That look, and that voice: Lauren Bacall's best roles

Lauren Bacall had the look - cool and mysterious - and she had the sound, courtesy of that irresistibly low and throaty voice. Here are 10 key roles in Bacall's long career, in film and onstage.

Lauren Bacall had the look - cool and mysterious - and she had the sound, courtesy of that irresistibly low and throaty voice.



"She was sexy, she was saucy, and she projected a sense of intelligence," says film historian Leonard Maltin. "And amazingly, she was doing all that when she was barely 20 years old."



Here are 10 key roles in Bacall's long career, in film and onstage.



To Have and Have Not (1944): Bacall's film debut, made when she was 19, and of course her first film with Humphrey Bogart. The two fell in love on set. And if that weren't enough to immortalise the movie, there was this classic line, delivered by Bacall: "You know how to whistle, don't you Steve? You just put your lips together and ... blow." Director Howard Hawks wisely mined the chemistry between these two actors.

HT Image

The Big Sleep (1946): By the time this film noir was made, Bacall and Bogart were married. Hawks also directed this one, an adaptation of Raymond Chandler's 1939 detective story. Despite what was seen as a terribly confusing plot, the film capitalised on the public fascination with the screen couple.



Key Largo (1948): Also a film noir, and also starring Bogart - along with Edward G Robinson, Lionel Barrymore and Claire Trevor. The movie, directed by John Huston, was the last of four Bacall did with her husband (the third was Dark Passage). Inspired the 1981 song Key Largo by Bertie Higgins.



How to Marry a Millionaire (1953): A lighthearted comedy that teamed Bacall with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable; the actors played models aiming to land rich husbands. Also a great one for quotes. "You don't think he's a little old?" Bacall's character, Schatze Page, is asked. "Wealthy men are never old," she replies.