Lauren Bacall’s Three Kids: Inside the Lives of the Iconic Actress’s Daughter and Sons
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- UPDATED September 03, 2025
by Kristine Bowman
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Even more than a decade after her passing, Lauren Bacall’s legacy lives on through her three children. Born Betty Joan Perske, Bacall welcomed two children — Stephen and Leslie — with her To Have and Have Not costar, Humphrey Bogart. The pair married in 1945, but their love story was tragically cut short when Bogart died of esophageal cancer in 1957. Years later, Bacall married actor Jason Robards in 1961, and together they had a son, Sam, before divorcing in 1969.
On Aug. 12, 2014, Bacall died at age 89 in her New York City home. Reflecting on her life one year later, her eldest son Stephen told NoirCity that her remarkable journey gave him peace:
“When you lose your mother, of course it’s upsetting, but you can’t be sad for her because she got to do what she got to do … She wasn’t in any pain. How much better can it be, really?
Stephen Bogart, 76
Bacall became a mother for the first time on Jan. 6, 1949, when she welcomed Stephen Humphrey Bogart with Humphrey. Growing up as the child of two Hollywood legends was not always easy. In a 1995 interview with The New York Times, Stephen shared that his father’s death in 1957 brought unwanted attention: “I hated it. I didn’t want my picture taken anymore.”
Though he struggled in school, eventually graduating from the University of Hartford in 1979, Stephen found his path as a television producer and author. His 1995 book Bogart: In Search of My Father became his way of better understanding the man behind the legend.
Leslie Bogart, 73
On Aug. 23, 1952, Bacall and Bogart welcomed their second child, daughter Leslie Howard Bogart. Bacall later described that time as one of the happiest in her life: “Whenever I think of the word ‘happy’ now, I think of then.”
After her father’s death, Leslie largely avoided the spotlight. She worked as a photographer’s assistant, then as a yoga instructor and nurse in Boston. In 1990, she married yoga master Erich Schiffmann. Today, she and her brothers manage their late mother’s intellectual property rights.
Sam Robards, 63
Bacall welcomed her youngest child, Sam, on Dec. 16, 1961, with her second husband, Jason Robards. Known as her “little mouse,” Sam grew up surrounded by Hollywood greats — even Katharine Hepburn was his godmother.
Bacall often raised Sam largely on her own due to Jason’s demanding career, which helped forge a particularly close bond. “Sam enriched my life more than anyone has … What a great gift,” she told Vanity Fair in 2011. Inspired by his mother’s stage presence, Sam pursued acting himself after appearing onstage with her at just 8 years old. Today, he is a respected actor with a career spanning film, television, and theater.
Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall: A Hollywood Love Story
Bacall and Bogart’s romance remains one of Hollywood’s most iconic. They met in 1943 while filming To Have and Have Not, when Bacall was just 19. Though Bogart was married at the time, the two fell deeply in love, weathering studio pressures and public scrutiny. They married in 1945, welcomed son Stephen in 1949 and daughter Leslie in 1952, and remained together until Bogart’s death in 1957.
From their unforgettable onscreen chemistry to their enduring offscreen devotion, Bogart and Bacall’s love story remains one for the ages.
