Vintage Photos of the Most Iconic Old Hollywood Couples

Bette Davis met Gary Merrill in 1950 while starring together in All About Eve, where their sharp on-screen dynamic quickly spilled into real life. Merrill, a newcomer, was drawn into Davis’s forceful orbit, and the relationship developed amid Broadway success and Hollywood acclaim.

They married in 1950, but the marriage soon became volatile. Merrill struggled with alcoholism and resented Davis’s dominance and fame. Arguments escalated, careers suffered, and the relationship ended in divorce in 1960, leaving Davis emotionally bruised and more guarded than before.