Did You Know That Humphrey Bogart’s Wife Once Hired a Private Investigator to Follow Him Because She Was Pathologically Jealous?

It’s a big question: which actors or stars of our time will still be talked about 50 or 100 years from now on film sites (if such things exist in 2100)? Names like John Wayne, Gary Cooper, or Humphrey Bogart, and actresses like Marlene Dietrich, Lauren Bacall, or Ingrid Bergman have stood the test of time. Bogart, Bacall, and Bergman were closely intertwined, and it’s fitting to discuss them today as we remember Bogart on the 125th anniversary of his birth on December 25, 1899, in New York City—a Christmas Day arrival.

Though some doubted it for years, it’s now official: Humphrey DeForest Bogart was indeed born on this date in the Big Apple. If you want to get poetic about it, you could say that his birthplace destined him to become an icon of film noir, a genre closely tied to urban settings. Tragically, Bogart passed away from cancer at just 57, but in his short life, he married four times, including to Lauren Bacall, who was 25 years his junior. One of his previous marriages, however, was to Mayo Methot, a union that turned out to be six years of absolute chaos. Their relationship was so tumultuous it drew comparisons to today’s celebrity dramas like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie—or even Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

Bogart met Methot during the production of the crime film Marked Woman, and they tied the knot in 1938, a year after its release. Methot soon quit acting—one reason her name is often mentioned only in connection to Bogart. The press frequently reported on their fiery relationship, earning them the nickname “The Battling Bogarts.” Their quarrels were often fueled by heavy drinking, with both of them consuming alarming amounts of alcohol. Methot’s pathological jealousy only made matters worse. In the early 1940s, she attempted suicide and was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Their fights were infamous: whiskey bottles flew through the air, Methot once stabbed Bogart in the shoulder during an argument, and she even allegedly threatened him with a gun. Bogart, not one to back down, once ripped her dress during a particularly heated altercation. The turning point came when Bogart met Lauren Bacall. Although he tried to save his marriage to Methot, her alcoholism and erratic behavior made it impossible.

Methot’s jealousy reached a fever pitch during the filming of Casablanca. She was convinced Bogart was having an affair with Ingrid Bergman, who played Ilsa, Rick Blaine’s love interest. Ironically, Casablanca revolves around Rick sacrificing his love for Ilsa for the greater good of defeating the Nazis—a theme that didn’t seem to matter to Methot. She even visited the set to confront Bogart in his dressing room, leaving him so enraged he stormed onto the set to film his scenes. However, her accusations were baseless; Bogart and Bergman had little interaction outside their shared scenes. In fact, their main off-screen discussions were about how terrible the script was—since at the time, Casablanca was shaping up to be a disaster. It’s a miracle the film became the classic we know today, but that’s another story.

Methot’s paranoia went so far that she hired a private investigator to follow Bogart, convinced he was cheating on her—though he wasn’t, at least not until Bacall entered the picture. Bogart quickly realized he was being followed. In a clever twist, he contacted the agency that employed the detective and made an unusual request to the manager:
“You have someone tailing me everywhere I go. Could you ask them where I am right now?”

This is just one of many colorful stories that define Humphrey Bogart’s legendary career. What’s your favorite film of his?