Last January 15th marked the 64th anniversary of Humphrey Bogart's death; we miss his trench coat, the drop of his hat, and the fog at the Casablanca airport. Also, the scar on his lip gave him a distant touch.
Bogart gave his body a very bad life. Life of a smoker and compulsive drinker, co-founder of a group of partying artists that Lauren Bacall (the actor's last wife) christened, after seeing them return from Las Vegas looking dragged and quite damaged, as "Rat Pack" (Gang of Rats).
In the 1960s the group included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford (John F. Kennedy's brother-in-law). Only Shirley MacLaine was made an honorary member of the Rat Pack and the only girl to be considered "one of the boys".
Bogie died prematurely, devastated by metastatic esophageal cancer. He weighed only 36 kg and was just 57 years old. As his friend Spencer Tracy, to whom the widow Bacall entrusted it, was too affected, John Huston delivered the eulogy: “He never took himself too seriously, unlike his work. He regarded the rather gaudy appearance of the star Bogart with amused cynicism;, but for the Bogart actor he had deep respect. And he added: “he had received the best gift of all, talent. The whole world recognized him, life gave him everything he dreamed of and more; we should not feel sorry for him, but for us who lost him. He is absolutely irreplaceable. There will never be another like him."
All kinds of rumors began to spread. It was said that he was in a coma in a hospital. There were so many lies that Bogart himself published an open letter: “I have read that both my lungs have been removed, that my heart has stopped and they have replaced it with an old gas station pump; that I've applied to every cemetery imaginable from here to the Mississippi River, including several that I'm sure only allow dogs. All of this is very upsetting to my friends, not to mention the insurance companies. I had a small malignant tumor in the esophagus. The operation was a success, although for some time it was not known if the one who was going to survive was me or the tumor”.
I have read that my heart has stopped and they have replaced it with an old gas station pump; that I have asked for a place in all the cemeteries from here to the Mississippi River", joked Bogart with the rumors of his illness
But the reality is that the tumor had reproduced. When he could hardly move anymore, they moved him in a wheelchair. He continued to drink whiskey and play chess, one of his great hobbies.
Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy were the last friends to see him alive. It was January 12, 1957, a day later he went into a coma at half past two in the morning of the 14th he died. Bogart wanted his body cremated and his ashes scattered across the Pacific, but doing so was illegal in those years.
Bogart's remains rest at Forest Lawm Memorial in Burbank, Los Angeles. In a private area called "The Garden of Memory". There, next to an urn with his ashes, is a small gold whistle that Humphrey gave Bacall as a gift to remember a scene from "To Have or Not to Have" ("If you need me, whistle"), the movie in which they met and fell in love.
