When Bogart And Bacall Chose Adventure Over Family: A Story Of Hollywood Legends

Imagine this: you're only two years old, and your parents, Hollywood icons Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, are about to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure to the Belgian Congo for the filming of the legendary movie The African Queen. But just as they're about to board the plane, your nurse—tasked with taking care of you for six months—suffers a fatal stroke right there on the tarmac. What do you think they did? Would they stay with you or go for the adventure of a lifetime?

According to their son, Stephen Bogart, who recounted the story at a recent screening of The African Queen at New York City’s Metrograph Theater, they chose the adventure. "If you get a chance to go to Africa and film a movie with John Huston and Katharine Hepburn, or stay home with a 2-year-old kid, what are you going to choose?" Stephen humorously asked the audience. His parents opted for the unforgettable experience. "It was the adventure of a lifetime," Stephen fondly remembered.

Stephen and his mom, Lauren.

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Theirs was a love story that seemed almost impossible in Hollywood. Humphrey and Lauren met on the set of To Have and Have Not in 1944 and stayed together until Humphrey's untimely death in 1957 at the age of 57. "It was just a perfect time and a perfect storm," Stephen exclusively told Closer Weekly in the magazine’s latest issue, now available on newsstands. "There was no rhyme or reason. Boom, there it was." Their romance was unexpected, given that Bogart was 25 years older than Bacall, but it proved to be one of the most iconic partnerships in film history.

Despite being megastars, Humphrey and Lauren instilled in Stephen the importance of humility, a sense of humor, and treating others with respect. "They taught me to be humble, not to take yourself too seriously, and to treat people right," Stephen shared. After Humphrey's death, Lauren remarried actor Jason Robards from 1961 to 1969, but she never forgot her first love. "She would continually talk about my father and his films," Stephen recalled fondly. Lauren kept Bogart's memory alive for her son, ensuring he understood the profound impact his father had on the world of cinema.