A gloriously silly evening at Paulette and Ivor’s house last night which involved Angus acting as sous-chef for the Brown Bette. It turned out surpisingly yummy, especially considering that I was so drunk by the time I got around to making it I kept having to weigh everything two or three times.
Much hilarity was had over whether Bette should be pronounced “Bet” or “Betty” (answers in comments below if you please) and there was much loud singing of “Bette Davis Eyes” complete with misremembered lyrics. At one point I distinctly remember Clive yelling, “Well of course she can make a crow blush! She’s got Bette Davis eyes…”
Ivor turned up quite late and asked, “What’s cooking?” When I said, “Brown Bette”, he said, “Oh Dear”.
But he soon got into the swing of things, insisting on calling our pudding a Black Betty and chanting a few resounding choruses of the song of the same name and pounding on the table – Woah Black Betty BAM A LAM! Later as he was sampling the pud he announced, “It provides a bit of traction on your teeth”, which I can only presume was a compliment as he ate a whole bowlful and said he’d have some more of it for his breakfast.
Mae West said that she changed her name from May to Mae because she didn’t approve of anything hanging down. I imagine same applies to Bette – so it must be Bet!
I love Mae SOOOOO much x
I belong to the Betty school of pronunciation, I think Bet is too Coronation Street for old BD.
Ha ha – indeed!
It is Betty for sure (and in the US nobody calls her Bet). I watched an old Arena documentary on her just last week (courtesy of lovely TCM) and throughout she was called Betty Davis and even referred to herself as Betty.
It’s slightly complicated in that the name was taken from Cousin Bette, pronounced Bet, but she always said Betty, thinking that was the correct pronunciation. Certainly for most of her life she insisted on Betty. There’s a funny BBC interview with Joan Crawford on the Baby Jane DVD where the interviewer refers to her as Bet and Crawford blanches and says he’s lucky she’s not there. (This is the same interview where he asks Joan if it’s true that John Barrymore stank because he never washed and she refuses to answer such an impertinent question.) Towards the end of her life Bette relaxed a bit and said she was okay with it being pronounced either way. But I always say Betty, and haughtily correct anyone who says otherwise.
I’ll go now.
Yes, I think it was the Cousin Bette thing that always confused it for me. Now when I am unsure I shall just think of Betty Davis Eyes and have done with it!