Lauren Bacall And Humphrey Bogart: Their Love Story

Actress and model Lauren Bacall passed away on Tuesday at the age of 89. Born Betty Joan Perske on Sep. 16, 1924, in the Bronx, New York, Bacall was an only child. At 17, she made her acting debut on Broadway in 1942 as a walk-on in “Johnny 2 X 4.”

In 1944, Bacall earned the role of Marie “Slim” Browning in the romantic film “To Have and Have Not.” It was there that she met actor Humphrey Bogart, who was 25 years her senior. Bogart was 45 at the time and married to actress Mayo Methot, but he nonetheless pursued a relationship with Bacall. The pair married in 1945 and remained together until Bogart’s death in 1957.

During her career, Bacall starred in a number of movies with her husband, including “The Big Sleep,” “Dark Passage” and “Key Largo.”

“With deep sorrow, yet with great gratitude for her amazing life, we confirm the passing of Lauren Bacall,” the Bogart estate confirmed on Twitter. The actress suffered a stroke Tuesday morning and passed away in New York, according to Robbert de Klerk, co-managing partner of the Bogart estate.

Though the two remained married until Bogart’s passing, the actress later admitted that when “The Big Sleep” and “To Have and Have Not” director Howard Hawks told her he wanted to cast Cary Grant or Bogart as her co-star, she responded with “Cary Grant -- terrific! Humphrey Bogart -- yuck.”

In Bacall’s memoir, “Lauren Bacall: By Myself,” the star admitted she was taken aback by the chemistry she felt with Bogart during their first film together. “I don’t know how it happened. It was almost imperceptible," she recalled.