This week is chock full of sad news. The world was only beginning to cope with the untimely death of Robin Williams. News has now broken that acclaimed actress Lauren Bacall has passed away at age 89. I remember Bacall most vibrantly from To Have and Have Not. My declaration simplifies her memory. She was not only a beautiful and glorious actress but also a mother and wife. Bacall was the third wife to Humphrey Bogart. They were married from 1945 until the day he passed in 1957. Their chemistry was immediately apparent, and they shared their love both onscreen and off. Lauren and Bogie’s subsequent collaborations included To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, and Key Largo. Here is Lauren’s obituary from the LA Times:

Lauren Bacall, the smoky-voiced movie legend who taught Humphrey Bogart how to whistle in To Have and Have Not, has died at the age of 89, according to her family.

Her death was confirmed by Robbert de Klerk, the co-managing partner of the Humphrey Bogart Estate with her son Stephen Bogart.

“She passed away peacefully earlier today in New York,” according to family, de Klerk said. Reached by telephone at her Santa Monica home, her daughter, Leslie Bogart, said the family was not sharing any additional information at this time.

Bacall launched her career with the 1944 film that turned “Bogie and Bacall” into one of Hollywood’s legendary couples on screen and off. She was born Betty Joan Perske on Sept. 16, 1924, in New York.

Bacall was a fledgling New York stage actress and a model whose pictures in Harper’s Bazaar came to the attention of director Howard Hawks, who placed her under contract and cast her opposite Bogart in the wartime drama To Have and Have Not.

She also costarred with many of the eras biggest names, Kirk Douglas in Young Man With a Horn, Gary Cooper in Bright Leaf, Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe in How to Marry a Millionaire, John Wayne in Blood Alley, Rock Hudson in Written on the Wind and Gregory Peck in Designing Woman.

In 1961 she married the actor Jason Robards. The couple, who divorced in 1969, had a son, Sam Robards, who went on to have a successful acting career in his own right.

Bacall returned to her Broadway roots many times. She appeared in the 1959-60 comedy Goodbye Charlie, the 1965-68 comedy Cactus Flower and the 1970-72 musical Applause, which earned her her first Tony Award.

In 1996, Bacall appeared as the meddling mother to Barbra Streisand in The Mirror Has Two Faces, a role for which Bacall received her only Academy Award nomination as supporting actress.

[From LA Times]

Lauren Bacall seems almost mythical from the perspective of a gossip blogger. Simply put, she was a phenomenal actress who rose to notoriety in a different age. Her abilities and notoriety transcended all modern precursors to infamy. She grew successful before the rise of social media, which she never would have needed in the first place. Bacall’s talent stood on its own. She never had to push herself upon audiences. Instead, they clamored for her. Lauren Bacall was old-school glamour personified. She was dignified and understated, and her memory will live on forever.

Bogart’s estate has tweeted a sad confirmation of Bacall’s death.

With deep sorrow, yet with great gratitude for her amazing life, we confirm the passing of Lauren Bacall. pic.twitter.com/B8ZJnZtKhN

— BogartEstate (@HumphreyBogart) August 12, 2014

Here’s one of Bacall’s most famous scenes, the whistle scene from To Have and Have Not.

Photo credit: WENN.com and PRPhotos