Barbara Stanwyck

Barbara Stanwyck as photographed by Ernest Bachrach for STELLA DALLAS (1937). She was born Ruby Catherine Stevens on July 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York. Barbara got her start on the stage in the chorus as a Ziegfeld girl in 1923 at age 16 and within a few years was acting in plays. She was then cast in her first lead role in "Burlesque" (1927), becoming a Broadway star. In 1928 Barbara moved to Hollywood, where she was to embark on a very lengthy career. Her major break came when director Frank Capra chose her for his romantic drama "Ladies of Leisure" (1930), which led to additional lead roles. Barbara was an extremely versatile actress who could adapt to any role, equally at home in all genres, from melodramas, such as "Forbidden" (1932) and "Stella Dallas" (1937), to comedies such as "Remember the Night" (1940) and "The Lady Eve" (1941) and even in westerns such as "Union Pacific" (1939) and "California" (1947). She starred alongside Fred MacMurray in the seminal film noir "Double Indemnity" (1944), playing the smoldering wife who persuades MacMurray's insurance salesman to kill her husband. A few years later she received an Oscar nomination for her lead performance as an invalid wife overhearing her own murder plot in the thriller film noir, "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948). After moving into television in the 1960s, she won three Emmy Awards – for "The Barbara Stanwyck Show" (1961), the western series "The Big Valley" (1966), and miniseries "The Thorn Birds" (1983). Her retirement years were active, with charity work outside the limelight. While filming "The Thorn Birds", the inhalation of special-effects smoke on the set may have caused her to contract bronchitis, which was compounded by her cigarette habit. Sadly, Barbara passed away on January 20, 1990, leaving numerous films and TV appearances as her legacy.

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