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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Tina Morris

Letter: Betty Davis obituary

Betty Davis in 1969.
Betty Davis in 1969. Photograph: Anthony Barboza/Getty Images

The funk singer Betty Davis and I met in London in the late 1970s. We both had accommodation problems, and I found her thoughtfulness and humour a consolation.

Betty delighted in the role of “flaneur”: with her hair tamed under a peaked cap she presented a slender, androgynous figure. An acute observer of others, she could weave speculations of great length around a few minutes’ interaction.

An “important” meeting or modelling gig would see her transformation into glamorous perfection. These outings left her drained and needing a long period of quiet. She had a way of being in but not of the world.

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