated on that memoir and later wrote about their relationship in Miss D and Me: Life With the Invincible Bette Davis, drawing on her years as Davis’ assistant and friend.
Speaking to the Times again in a January 1989 interview, Davis described acting as her preferred way to unwind: “I relax when I work. It’s my life.”
On Sept. 22, 1989, Davis appeared at Spain’s Victoria Eugenia theater to receive the San Sebastián International Film Festival’s Donostia Award. She died on Oct. 6, at 81.