Of the 144 Sun/Moon pairings, the Aries Sun, Gemini Moon is one of the most friendly, most exciting, and most totally unpredictable pairings as it combines the passion and courage of Aries fire with the speed and dexterity of Gemini air. Loaded with moxie, full of attitude, and exuding an aura seemingly charged with electricity, this is the Sun/Moon pairing of “the firecracker, the live wire”.

Consider, for instance, Hollywood Golden Era actress Bette Davis. (Chart) An Aries Sun, Gemini Moon, Davis was considered at her best when portraying characters with an aggressive edge who were willing to take things to extremes. Reviewing Davis’s performance in the (appropriately titled) film Dangerous, a film critic took particular note of the electric volatility Davis projected onto the screen:

I think Bette Davis would probably have been burned as a witch if she had lived two or three hundred years ago. She gives the curious feeling of being charged with power which can find no ordinary outlet. (Source)

Aries is associated with straight forward self-assertion while Gemini is associated with varieties of communication. Combine the two together in the same person and you get an individual who, like Davis, is likely to leave a trail of quick-witted yet plain-spoken soundbytes. The quote, “When a man gives his opinion, he’s a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she’s a bitch” has been attributed to her. (Source) So too is the quote “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night”, which was originally a line of hers in the film All About Eve:

Aries Sun, Gemini Moon natives are the smack-talkers extraordinaire of the zodiac. Davis, for instance commented of her longtime MGM rival Joan Crawford, “She’s slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie.”

As entertaining as her many soundbytes were, Davis was much more than just a witty broad on the big screen. Befitting her pioneering Aries Sun pedigree, she accomplished a long list of firsts during her career in Hollywood. According to her official website, “In 1977, Davis was the first woman to be honored with the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She was also the first woman to be president of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.”(Source)

Aries is the archetype of the Warrior and while Davis did not fight in World War II she did make considerable contributions to the war effort. The nature of her contributions were fitting for a woman with her three planets (Moon, Venus, Pluto) in Gemini, the sign most associated with social networks, short journeys, and light-hearted fraternization:

By 1942, she was the highest paid woman in America. Bette contributed to the war effort by helping to organize the Hollywood Canteen during World War II for soldiers passing through Los Angeles. Inspired by New York’s Stage Door Canteen, Bette transformed a once-abandoned nightclub into an inspiring entertainment facility. In 1980, she was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, the Defense Department’s highest civilian award, for running the Hollywood Canteen. (Source)

Like many actresses of her time, Davis also went to work selling war bonds. True to the nature of her competitive Aries Sun, she persuaded audiences to buy more bonds in less time than any of her contemporaries. Furthermore, she did so in a way only a true Aries alpha female could, that’s by browbeating audiences into buying them:

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Davis spent the early months of 1942 selling war bonds. After Jack Warner criticized her tendency to cajole crowds into buying, she reminded him that her audiences responded most strongly to her “bitch” performances. She sold two million dollars of bonds in two days, as well as a picture of herself in Jezebel for $250,000. (Source)

At the core of the Aries archetype is courage. Given the social mores of the World War II era, courage is exactly what Davis demonstrated when she performed for black military regiments as the only white member of an all-black acting troupe. (Source) Davis’ courage in social matters is likely what later made her such an icon among the gay community that a documentary: “Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis” was produced about her the in 2009. (Source) The documentary’s trailer describes her in true Aries fashion, “Everything about her was an earthquake, she was the toughest.”