# What does "Bette Davis Eyes" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950 "2004-05-31T19:26:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/1 "2004-05-31T19:26:38Z")
Yes, I know it’s a song by Kim Carnes. However, I’m watching the “Law & Order”, and they’re investigating a possible fertility scam. At one point, Briscoe and Logan are talking to a lesbian couple, one of them was artificially inseminated. Okay, these chicks are kinda flaky, especially when they ask about the doner. They only know he’s Catholic, doesn’t drink, smoke, in perfect health . But then they say, “And we know too-he’s got BETTE DAVIS EYES!” And giggle. What the hell does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/2 "2004-05-31T19:48:31Z")
I don’t remember that episode, but maybe it helps to take Kim Carnes out of it and go back to the original writer: [http://mixonline.com/ar/audio\_kim\_carnes\_bette/](http://mixonline.com/ar/audio_kim_carnes_bette/) > [@](#): > > Actually, the song had a little history already. It was penned in the mid-'70s by [Donna] Weiss and Jackie DeShannon and was first recorded by DeShannon, in a decidedly country setting, for her New Arrangement album in 1975. DeShannon once said that she had been moved to write this evocative portrait of a teasing woman after seeing smitten actor Paul Henreid lighting cigarettes for Bette Davis near the end of the classic film Now Voyager. Possibly it’s the image of a smoldering Paul Henreid they were thinking of. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/3 "2004-05-31T19:50:07Z")
[http://bettedavis.freeservers.com/photo.html](http://bettedavis.freeservers.com/photo.html) ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/4 "2004-05-31T20:43:39Z")
I’d think they meant he has these really awesome flirty eyes that draw you in. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/5 "2004-05-31T21:17:05Z")
Well, Bette Davis had remarkable, striking eyes. If a child was born with such eyes, and mom didn’t have them I guess you would assume that the donor father did and had passed his “striking eye” gene along to Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/6 "2004-05-31T23:40:53Z")
Considering the popularity of the song among gay men, perhaps the lesbian couple was intimating that the donor was gay? I didn’t see the episode but would that make sense within the context of the scene? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/7 "2004-06-01T00:11:15Z")
At least he doesn’t have [Ben Turpin](http://silentgents.com/OSG17/Turpin4.jpg) eyes! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/8 "2004-06-01T00:40:12Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > At least he doesn’t have [Ben Turpin](http://silentgents.com/OSG17/Turpin4.jpg) eyes! or [Marty Feldman eyes](http://www.imomus.com/feldman.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/9 "2004-06-01T02:14:40Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Considering the popularity of the song among gay men, perhaps the lesbian couple was intimating that the donor was gay? I didn’t see the episode but would that make sense within the context of the scene? This is the only explanation that would explain their giggle, as at an inside joke. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/10 "2004-06-01T04:24:52Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Considering the popularity of the song among gay men, perhaps the lesbian couple was intimating that the donor was gay? I didn’t see the episode but would that make sense within the context of the scene? That’s enough to make a crow blush! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/11 "2004-06-01T05:05:35Z")
All the better just to please you. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/12 "2004-06-01T05:25:03Z")
I don’t see the allure in Bette Davis’ eyes. To me it’s always looked like she’s been squeezed too hard. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/13 "2004-06-01T06:19:04Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > This is the only explanation that would explain their giggle, as at an inside joke. I beg to differ. I saw it as an inside joke between the to of them that one of them (the one who wasn’t getting pregnant) had “Bette Davis eyes”, and they went looking for a donor who did too. (As that - looking for a donor who physically resembled the non-biological parent) is what the lesbian couple I know did.) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/14 "2004-06-01T06:27:45Z")
> [@astro](#): > > or [Marty Feldman eyes](http://www.imomus.com/feldman.jpg) Cripes, it’s been so long since I’ve seen him, I forgot just how bizarre he looks. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/15 "2004-06-01T12:59:46Z")
The great Al Hirschfeld was certainly taken with her eyes - [have a look.](http://www.alhirschfeld.com/cgi-bin/popup?ID=0008&CAT=A1) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/16 "2004-06-01T13:45:10Z")
Christina Ricci has Bettie Davis Eyes… Entertainment Weekly magazine in one brilliant passage referred to Ricci as the love child of Bettie Davis & Peter Lorre. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/17 "2004-06-01T14:43:15Z")
> [@astro](#): > > or [Marty Feldman eyes](http://www.imomus.com/feldman.jpg) Or Sammy Davis Eye. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/18 "2004-06-01T17:35:05Z")
> [@astro](#): > > or [Marty Feldman eyes](http://www.imomus.com/feldman.jpg) Dr. Fronkensteen: “Damn your eyes!” Eyegor: “Too late!” ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/19 "2004-06-01T18:14:56Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Or Sammy Davis Eye. Or Peter Falk Eye, for that matter… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950/20 "2004-06-01T18:16:03Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Or Sammy Davis Eye. I’ll see you Sammy and raise you [Andrew Vachss](http://www.vachss.com/dogs/index.html) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bette-davis-eyes-mean/247950.md?page=2)