Screen legend Bette Davis was born April 5, 1908 in Lowell, Mass.

LIFE magazine ran her photo on its cover for the first time in January, 1939, when she was 30.

Published one month before the film “Dark Victory” was released, the cover article featured portraits by legendary LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt.

Today, on what would have been her 104th birthday, LIFE.com is running several photos from the shoots that didn’t make it into the issue, and they gave us three great ones.

Click the photos above to start the slideshow, and go to LIFE.com for lots more pics, and more on the shoot.