Bacall, Bogart and more reel-to-real romances

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Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart met on the set of 1944's "To Have and Have Not"

The couple married a year later, and had two children

They're one of the famous couples whose relationship first began on-screen

CNN  — 

The story of Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, one of Hollywood’s most iconic romances, starts on the screen.

The pair first met on the set of 1944’s “To Have and Have Not,” which was also Bacall’s screen debut. Anyone who’s seen the film can’t help but notice the couple’s undeniable chemistry, and the attraction soon crackled off-screen.

Three weeks into filming Bogart made his move, popping into Bacall’s trailer, surprising her with a kiss and then asking for her number, according to Vanity Fair, which spoke to Bacall at length in 2011. (The actress died Tuesday in New York at age 89.)

There was one wrinkle, though: Bogart was married to actress Mayo Methot, with whom he was known to have a difficult, volatile relationship. The couple tried to keep their burgeoning love affair secret from Methot, known for her temper, and the rest of Hollywood, but it eventually became clear to all, the magazine notes.

Shortly after his divorce from Methot, a 45-year-old Bogart wed Bacall, then 20, at Malabar Farm in Ohio in May 1945.

The couple’s 25-year age difference may have raised some eyebrows, but it didn’t bother Bacall a bit.

“I fairly often have thought how lucky I was,” Bacall told Vanity Fair. “I knew everybody because I was married to Bogie, and that 25-year difference was the most fantastic thing for me to have in my life. … I was happy being his wife. I loved it. Because I really loved him.”

The stars went on to have two children, Stephen and Leslie, and made three additional films together. Bogart, who had been married three times before Bacall, stayed with his frequent co-star until his death from cancer in 1957.

For more romances that moved from the reel to the real world, see the gallery above.

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