Barbara Stanwyck
Birthday: 16 July 1907, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name: Ruby Catherine Stevens
Height: 165 cm
Today Barbara Stanwyck is remembered primarily as the matriarch of the family known as the Barkleys on the TV western The Big Valley (1965), wherein she played Victoria, and from the hit drama The Colbys (1985). But she was known to millions of other fans for her movie career, which spanned the period from 1927 until 1964, after which she appeared ...
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Today Barbara Stanwyck is remembered primarily as the matriarch of the family known as the Barkleys on the TV western The Big Valley (1965), wherein she played Victoria, and from the hit drama The Colbys (1985). But she was known to millions of other fans for her movie career, which spanned the period from 1927 until 1964, after which she appeared on television until 1986. It was a career that lasted for 59 years.Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens on July 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to working class parents Catherine Ann (McPhee) and Byron E. Stevens. Her father, from Massachusetts, had English ancestry, and her Canadian mother, from Nova Scotia, was of Scottish and Irish descent. Stanwyck went to work at the local telephone company for fourteen dollars a week, but she had the urge (a dream--that was all it was) somehow to enter show business. When not working, she pounded the pavement in search of dancing jobs. The persistence paid off. Barbara was hired as a chorus girl for the princely sum of $40 a week, much better than the wages she was getting from the phone company. She was seventeen, and was going to make the most of the opportunity that had been given her.In 1928 Barbara moved to Hollywood, where she was to start one of the most lucrative careers filmdom had ever seen. She was an extremely versatile actress who could adapt to any role. Barbara was equally at home in all genres, from melodramas, such as Forbidden (1932) and Stella Dallas (1937), to thrillers, such as Double Indemnity (1944), one of her best films, also starring Fred MacMurray (as you have never seen him before). She also excelled in comedies such as Remember the Night (1940) and The Lady Eve (1941). Another genre she excelled in was westerns, Union Pacific (1939) being one of her first and TV's The Big Valley (1965) (her most memorable role) being her last. In 1983, she played in the ABC hit mini-series The Thorn Birds (1983), which did much to keep her in the eye of the public. She turned in an outstanding performance as Mary Carson.Barbara was considered a gem to work with for her serious but easygoing attitude on the set. She worked hard at being an actress, and she never allowed her star quality to go to her head. She was nominated for four Academy Awards, though she never won. She turned in magnificent performances for all the roles she was nominated for, but the "powers that be" always awarded the Oscar to someone else. However, in 1982 she was awarded an honorary Academy Award for "superlative creativity and unique contribution to the art of screen acting." Sadly, Barbara died on January 20, 1990, leaving 93 movies and a host of TV appearances as her legacy to us. Show less «
Attention embarrasses me. I don't like to be on display.
Attention embarrasses me. I don't like to be on display.
I couldn't remember my name for weeks. I'd be at the theater and hear them calling, "Miss Stanwyck, ...Show more »
I couldn't remember my name for weeks. I'd be at the theater and hear them calling, "Miss Stanwyck, Miss Stanwyck", and I'd think, "Where is that dame? Why doesn't she answer? By crickie, it's me!" Show less «
Career is too pompous a word. It was a job and I have always felt privileged to be paid for doing wh...Show more »
Career is too pompous a word. It was a job and I have always felt privileged to be paid for doing what I love doing. Show less «
I'm a tough old broad from Brooklyn. I intend to go on acting until I'm ninety and they won't need t...Show more »
I'm a tough old broad from Brooklyn. I intend to go on acting until I'm ninety and they won't need to paste my face with make-up. Show less «
[on performing her favorite title role in Stella Dallas (1937)] The task was to convince audiences t...Show more »
[on performing her favorite title role in Stella Dallas (1937)] The task was to convince audiences that Stella's instincts were fine and noble even though, on the surface she was loud, flamboyant, and a bit vulgar. Show less «
[In 1939 on the fact that her fiancĂ©, Robert Taylor, was four years younger than she] The boy's got...Show more »
[In 1939 on the fact that her fiancĂ©, Robert Taylor, was four years younger than she] The boy's got a lot to learn and I've got a lot to teach. Show less «
My only problem is finding a way to play my fortieth fallen female in a different way from my thirty...Show more »
My only problem is finding a way to play my fortieth fallen female in a different way from my thirty-ninth. Show less «
Egotism - usually just a case of mistaken nonentity.
Egotism - usually just a case of mistaken nonentity.
Some kids are born with bad blood just like horses. When a parent has done everything possible, the ...Show more »
Some kids are born with bad blood just like horses. When a parent has done everything possible, the only solution is to save yourself. Show less «
[on filming Titanic (1953)] The night we were making the scene of the dying ship in the outdoor tank...Show more »
[on filming Titanic (1953)] The night we were making the scene of the dying ship in the outdoor tank at Twentieth, it was bitter cold. I was 47 feet up in the air in a lifeboat swinging on the davits. The water below was agitated into a heavy rolling mass and it was thick with other lifeboats full of women and children. I looked down and thought, "If one of these ropes snaps now, it's good-by for you". Then I looked up at the faces lined along the rail -those left behind to die with the ship. I thought of the men and women who had been through this thing in our time. We were re-creating an actual tragedy and I burst into tears. I shook with great racking sobs and couldn't stop. Show less «
[In the 1960s, explaining her four-year absence from films after Forty Guns (1957)] Nobody asked me....Show more »
[In the 1960s, explaining her four-year absence from films after Forty Guns (1957)] Nobody asked me. They don't normally write parts for women my age because America is now a country of youth. We've matured and moved on. The past belongs to the past. Show less «
[Referring to director Frank Capra] Eyes are the greatest tool in film. Mr. Capra taught me that. Su...Show more »
[Referring to director Frank Capra] Eyes are the greatest tool in film. Mr. Capra taught me that. Sure, it's nice to say very good dialogue, if you can get it. But great movie acting - watch the eyes! Show less «
During Double Indemnity (1944), Fred MacMurray would go to rushes [viewings of daily completed shots...Show more »
During Double Indemnity (1944), Fred MacMurray would go to rushes [viewings of daily completed shots]. I remember asking Fred, "How was I?" [Fred's response was] "I don't know about you, but I was wonderful!" Such a true remark. Actors only look at themselves. Show less «
(On her character in Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) "Almost from the word go, she is way up there emotio...Show more »
(On her character in Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) "Almost from the word go, she is way up there emotionally, and stays there day after day...I decided I'd prefer to jump in, bam, go, stay there, up, try to sustain it all the way and shoot the works." Show less «
I want to go on until they have to shoot me.
I want to go on until they have to shoot me.
Put me in the last fifteen minutes of a picture and I don't care what happened before. I don't even ...Show more »
Put me in the last fifteen minutes of a picture and I don't care what happened before. I don't even care if I was IN the rest of the damned thing - I'll take it in those fifteen minutes. Show less «
There's nothing more fun in the whole world than seeing a child open a present at Christmas. To have...Show more »
There's nothing more fun in the whole world than seeing a child open a present at Christmas. To have a six-year-old boy stroke a bicycle with his eyes and, not daring to touch, turn and ask, "Is it mine, Missy? Really mine?" That's part of my future. The rest is work. And, I hope, some wisdom. Show less «
It's perhaps not the future I would choose. I still think it's possible to make a success of both ma...Show more »
It's perhaps not the future I would choose. I still think it's possible to make a success of both marriage and career, even though I didn't. But it's not a bad future. And I'm not afraid of it. Show less «
(On making Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) "Five days I was handling it, starting the next day's work whe...Show more »
(On making Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) "Five days I was handling it, starting the next day's work where I'd picked up, sustaining it all, and then I had two whole days to relax and not to worry about the character, and I tell you it was strange. It was really hard to pump myself up on Monday morning to try to feel that desperate tension." Show less «
Barbara Stanwyck's FILMOGRAPHY
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Annabelle: Creation
IMDb: 7
2017
109 min
Country: United States
Genre: Thriller, Horror, Mystery
Twelve years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into ...