Ernest Harden Jr. Keeps Promise to Bette Davis With Emotional Emmy Speech

Ernest Harden Jr. turned his Emmy victory into a heartfelt tribute to a Hollywood legend who played an important role in his life.

On Sept. 6, Harden Jr. won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Louie Cloverfield on The Pitt. As he accepted the award, he remembered his longtime mentor and friend, Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis.

“In ’79, I did a movie with Bette Davis called White Mama,” Harden Jr. said during his acceptance speech. “I just want to say, Bette Davis, we didn’t make it then, but this one is for us.”

The emotional moment fulfilled a promise Harden Jr. had spoken about before the ceremony. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last month, the actor said he hoped to honor Davis if he won.

“I feel like 46 years later, I have some unfinished business to do, and she’s with me in spirit,” he said.

A special bond with Bette Davis

Harden Jr. and Davis worked together in the 1980 television movie White Mama. Davis played a financially struggling widow who takes in a troubled teenage juvenile delinquent, played by Harden Jr. Their characters eventually help each other find a more stable path in life.

The experience also created a lasting friendship between the two actors.

Harden Jr. recalled that Davis treated him like family away from the cameras. She would invite him to her home for holidays and even cook Thanksgiving dinner for him.

“Her playing my mother, she got into it so much that she was actually like my mother,” he told EW. “We became really tight.”

The pair had hoped to work together again, but Davis died in 1989 at age 81.

Davis taught him about professionalism

Harden Jr. also remembered Davis as a deeply committed actor.

During the filming of White Mama, Davis was preparing to leave for the day when she noticed that a script girl was reading her character’s lines while Harden Jr. filmed a close-up.

Davis immediately asked what was happening. When she learned they were about to film an important scene without her, she took off her coat and returned to the set.

She stayed for roughly another hour and a half to perform the scene with Harden Jr.

“She just was about the work, and I really admired that,” he recalled.

Working alongside such an experienced performer also pushed Harden Jr. to improve his own acting.

“I just wanted to be on par [with Davis] or do the best I could,” he said. Davis appreciated his desire to learn, he added, describing himself as a “sponge” soaking up everything she was doing.

His The Pitt family

Harden Jr. also used his Emmy speech to thank the writers of The Pitt, his wife and family, his agent and God. He gave special recognition to his co-star Noah Wyle, who plays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch.

Harden Jr.’s character, Louie Cloverfield, was a beloved patient at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center whose death became an important part of the show's second season.

The actor praised Wyle for taking the time to learn about him and helping develop Louie’s storyline.

“He’s my brother from another mother,” Harden Jr. said, explaining that Wyle helped create an extended story arc for his character that he jokingly called “Noah’s Ark.”

For Harden Jr., the Emmy was more than a personal career achievement. It was also a chance to honor a friendship that began nearly five decades ago—and finally keep a promise to the woman who helped shape him as an actor.