Stephen Bogart’s parents are two of the most recognizable stars of Hollywood’s golden era – but many today wouldn’t know it.
The producer, the son of ’40s power couple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, admitted that today’s youth have largely forgotten their names.
“I go to the doctor and the assistant comes in… and the doctor says, ‘Hey, do you know who this is? He’s Humphrey Bogart’s son,’” the 75-year-old recalled to Us Weekly.
LAUREN BACALL, HUMPHREY BOGART HAD ‘EMOTIONAL AFFAIRS’ BUT REMAINED ‘DEVOTED TO EACH OTHER’: AUTHOR
“And she goes, ‘Who?’” he shared. “This is, like, two months ago. And this is a smart woman.”
Now, Stephen is trying to change that. He has a new documentary, “Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes,” which aims to shed new light on the “Casablanca” star.
Bogart, the Oscar winner and original Rat Pack member who starred in films like “Sabrina,” “The Maltese Falcon” and “The African Queen,” died in 1957. He was 57.
While the “lack of awareness” from younger generations about classic Hollywood “boggles his mind regularly,” Stephen admitted he wasn’t surprised.
“… Kids don’t really know because it’s tough when you’re looking at your phone, and you want to see the latest Marvel,” Stephen explained to Us Weekly. “Not that I have anything against Marvel. I used to collect comic books, but they’re not aware of the past at all.”
Stephen’s mother, who won two Tony Awards in her lifetime, starred in “How to Marry a Millionaire” alongside Marilyn Monroe, as well as “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Sex and the Single Girl,” among others.
The model-turned-sultry voiced screen siren shared the screen with Bogart in “To Have and Have Not,” “The Big Sleep,” “Key Largo” and “Two Guys from Milwaukee.” They became one of Hollywood’s most famous couples of all time.
Bacall died in 2014. She was 89.
Stephen told the outlet that he hoped the documentary “will allow people to look back on their lives and trace the arc of the people in their lives that continued to bring them forward to where they are today.”
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Bacall first worked alongside Bogart in the 1944 film “To Have and Have Not.” They became lovers on set and later married in 1945.
“She was pretty good-looking,” Stephen previously told Fox News Digital on what drew the actress to his father.
“She was 19, and he was 44,” said Stephen. “But I think it was her strength. She was a strong woman. She didn’t take c— from anybody. He thought she was very talented as well, but she could also keep up with him.”
WATCH: LAUREN BACALL, HUMPHREY BOGART HAD EMOTIONAL AFFAIRS, BUT REMAINED DEVOTED TO EACH OTHER: AUTHOR
The Detroit Free Press shared that Bacall stayed by her husband’s bedside until the end. After he died, Bacall broke down “but snapped out of it” to hold herself together.
Stephen said Bacall coped with the loss by leaving California behind.
“A year later we were living in England,” said Stephen. “And then we moved to New York. I had a house with a pool in California. Life was pretty good. And then, all of a sudden, there was a big change for all of us. But I think she eventually started to do the things she wanted to do for herself. She always wanted to move back to New York because her mother lived there. And I think that was important for her. And she also got into theater.”
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Bacall eventually remarried in 1961 to actor Jason Robards. That union lasted until 1969. Still, Stephen shared that his mother always talked about Bogart and his films.
“She would talk about him all the time,” said Stephen. “It was almost like, ‘What would your father think?’ or ‘Your father believed in treating people correctly.’ And that’s what she wanted me to do too.… She wanted me to remember that he didn’t like to lie. He wasn’t a liar. She always used to pound that into me. Don’t lie. Tell the truth. That was a big deal.”
After Bacall moved to New York in 1958, she settled into the famous Dakota building, which she called home until her death. And while she kept busy working into her 70s, Stephen said her final years were difficult.
“She was sick and in bed a lot,” he admitted. “The last couple of years weren’t great for her. Not that they’re great for anybody as they go down that road, as I’m now 70 years old. She had a couple of illnesses, and she didn’t go out much.
“She liked to stay at home. I don’t know how you feel when you get to that point, but… it wasn’t great for her. She was used to getting up and doing things, going out. She had assistants there for her all the time if she needed them. But I think it was a very tough time for her, those last few years.”
Has Stephen ever been tempted to pursue the family business? Not a chance, he insisted.
“How do you compete with that?” said Stephen. “The comparisons would have been obvious. No, never. Plus, I was lousy at it. I was in a couple of plays in high school. I wasn’t very good. I couldn’t do it. I just wasn’t very good at all. It’s not an easy thing to do, to be someone else.”
