Cavett had a style, like Johnny Carson, of bringing the truth out of many of his guests. This interview of Bette Davis, who is 63 years young, reveals what a fun-loving, straight-talking, career-devoted actor par excellance she had turned out to be.
Not nearly finished with acting, she wasn't looking for 'stardom'. Davis said, flat out, that she wanted to be the best actor she could be, period. She wouldn't allow herself to settle for less.
Bette Davis said that she'd act 'as long as she still had high heels and a make-up bag'. That she did until 1986-87 when she was literally dying of cancer, in "The Whales of August." Sixteen years after this interview, Bette Davis was still playing the leading roles of remarkably strong women, with all star casts (in "Whales,"--Lillian Gish, Vincent Price & Ann Southern).
Davis spent her cancer-struggling days traveling around the world to present awards to peer actors in the public. Still, like so many of her characters, willing to be seen by the public as someone less than a glamor-puss who was star-struck on herself.
If anyone knows how to lay hands upon the full copy of this Cavett-Davis interview to buy please contact me at phd12166@hotmail.com.