Lauren Bacall’s death yesterday at the age of 89 has saddened her millions of fans around the world. Bacall once quipped that her obituary would be “full of Bogart” and indeed, most tributes being published today focus, at least partially, on her relationship with the famous actor. There was a lot about Bacall, though, that deserves mention aside from the men in her life. One thing that many people might not know about the lovely leading lady was that she was an agnostic in a time when agnosticism and atheism, especially, was incredibly taboo. She was certainly ahead of her time in this regard.
As well, she was a woman who did not need a man to define her during an era when all most women cared about was getting their “Mrs” instead of an MBA. Yes, she was married to Humphrey Bogart, who, until the time of his death she referred to as the love of her life, but her career began and flourished before she met him. After his death, she continued her meteoric rise to super-stardom.
Almost no one spoke out about a lack of a belief in God, or liberalism in quite the way Bacall did in an age where free thinking was not widely accepted. She openly admitted that she stopped believing in God at age 8, however, in a memoir she penned, she stated that while she did not consider herself a complete atheist, she did not believe she would ever see her late husband, Humphrey Bogart, again. This seemed to indicate that she did not believe in an afterlife or “heaven” as did nearly all of her contemporaries.
A quote attributed to Bacall reads “I gave up a belief in God, and nothing I have seen in the last thirty-seven years has changed my mind on that point.” Being an agnostic verging on atheist in the 1940s could not have been easy for Lauren Bacall. Even today, agnostics and atheists are looked down upon, ridiculed and even hated. In some countries, the penalty for being discovered to be an atheist is death. Of course, it is not as bad in the United States, and agnostics and atheists are gaining in numbers, especially in the last few years. However, during the time Bacall lived, particularly in her heyday, being an atheist was just not something that was discussed much, if at all.
Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart were also dedicated liberal Democrats, and spoke about it openly. In 1995, she told Larry King she was an “Anti-Republican…A liberal. The L-word…being a liberal is the best thing on earth you can be. You are welcoming to everyone when you’re a liberal. You do not have a small mind.”
Lauren Bacall was proud to be a liberal agnostic and unafraid to speak up about her belief system unapologetically. Bacall was also bold in taking on strong female roles in her films, making her a heroine to many feminists. While she was not considered to be extremely politically active in the women’s movement or otherwise, she blazed new trails for women in film with her strong characters and her blunt way of speaking. Bacall was very much ahead of her time and her death is a loss to the film industry and the world.
