“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” It’s not hard to imagine that those words, spoken by Rick Blaine (played by Humphrey Bogart) in the 1942 cinematic masterpiece Casablanca, might have reverberated through Bogart’s heart and soul when he first met his wife-to-be, Lauren Bacall, two years later whilst the pair were filming To Have and Have Not. 

Friendship swiftly turned into love between the two actors. Bogart was 44 at the time, while Bacall was just 19, and Bogart was already married to Mayo Methot—his third wife. (His previous two wives were Helen Menken and Mary Philips, who were both actors themselves.) Still, he divorced Methot in 1945 and married Bacall that same year. Eleven years later, he would utter his final words with Bacall at his side: “Goodbye, kid. Hurry back.”

Humphrey Bogart’s Early Life

Bogart was an established star when he met Bacall, but his path to the top had been long and hard. Born on Christmas Day in Manhattan, New York in 1899 to parents in an unhappy marriage, the young Bogart was academically gifted yet thoroughly uninterested in his studies. 

At 18, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving with distinction during the final year of World War I. Returning home in 1919, he turned to acting, despite that vocation’s lowly reputation at the time. With no formal training, he eventually began landing roles in Broadway plays. His first film appearance came in 1928—a supporting role in The Dancing Town (Bogart  is officially credited as “Man in Doorway at Dance.”)

It was over a decade before Bogart landed his breakthrough part in Raoul Walsh’s 1941 movie High Sierra, which was swiftly followed by a star turn in John Huston’s directorial debut, the classic crime noir, The Maltese Falcon (also in 1941). Bogart’s role as the tough private investigator Sam Spade in the latter film transformed him into one of the most sought-after leading men of the decade. 

Humphrey Bogart’s Final Words

Bogart and Bacall married on May 21, 1945, and set up their home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. Despite their differences in age and temperament, this was true love, and the marriage resulted in two children—Stephen in 1949 and Leslie in 1952. 

Bogart fell ill four years later. He had always been a heavy smoker and drinker, and in 1956 he was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. He was laid up in his bedroom when he spoke his final words to Bacall, who was at his side. 

“Goodbye, kid. Hurry back,” he told her as she left to collect their children. By the time she returned, Bogart had slipped into a state of unconsciousness from which he would never wake. His last words echo another of his famous lines from Casablanca: “Here’s looking at you, kid.”

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