Barbara Stanwyck (born Ruby Catherine Stevens, 1907–1990) was a prolific American actress and dancer who appeared in a total of 95 theatrically released full-length motion pictures. Orphaned before she was old enough to attend school, she became fascinated by the burgeoning film industry, and actress Pearl White in particular, whom she would mimic on the playgrounds. "Pearl White was my goddess, and her courage, her grace, and her triumphs lifted me out of this world."
She began her show business career as a teenage chorus girl in speakeasy nightclubs where the liquor prohibition laws were ignored, and the clientele were often mafia gangsters. At age of 15, she danced in the El Fey Nightclub in Manhattan, operated by Texas Guinan, whose establishments showcased aspiring talent such as dancers George Raft and Ruby Keeler. Biographer Dan Callahan opined that the same tough fortitude it took for a teenager to survive those experiences, was played out in the on-screen persona of her interpretation of determined and often hard-edged women.
By age of 16, she was performing in the more mainstream-acceptable Ziegfeld Follies. It was during this period that she became acquainted with playwright Willard Mack, who gave her a role in his stage production The Noose, and re-named her after actress Jane Stanwyck. During her run in the play Burlesque, her first leading role, she also appeared in advertisements for personal exercise equipment.
Stanwyck got an uncredited bit part in the silent lost film Broadway Nights (1927). Studio executive Joseph M. Schenck subsequently signed her for The Locked Door (1929) with Rod La Rocque. Afterwards, she had a role in Mexicali Rose (1929) for Columbia Pictures. Stanwyck got her major break when director Frank Capra chose her for the lead role in his romantic drama Ladies of Leisure (1930). She would go on to make four more films with Capra: The Miracle Woman (1931), Forbidden (1932), The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933), and Meet John Doe (1941). She also did five films with director William A. Wellman: Night Nurse (1931), The Purchase Price (1932), So Big! (1932), The Great Man's Lady (1942), and Lady of Burlesque (1943). She starred in the 1947 film, The Two Mrs. Carrolls, with Humphrey Bogart (directed by Peter Godfrey). Stanwyck was nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, but never won. In 1982, she was given an honorary Academy Award.
On August 3, 1936, Stanwyck made the first of her 16 appearances on LUX Radio Theatre, hosted by director-producer Cecil B. DeMille. Her final performance with the radio series was in 1943. She had a decades-long social relationship with actress and comedian Mary Livingstone and her husband Jack Benny, appearing on his radio show numerous times, and making her television debut on his show. In the 1950s, Stanwyck began to branch out into television. She received the 1961 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Drama Series for The Barbara Stanwyck Show anthology series. She was nominated for the same award three more times – 1966, 1967, and 1968 – for her series The Big Valley, winning it for that series in 1966.
Stanwyck received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.
Stage
+ Broadway stage creditsTitleDateRoleNotes Keep KoolMay 22 – Sept 27, 1924Billed as Ruby Stevens148 performancesThe NooseOct 20, 1926 – Apr 1927First billing as Barbara Stanwyck197 performancesBurlesqueSept 1 1927 – July 14, 1928Bonny372 performances,adapted into the movie The Dance of Life Tattle TalesJune 1–24, 1933Herself and Kay Arnold 28 performances
Screen
+ Screen creditsTitleYearRoleNotes Broadway Nights Fan dancer (uncredited)Robert Kane ProductionsFilm debut and only silent film; a lost filmAnn CarterFeature Productions, Inc.Mexicali RoseMexicali RoseColumbia PicturesHer first starring roleLadies of LeisureKay ArnoldColumbia PicturesFirst film with Frank CapraIllicitAnne Vincent Ives Warner Bros.Ten Cents a DanceBarbara O'NeillColumbia PicturesHerselfNational Variety ArtistsPreserved at the UCLA Film & Television Archive Night NurseLora HartWarner Bros.First film with William Wellman Florence "Faith" FallonColumbia PicturesForbidden Lulu SmithShopworn Kitty LaneSo Big! Selina Peake De Jong Warner Bros. Joan Gordon, aka Francine La RueMegan DavisColumbia PicturesLadies They Talk About Nan Taylor, Alias of Nan Ellis, aka Mrs. Andrews Warner Bros. Baby Face Lily PowersEver in My HeartMary Archer WilbrandtGambling LadyJennifer, Lady Lee Marian Ormsby ForresterRuth VincentShelby Barret WyattRed SaluteDrue Van AllenReliance Pictures/United ArtistsAnnie OakleyAnnie OakleyRKO PicturesRaphaelita Maderos 20th Century FoxCarolyn MartinRKO PicturesHis Brother's WifeRita Wilson ClaybourneMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)Banjo on My KneePearl Elliott Holley20th Century Fox Nora ClitheroeRKO PicturesInternes Can't Take Money Janet Haley Paramount This Is My Affair Lil Duryea20th Century FoxStella DallasStella Martin "Stell" DallasNominated – Academy Award for Best ActressSamuel Goldwyn/United ArtistsBreakfast for TwoValentine "Val" RansomeRKO PicturesAlways GoodbyeMargot Weston20th Century FoxMelsa MantonRKO PicturesUnion PacificMollie MonahanParamountGolden BoyLorna MoonColumbia PicturesRemember the NightLee LeanderParamountJean HarringtonMeet John Doe Ann MitchellWarner Bros.You Belong to MeDr. Helen HuntColumbia PicturesBall of FireKatherine "Sugarpuss" O'SheaNominated – Academy Award for Best ActressSamuel Goldwyn/RKO PicturesHannah SemplerParamountFiona GaylordWarner Bros.Lady of BurlesqueDeborah Hoople, aka Dixie DaisyHunt Stromberg/United ArtistsFlesh and FantasyJoan StanleyUniversalDouble IndemnityPhyllis DietrichsonNominated – Academy Award for Best ActressParamountHollywood CanteenHerselfWarner Bros.Christmas in ConnecticutElizabeth LaneHollywood Victory CaravanHerselfParamountUnited States Department of the TreasuryMy ReputationJessica DrummondWarner Bros.Filmed in 1944 Sally WarrenParamountHer last feature comedyMartha IversParamountCaliforniaLily BishopParamountHer first color film Sally Morton Carroll Warner Bros. Karen DuncanEnterprise Productions/United Artists Cry Wolf Sandra MarshallWarner Bros. Variety Girl Herself Paramount B.F.'s Daughter Pauline "Polly" Fulton BrettMGM Sorry, Wrong NumberLeona StevensonNominated – Academy Award for Best ActressHal Wallis Productions/Paramount Joan BootheUniversal East Side, West Side Jessie Bourne MGM Thelma JordonParamount No Man of Her Own Helen Ferguson / Patrice Harkness Vance JeffordsTo Please a Lady Regina ForbesMGM Lorna BountyClash by NightMae Doyle D'Amato RKO PicturesJeopardyHelen StilwinMGMTitanicJulia Sturges20th Century FoxAll I Desire Naomi Murdoch Universal Blowing Wild Marina Conway Warner Bros. Rela Warner Bros.Filmed in 3DWitness to MurderCheryl DraperChester Erskine/United Artists Executive Suite Julia O. TredwayMGMCattle Queen of MontanaSierra Nevada JonesFilmcrest Productions/RKO PicturesMartha Wilkison Columbia Pictures Escape to Burma Gwen MooreFilmcrest Productions/RKO Pictures There's Always Tomorrow Norma Miller ValeUniversal Kit BanionRepublic Ann DempsterMGMCrime of Passion Kathy Ferguson Doyle Robert Goldstein Productions/United ArtistsTrooper Hook Cora Sutliff Filmaster Productions/United Artists Forty Guns Jessica Drummond 20th Century Fox Walk on the Wild Side Jo Courtney Columbia PicturesRoustabout Maggie Morgan Hal Wallis Productions/Paramount Irene Trent William Castle/Universal
Academy Awards Stanwyck was nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award four times. She never won, but received an honorary award in 1982, "for superlative creativity and unique contribution to the art of screen acting".
Stanwyck's nominations, and the winner for each year in bold face text against a yellow background:
1937194119441948ActressFilmActressFilmActressFilmActressFilm Irene Dunne The Awful Truth Bette Davis The Little FoxesIngrid BergmanGaslight Ingrid Bergman Joan of Arc Greta Garbo CamilleJoan FontaineSuspicion Claudette Colbert Since You Went Away Irene Dunne I Remember Mama Janet Gaynor A Star Is Born Greer Garson Blossoms in the Dust Bette Davis Mr. Skeffington Olivia de Havilland The Snake PitLuise RainerThe Good Earth Olivia de Havilland Hold Back the Dawn Greer Garson Mrs. Parkington Barbara Stanwyck Sorry, Wrong Number Barbara Stanwyck Stella Dallas Barbara Stanwyck Ball of Fire Barbara Stanwyck Double IndemnityJane WymanJohnny Belinda
Radio
Lux Radio Theatre
Stanwyck made 16 appearances on LUX Radio Theatre hosted by Cecil B. DeMille, from August 3, 1936 through 1943. She appeared in the following episodes:
"Main Street" "Stella Dallas" "These Three" "Dark Victory" "Morning Glory" "So Big" "Wuthering Heights" "Only Yesterday" "Remember The Night" "Smilin' Through" "The Lady Eve" "Penny Serenade" "Ball of Fire" "This Above All" "The Gay Sisters" "The Great Man's Lady"
Jack Benny's radio and television programs
Stanwyck and her husband Robert Taylor were part of the inner social circle of Mary Livingstone and Jack Benny. She often appeared on Benny's radio program, sometimes in a parody of her own movies, and made her television debut on The Jack Benny Program weekly television show in 1952. The following is a sample listing of episodes in which she appeared with Benny.
Radio "Golden Boy" (January 7, 1940) "Dennis Wants a Raise" (November 28, 1943) "Dennis Dreams He Has a Radio Program" (March 19, 1944) "Jack Takes Two Cadets to Barbara Stanwyck's House" (October 1, 1942) "Sorry, Wrong Number" (October 17, 1948) "Dennis Dreams He's a Star" (April 10, 1949)
TV Episode – "Gas Light" – January 27, 1952; episode repeated January 11, 1959;
Television
+ Television credits of Barbara StanwyckTitleYear/dateRoleNotes 1952 Paula Alquist "Gaslight" Guest Hostess "Sentence Deferred" and "Two Worlds of Ann Foster"; 1955 Guest Hostess "My Uncle O'Moore" and "The Waiting Game" Ford Theatre 1956 Irene Frazier "Sudden Silence" Goodyear Theatre 1958 Midge Varney "Three Dark Years" Zane Grey Theatre 1958–1959 Various characters "The Freighter", "Trail to Nowhere", "Hang the Heart High" and "The Lone Woman" 1959 Herself "The McCoys Visit Hollywood" 1960–1961 Hostess, various characters Lead role (36 episodes)1961 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Drama SeriesWagon Train1961 Maud Frazer "The Maud Frazer Story"General Electric Theater Lili Parrish "Star Witness: The Lili Parrish Story" Dora "A Windfall for Mom" Wagon Train1962Caroline Casteel"The Caroline Casteel Story" Irene Phillips"Special Assignment" Rawhide Nora Holloway "The Captain's Wife" 1962–1963 Lt. Agatha "Aggie" Stewart"Elegy" and "Search for a Dead Man"Wagon Train1963–1964 Kate Crawley "The Molly Kincaid Story" and "The Kate Crawley Story" Calhoun: County Agent1964 Abby Rayner Unaired pilot1965–1969 Victoria Barkley Lead role (112 episodes)1966 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Drama Series Nominated – 1967 and 1968 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Drama Series1970 Ruth Bennett Television film1971 Miriam Jennings 1973 Geraldine Parkington Charlie's Angels1980 Antonia "Toni" Blake "Toni's Boys" served as a backdoor pilot, but was not picked up by the network. 1983 Mary Carson Television miniseriesGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie Dynasty1985 Constance Colby Patterson "The Californians", "The Man", "The Titans: Part 1" and "The Titans: Part 2" 1985–1986Main cast (24 episodes)
References
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