Editing Bette Davis (section)

===1983–1985: Illness and ''My Mother's Keeper''===
Her career went through several periods of eclipse, but despite a long period of ill health she continued acting in film and on television until shortly before her death from breast cancer in 1989.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=April 14, 2017 |title='Feud:' 10 Things to Know About the Bette Davis Tell-All 'My Mother's Keeper' |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/feud-my-mothers-keeper-primer-993125 |access-date=March 11, 2019 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en}}</ref> She admitted that her success had often been at the expense of her personal relationships.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

In 1983, after filming the pilot episode for the television series ''[[Hotel (American TV series)|Hotel]]'', Davis was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a [[mastectomy]]. Within two weeks of her surgery, she had four strokes which caused paralysis in the left side of her face and in her left arm, and left her with slurred speech. She commenced a lengthy period of physical therapy, and aided by her personal assistant Kathryn Sermak gained partial recovery from the paralysis. Even late in life, Davis smoked 100 cigarettes per day.<ref name="filmcomment">{{cite web|url=http://www.filmcomment.com/article/i-killed-bette-davis/|title=I Killed Bette Davis|first=Larry|last=Cohen|work=[[Film Comment]]|date=July 2012}}</ref>

==== ''My Mother's Keeper'' ====
{{Main articles|My Mother's Keeper}}

In 1978, Davis's longtime rival Joan Crawford's daughter [[Christina Crawford|Christina]] published a memoir titled [[Mommie Dearest|''Mommie Dearest'']]. Davis defended Crawford, saying, "I was not Miss Crawford's biggest fan but, wisecracks to the contrary, I did and still do respect her talent. What she did not deserve was that detestable book written by her daughter." She then went on to express the horror she would feel if her daughter, B. D. Hyman, did something like that to her.<ref name=":3" />

During this time, her relationship with Hyman deteriorated when Hyman became a [[born-again Christian]] and attempted to persuade Davis to follow suit. With her health stable, she traveled to England to film the Agatha Christie mystery ''[[Murder with Mirrors]]'' (1985). Upon her return, she learned that Hyman had published ''[[My Mother's Keeper]]'', in which she chronicled a difficult mother-daughter relationship and depicted scenes of Davis's overbearing and drunken behavior.<ref name=":0" />

Several of Davis's friends commented that Hyman's depiction of events was not accurate; one said, "So much of the book is out of context". [[Mike Wallace]] re-broadcast a ''[[60 Minutes]]'' interview he had filmed with Hyman a few years earlier in which she commended Davis on her skills as a mother and said that she had adopted many of Davis's principles in raising her own children.

[[File:Ronald Reagan with Bette Davis 1987.jpg|thumb|left|Davis with President [[Ronald Reagan]] (her co-star in 1939's ''[[Dark Victory]]'') in 1987, two years before her death]]Critics of Hyman noted that Davis financially supported the Hyman family for several years and had recently saved them from losing their house. Despite the acrimony of their divorce years earlier, Gary Merrill also defended Davis. Interviewed by CNN, Merrill said that Hyman was motivated by "cruelty and greed". Davis's adopted son Michael Merrill ended contact with Hyman, and refused to speak to her again, as did Davis, who disinherited her.<ref>Spada (1993), pp. 451–457</ref>

In her second memoir ''[[This 'n That]]'' (1987), Davis wrote: "I am still recovering from the fact that a child of mine would write about me behind my back, to say nothing about the kind of book it is. I will never recover as completely from B.D.'s book as I have from the stroke. Both were shattering experiences." Her memoir concluded with a letter to her daughter, in which she addressed her several times as Hyman, and described her actions as "a glaring lack of loyalty and thanks for the very privileged life I feel you have been given". She concluded with a reference to the title of Hyman's book, "If it refers to money, if my memory serves me right, I've been your keeper all these many years. I am continuing to do so, as my name has made your book about me a success."<ref>Davis (1987), pp. 10, 197–198</ref>