Bogart: In Search of My Father (2025)

This book, written by actor Humphrey Bogart’s only son is as much a biography of Bogart as it is an autobiography of Stephen Humphrey Bogart. Bogart with his gravelly voice often played Hollywood tough guy roles receiving many awards. Stephen was just 8 years old when his famous Hollywood father died, but he still had his supportive mother at home with her own very distinctive voice, actress Lauren Bacall. The days of Bogie and Bacall were over.

As a son, this story sheds a unique inner perspective of Bogart. It’s apparent to me that certain trigger words like kid, pal and babe were a part of Bogart’s scripts as well as home life. ”Here’s looking at you, kid” is one very memorable line, but in real life I can form a visual impression when Bogart said to his son: ”Don’t do that, kid”, followed by ”Cut it out, kid. Bogart’s last words to his wife were ”Goodbye kid”.

Stephen’s story is a catharsis as when Bogart passed away the void in Stephen’s life was huge. Through this book he openly shares his journey to discover the full life of the Hollywood icon father that was taken from him to soon. Bogart had a passion for his acting profession, sailing, drinking with his inner circle of male companions and some routines such as his regular table at Romanoff’s restaurant. I did not mind that the book was at times repetitious and jumped around a little, as I continued to look forward to the next page.

On a side note in the early 1980’s I played rugby in Manhattan for Dartmouth College’s “Old Green” team. Following practice at Asphalt Park on the Upper East Side there was one player, whom I casually socialized with over a brief beer or soft drink before walking back to my apartment. His career involved voice-overs in commercials. I did not know my friends last name and after a month I was quizzed by teammates to guess who his father was solely by listening to his voice. I failed the test and was informed that his father was another Hollywood icon, Jason Robards Jr. Following Bogart’s death Lauren Bacall married Robards and their combined families resided in the NYC West Side Dakota building. I never took time to intimately know my rugby friend but I further comprehend he is Stephen Bogart’s step-brother.

I really enjoy books about real people. Celebrities, famous people I really enjoy reading about their lives and what makes them tick. I went through a stage many years ago where all I wanted to do was watch old movies. I watched, Key Largo, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Sabrina, and a bunch of John Wayne westerns. I was mesmerized by these movies. They are so different from the movies of today. Of all the oldies I saw, I became especially fond of Humphrey Bogart. His style was so unique. I was instantly a fan. I found this book in an antique shop several years ago and finally got around to reading it. I think Stephen Bogart did a fantastic job with this. Each chapter began with the continuation of the memory of a trip made to his old family home in Los Angeles with his mom in 1993. He reveals a piece of this memory each chapter. Stephen who has spent almost his whole life trying to forget his father, realizes he needs to remember. He finally wants to remember. So he talks to all of the people who knew his dad to help him learn more about the man he only was able to spend 8 -years of his life with. Humphrey Bogart was a genuine guy. He loved to sail and drink with his friends. He was a no nonsense type who told it like it was. He didn’t like phony actors. Stephen interviewed several people who knew Humphrey including his mom, Lauren Bocall. They helped Stephen piece together some of the missing pieces of the life of a man he didn’t really know. Now, after reading this, I want to go back and watch The African Queen and some of the other Bogart movies I have yet to see. It was great to learn about a legend.

This was a very quick read - although I'm in the middle of too many other books at the moment, I picked it up in the library, took a peek, was instantly hooked... brought it home and read right through to the end.

It didn't tell me much about Bogart that I didn't already know, but it was interesting to read his son's thoughts and memories and see how he feels his own life has reflected aspects of his father's life and personality at times. It's also written in an enjoyably dry style - I liked Stephen Bogart's descriptions of his typical conversations with anyone he has never met before, and how he is always asked the same questions about his father.

The writing isn't the greatest but the honesty is top-notch. There's a jaw-dropping moment in here that shows how shitty being the kid of movie stars could actually be. That alone is worth the read.

Incredible book. I highly recommend!

If I hadn't read "Yes Please," by Amy Poehler, I wouldn't believe that I could like any autobiographical book. Too often they are shallow, egomaniacal, and unimportant, and this one was no exception. The author, Humphrey Bogart's son has apparently spent his life trying to forget about his father and run from the Bogart name and this book is his way of reconciling that. It's not. At its simplest, it's a story of how nothing bad he's done in life is his fault (cocaine, getting kicked out of school, acting recklessly and petulantly), but rather the result of his father dying when he was 8. He foists all blame off on his father, his mother, and pretty much any one else who came into his life completely unapologetically. He frequently admits that he doesn't remember things that people have told him about his father, or that he doesn't remember how a specific event made him feel, which to me defeats the purpose of writing the damn thing to begin with. Had this book been written by someone without famous parents, it would never have been published. He grasps at straws trying to draw parallels between himself and his father, while going into graphic detail of his fathers last days, which to me makes him no better than the reporters he had such a problem with. The book is a grab for attention and an exercise in hypocrisy. A quick Amazon search reveals the only books to his credit (despite a cheap and tacky plug for a series of mystery novels he's working on in the middle of a book about his relationship with his father) all have to do with his famous father, who apparently was such a drain on his life.

All of that might have been forgivable had it been written well, but it wasn't. Bogart needed either a better editor or a ghost writer. I added a star simply for the anecdotes about Bogart and Bacall, which were interesting. It's just another book by a spoiled, delusional brat who grew up with love and luxury yet still feels entitled to attention because his father was unable to survive cancer.

This book was nowhere on my reading list until I came across it in the library. It was BRILLIANT! I had no idea I would laugh SO much at the stories that Stephen Bogart (Humphrey's son) recounts from his own life and his father's. Every day I read this book, it seemed like I was reading about modern day's Charlie Sheen. Bogart (or Bogie) was a dynamic personality off-screen who was also very introspective and insecure about the people around him. We discover Bogart as his son is discovering and reflecting on him. I also had no idea that it took him so long to get his first notable screen credit that led to more film opportunities. Some may see Humphrey Bogart as rebellious and difficult, but he only stood up for his beliefs and determined that he would spend his life the way he wanted to. Can't fault that... I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a Humphrey Bogart fan!

It was a great read. I especially liked hearing bogart's story from the perspective of his son. Usually with biographies, I prefer to read autobiographies, as I feel they're more apt to be true. With biographies, you have to take some information with a grain of salt, depending on who the author and who the author's sources are. With this book, having been written by Humphrey Bogart's son, and with great sources like Lauren Bacall and Katharine Hepburn, it is easy to believe that almost all information in the book is legit. This was a great read-- highly recommended.

If Stephen was just wanting to make some money, he hit on a good idea. Any bogart fan would snap this up. I remember one part in particular. Young bogart liked to use marijuana. He said some people didn’t like this, as it was illegal. But at the same time his father drank alcohol, which was ok in society because it was legal. It must have been hard to lose his dad at eight, but at least he had the cushion of money. Good reading I think I will get another copy to read again.

I think this book was pretty incredible. I think it was well written and i was hooked from the start.
Stephen has had a lot to deal with, as they all had. He re-lives it and tells us just enough.

Brilliant read and it will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Wonderful book and wonderful to read about Bogart from those close to him.

GREAT BOOK!

Shows of importance of actually raising your kids!

We love you, Steve.

If you are a Bogart fan, this is a must read.

This book was written 25 years ago in 1995 and I have had it about that long. Someone gave it to me as a gift and I had it on my "to read someday" list. A friend wanted to borrow it so I decided to read it before I lend it to her.

I have loved Humphrey Bogart ever since I saw "Casablanca" many years ago. I've seen it and "The Maltese Falcon" many times since and know many lines from both movies by heart. I love the movies where Bogie plays a detective. I'm not much interested in his earlier movies where he plays a gangster.

This book was written by Bogie's only son, Stephen. Much of what was in the book I had read before so his personal insights were most interesting to me. It seems that Stephen whines a lot about the unfairness of his father's dying when he was only 8 years old, as though Bogie just decided one day to leave the family. I'm sure that Bogie didn't want to die at the age of 57, leaving his beautiful wife, Lauren Bacall, and two young children. At the time he wrote the book, Stephen was 45. He is now 70 and has written other books, which I have not read but will look for in the future. I looked Stephen up online and found that he has had a career behind the scenes in the entertainment industry and also had movie review program on PBS so it appears that he has had a successful life in spite of losing his father at a young age.

A sad but wonderful book about a Hollywood icon that we all have come to know as Bogie. Told from the point of view of his son, the book is raw, painful and very insightful to the flaws that made Humphrey Bogart the man moviegoers love and the man that his very own son did not know. Stephen Humphrey Bogart struggled the loss of his father at a young age and then the struggle with the star power his father's name had as he tried to become his own person. I found the parts were Stephen clearly disagrees with his mother, Lauren Bacall, (But her real name is Betty) very candid and so painfully honest. I was not much of a Bogart fan until I picked up this book. I used to wonder what his appeal was since I saw him as a short guy that talked funny. But once I started this book I cannot get enough of his movies and it helped to watched them as I read the book because Stephen talks a lot about behind the scenes events.

If you are a Bogart fan, or even just an old movies junkie, like myself, I highly suggest this book!

I loved this biography of Bogey written by his son.
The author was only 7 when his father died, so he did not have much time with him. However, Stephen decided to learn as much as he could about who his father really was and shared that journey in this book. The book was published in the 90s, so the author had an opportunity to interview many people who knew Humphrey Bogart. All of that information is compiled here in an interesting and entertaining presentation. The author also describes his experience as being "Humphrey Bogart's son" and how that affected his life and perspective.
I listened to the audiobook, so I did not have access to photos that may be included with a print version.

Bogart: In Search of My Father by Stephen Bogart and Gary Provost is a powerful biography of Stephen Bogart, and his father Humphrey Bogart. The book also contains a foreword by Stephen's mother, Lauren Bacall.

Stephen vibrantly recounts his life before and after his father's death when Stephen was just age eight. Stephen tells the life of his father through the eyes of those who knew him. Not just the love of his life and Lauren Bacall, but fellow actors and Hollywood industry coworkers.

At times laugh-out-loud funny, and other times unbelievably sad, this biography shows the ups and downs of growing up in the shadows of two famous actor parents, and growing up without a father.

I really enjoyed this book. Bogart is one of my all time favorites and I found this book so interesting because although it is Bogie as the subject, it is coupled with the story of the author (Stephen Bogart) and his relationship with his father. It shows Bogie as a real human, husband and father. Stephen shares how it felt to lose his father at the age of 7 but still to be in his shadow. Very compelling stuff and entertainingly written.

This is a really great book - written by Stephen Bogart, the son of Humphrey Bogart. The book not only tells you a lot about the life of Humphrey Bogart, but also what it was like for Stephen, being the son of a famous actor and actress (Lauren Becall), and the impact on him losing his dad at the age of 8 years old. If you enjoy biographies, I totally recommend reading this book.

This was a great book. If you love Bogey you would love this book. Great as it is told by his son who combines his own need to discover his late father with a bio of Bogey. How anyone could give this less than 5 stars is beyond me.

Great biography! If you're looking for a detailed, chronological bio, this isn't the book for you. But if you want an engaging, close-up, emotional view of this legendary icon, you'll want to read this book. Stephen Humphrey Bogart is the son of Lauren Bacall and Bogie.

Certainly not a Mommy Dearest type of memoir --but very poignant in many ways. The sufferings and joys of growing up (at least for 8 years) for a boy under a father who became an icon.

Thank God I've read Bacall's book first. Nothing new here. The only person who didn't know about Bogie was his son.

Great insight into his final days and some great stories of old Hollywood.

Thoughtful story

It is so different for someone to lose a famous parent and be able to still see and know so much about him die to the movie and many people Humphrey knew.

Lots of excellent recollections from Stephen Bogart about his father and mother. Makes for a pleasant read!

yes i don’t know stephen bogart but i’m !!! so !!! proud !!! of !!! him !!! didn’t expect this book to make me so emotional

I have always liked Bogie and now more than ever I want to see his films. 57yrs is young to die, but he drank like a fish and smoked incessantly. Even after his throat cancer diagnosis.

I remember watching The African Queen as a young teenager. I loved it, still love it, have seen it so many times that I know the lines coming before they are said. This was my introduction to Humphrey Bogart. So, as I had nearly passed by this book among shelves of biographies, the name "BOGART" reached out. What a tough and turbulent life!

Stephen Bogart, his son, does a very good job of sharing insights into the man, Humphrey Bogart. Stephen Bogart was 8 years old when "Bogie" died in 1957. He grew up with little real knowledge of his father, and purposefully avoided learning about him, trying not to be just "Bogie's son." He does an excellent job of fleshing out the realities concerning his father (including his drinking, 3 failed marriages Bacall), while taking the reader on his own emotional journey. This was a complex study, which I found sad much of the time, but was very well worth the read.