Birth name:Ruby Catherine Stevens Birth:16 July 1907 Died:20 January 1990 Nationality:
Career / Biography
Barbara Stanwyck was one of the most popular and elegant actress in films from the 1930's to the1950's. After this she worked mainly on television from the 1960's to the 1980's. Her second husband was Robert Taylor. Although she was known for her dramatic and film noir roles she also had good comic timing and performances. She had a difficult childhood being brought up in foster homes. In 1923 she became a dancer on stage and from that she got a Broadway acting role including Burlesque. this brought her to the notice of Hollywood. This led to her first uncredited screen role in Broadway Nights. Her first successful role was in Ladies Of Leisure with director Frank Capra. This was the early days of sound and she had a great voice. She then signed with Columbia and made a number of popular films and played the studio system to her advantage. She played various strong female characters often from the wrong side of the tracks, but in 1933 with Baby Face she started to fall foul of the censors and an example of pre-code sexuality. She had her first Oscar nomination for Stella Dallas which was a more complex and emotional role. In 1939 she appeared in Union Pacific which as a western was a very different style of role for director Cecil B. DeMille. In 1941 in another change of direction she appeared in the screw-ball comedy The Lady Eve with director Preston Sturges. Ball Of Fire was another comedy and she had her second Oscar nomination. Her third Oscar nomination was for the film noir Double Indemnity with director Billy Wilder. This is probably one of best roles in a classic femme fatale role. Her success meant that in the late 1940's she was the highest paid woman in America. Her final Oscar nomination came with Sorry Wrong Number as a suspense thriller. In the 1950's she attracted less role though one highlight was Clash By Night with Marilyn Monroe with Fritz Lang as director. In 1957 she starred in the western Forty Guns. which was a a sort of feminist western. Her later carer was on television notably the long running series The Big Valley as well as The Thorn Birds and The Colbys.
Honorary Award (1982)
Nomination - Best Actress - Sorry Wrong Number (1948)
Nomination - Best Actress - Double Indemnity (1944)
Nomination - Best Actress - Ball Of Fire (1941)
Nomination - Best Actress - Stella Dallas (1937)
