Humphrey Bogart Net Worth

How much was Humphrey Bogart worth?

About Humphrey Bogart

American actor Humphrey DeForest Bogart, well known by his stage moniker Bogey, was born on December 25, 1899. His estimated net worth is $10 million. Many celebrities reach their pinnacle at the beginning of their careers before going into obscurity or playing roles that are unworthy of them. Humphrey Bogart, not so. His career went in the other direction. Humphrey DeForest Bogart, who spent his early career playing stereotypical criminals and thugs, finally broke through as a leading man in his middle age to become one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors and a surefire box office attraction.

On and off the screen, Bogie was a bad boy, a strong drinker, and a smoker who contributed to the image of the Hollywood megastar. He was a founding member of the Rat Pack and was married four times, most notably to Lauren Bacall.

Bogart’s fame has only gotten stronger since his cancer-related, untimely death at age 58.

Bogart’s Early Years

Humphrey Bogart served in the Navy during World War I, where he mysteriously acquired the recognizable scar on his lip and a sort of half-lisp. He was born in New York in 1899 to wealthy parents; his father was a surgeon and his mother a prominent illustrator. There are numerous explanations for how it occurred, including an accidental splinter, a combat injury, and an altercation with a POW.

Whatever the circumstances, it was successful. Bogart was not a handsome boy. Although he was attractive in his own right, his scar, wolfish grin, constant stubble, and shadowed eyes gave him an uniquely macho and slightly menacing aura that was catnip for many female moviegoers.

Bogart achieved some success on Broadway before relocating to Hollywood as the popularity of movies increased in the 1930s. He found work at Warner Brothers playing characters from the underworld. He frequently lost out on larger roles to more recognizable gangster types like Edward G. Robinson and George Raft.

His first notable performance came when Leslie Howard requested that Bogart replace Robinson as the villainous Duke Mantee in the 1936 adaptation of Robert Sherwood’s play, The Petrified Forest. (On stage, Bogart had performed the part.) Although it was a hit, the studio failed to recognize his potential. Bogart continued to play mobster roles.

Getting Star Status

When Raft passed down the lead role in 1941’s High Sierra, Bogart had already more than a decade after arriving in Hollywood, thoroughly established himself as a leading man. Another smash occurred.

Soon after that came The Maltese Falcon, the hugely popular debut picture of his protracted partnership with filmmaker and close friend John Huston. Bogie never went without employment, but the lucrative roles came in a hurry. Several stand in the hall of fame of great American classics, like The African Queen and Casablanca, both directed by John Huston, as well as The Caine Mutiny, The Big Sleep, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and many others. He received his first and only Oscar for the role of the African Queen, his sole on-screen collaboration with Katharine Hepburn.

Bogart finally became a true Hollywood superstar, earning millions and leading a wild lifestyle away from the camera. Despite this, he is widely praised for his strong professionalism, showing up to the set on time, prepared, and with his lines memorized.

On-Screen Persona

Although Bogart shown early on that he could portray a menacing gangster, his later roles—whether as villains or heroes—were more complex.

Detectives: His Sam Spade established the gritty private detective film noir stereotype in The Maltese Falcon, and he furthered this performance as Phillip Marlowe in The Big Sleep.

Reluctant Heroes: Casablanca gave him the opportunity to portray a more nuanced romantic hero, one who had a murky history but still had a strong sense of right and wrong. It’s a wonderful love tale, but it also demonstrates Bogart’s versatility with a wonderful buddy story, a brilliant ensemble cast, and a few action scenes. Bogie’s most well-known performance was established by Woody Allen in the 1972 film Play It Again, Sam, in which the nebbishy Allen receives advice from a fictitious, trench-coated Bogart.

He was an earthy, plain man mismatched with Hepburn’s prim spinster in an improbable love story and wartime adventure in his Oscar-winning performance as Charlie Allnut in The African Queen. Charlie Allnut was neither a tough investigator nor a smart bar owner. He gave a warm, humorous, and assured performance at the age of 52.

Villains: Compared to his early gangsters, his later villains were far more sophisticated. His roles as Fred C. Dobbs, a vagabond destroyed by greed in the magnificent Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Captain Queeg, a neurotic naval officer who is perpetually clicking steel balls together in The Caine Mutiny, are not to be missed.

Personal Life

According to all accounts, Bogart partied wildly, drank heavily, and was a philanderer and womanizer until he met Lauren Bacall.

His first two marriages, to theater actresses Mary Phillips in 1928 and Helen Menken in 1926, did not last long. Cynics have argued that marrying Menken, a Broadway actress with some experience ahead of him, was a smart career decision. When he relocated to Hollywood, Phillips refused to follow him.

Mayo Methot, a theatrical actress who relocated to Hollywood, was his third wife. They were dubbed “the Battling Bogarts” for their drunken antics and public battles after being married in 1938.

When Bogart, then 45, and Bacall, then 20, met on the set of To Have and Have Not, that marriage came to an end. By all accounts, the marriage was successful and led to the birth of two kids. Bogart and Bacall were among the few celebrities to fly to Washington to protest the red-baiting HUAC’s methods, and they remained partners up until Bogart’s passing.

Bogart, who detested pretense, had a lot of close friends who were heavy drinkers. At the conclusion of a particularly rowdy party, Bacall told the guests that they “Rat Pack” thus beginning the fabled “looked like a goddamned rat pack.” He and John Huston were reportedly the only cast and crew members of The African Queen who avoided getting sick while filming in Africa because they only drank scotch, never water, and even used whisky to wash their teeth.

Summing-Up

Humphrey Deforest Bogart is a legend of the American screen and an actor who overcame early prejudices to develop into more complicated and mature parts later in life. Humphrey Bogart had a net worth of $10 million at the time of his passing in 1957.

He had a full existence both on and off the screen, making him a compelling leading man and an intriguing villain.