the american film institute salute to bette davis

On March 1, 1977, Bette Davis became the first woman recipient of the prestigious Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. Host Jane Fonda reminded Bette that it was her birth that made it necessary for Bette to recite her lines to a stand-in rather than to Henry Fonda in "Jezebel;" and Olivia de Havilland good-naturedly complained that Bette "got all the roles I always wanted." Also on hand were mentor-director William Wyler, Mia Farrow, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Henry Fonda, Lee Grant, Paul Henreid, Celeste Holm, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Martin Manulis, Liza Minnelli, George Stevens Jr., Cicely Tyson, Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood. Film clips included "Of Human Bondage," "Dangerous," "Jezebel," "Dark Victory," "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex," "The Letter," "The Little Foxes," "Now, Voyager," "Mr. Skeffington," "Beyond the Forest," "All About Eve," and "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"