By David Sillito From BBC

US film and stage actress Lauren Bacall has died at the age of 89.

Her Hollywood career spanned seven decades, with a memorable debut aged 19 opposite her future husband, Humphrey Bogart, in To Have and Have Not.

More than 50 years later, The Mirror Has Two Faces earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924, she went on to become one of cinema’s biggest stars, best known for her husky voice and smouldering looks.

A Twitter account of the Bogart estate, run by Bacall’s son, tweeted: “With deep sorrow, yet with great gratitude for her amazing life, we confirm the passing of Lauren Bacall.”

She reportedly died after suffering a major stroke at home in New York.

Bacall collected an honorary Oscar in 2009 in recognition of “her central place in the golden age of motion pictures”.

Frank Sinatra and Lauren Bacall  – Bacall had a brief romance with Frank Sinatra

Lauren Bacall  – She was widely expected to win an Oscar when nominated in 1996

Born Betty Joan Perske, Bacall took a variation of her mother’s last name after her parents divorced.

Her first film performance, as the tough and tender dame in To Have and Have Not, became one of the most powerful debuts in film history.

The film featured her legendary lines: “You don’t have to act with me, Steve. You don’t have to say anything and you don’t have to do anything. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and… blow.”

She continued her on-screen partnership with Bogart in Key Largo, The Big Sleep and Dark Passage after the couple were married in 1945.

They had two children and were married until his death in 1957. She had another child with her second husband, Jason Robards.

Sciences 2009 Governor Awards in Hollywood, California, in this file picture taken 14 November 2009 Bacall with her adult children in 2009

Bacall appeared in more than 30 movies, including How to Marry a Millionaire and Murder on the Orient Express.

She also acted on stage in New York, winning Tony Awards for best leading actress in a musical in 1970 for Applause and in 1981 for Woman of the Year.

A second wave of film acting earned her an Academy Award nomination in 1996 for her role opposite Barbra Streisand in The Mirror Has Two Faces.

Streisand paid tribute to the Hollywood great, saying: “What a terrible loss for us all… It was my privilege to have known her, to have acted with her. And, most of all, to have had her as a wise and loving friend.

“She was an original. Even with all those great films we can visit again and again, she will be missed.”

Actor James Caan, who shared the screen with Bacall in 1990’s Misery, said: “She was a great, uplifting lady who was full of talent and fun. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with her. I will miss her dearly.”

British filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, who directed the star in one of her final film roles, 2004’s psychological thriller Birth, remembered her as “a very young soul”.

“People had to be on their toes around her,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. “I remember her saying she was too old to behave”.

The director said he had cut much of her dialogue from the finished version of the film, “because she communicated so much by her silent presence”.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tweeted Bacall’s own words, “I’ve been very lucky in life”, along with footage of the actress receiving her honorary Oscar in 2010.

Bacall’s last credited role was voicing a character in animated series Family Guy. Its creator Seth McFarlane said: “Lauren Bacall’s life is a life to be celebrated. I am told her last performance was on Family Guy. For that we are forever honoured and privileged.

“Thank you, Lauren, for teaching us all how to whistle,” he added, in reference to Bacall’s famed line from To Have and Have Not: “You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.”

IMAGES:

Lauren Bacall with Jason Robards Bacall with her second husband, Jason Robards, and their baby son Sam

Lauren Bacall in 2007 In 2007, she appeared in Berlin with her dog Sophie during a photocall for The Walker

Actress Lauren Bacall (2nd R) poses with her children Leslie Bogart, Sam Robards and Stephen Humphrey Bogart (L-R) at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts

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