He achieved fame as the gangster in The Petrified Forest 1936. He became an international cult figure as the tough, romantic "loner" in such films as The Maltese Falcon 1941 and Casablanca 1942, a status resurrected in the 1960s and still celebrated today. He won an Academy Award for his role in The African Queen 1952. He co-starred in To Have and Have Not 1944 and The Big Sleep 1946 with Lauren Bacall, who became his fourth wife.
