She was ranked as the 11th greatest female star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute. An orphan at the age of four, she always worked; one of her directors, Jacques Tourneur, said of her, ‘She only lives for two things, and both of them are work’ She made 85 films in 38 years before turning to television.
About Barbara Stanwyck in brief
Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress, model and dancer. A favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra, she made 85 films in 38 years before turning to television. She was ranked as the 11th greatest female star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute. An orphan at the age of four, and partially raised in foster homes, she always worked; one of her directors, Jacques Tourneur, said of her, ‘She only lives for two things, and both of them are work’ She died of lung cancer on December 25, 2013, at age 87. She is survived by her husband, three children and six grandchildren. She died in a nursing home in California. She had a daughter, Barbara Stanwycke, who was born on July 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, and a son, Byron E. Stevens, who died on December 23, 2013. She has three grandchildren, all of whom are actors. She also has a step-grandchild, who is also an actor. She worked as a typist for Jerome Hickman’s Typing Company for a few months before her 16th birthday. Her sister Laura Mildred encouraged her to enter show business, even though she disliked the idea. In 1923, at 16, she had her first lead role in Burlesque, becoming a Broadway star. At 14, she dropped out of school, taking a package wrapping job at a Brooklyn department store. She never attended high school, although early biographical thumbnail sketches showed her interest in the famous Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn.
She went on to become financially independent for 14 years. She won three Emmy Awards for her work on television in the 1960s, including the western series The Big Valley and miniseries The Thorn Birds. She received an Honorary Oscar in 1982, the Golden Globe Cecil B.-DeMille Award in 1986 and was the recipient of several other honorary lifetime awards. Her son, Malcolm Byron Stevens, was raised by their eldest sister Laura mildred, who died of a heart attack at age 45. He had a job as a showgirl, and she reportedly enjoyed her work, but she was discouraged from trying to work in show business. In 1941 she starred in two successful screwball comedies: Ball of Fire with Gary Cooper, and The Lady Eve with Henry Fonda. She starred alongside Fred MacMurray in the seminal film noir Double Indemnity, playing the smoldering wife who persuades MacMurray’s insurance salesman to kill her husband. By 1944, StanwyCck had become the highest-paid woman in the United States. She received another Oscar nomination for her lead performance as an invalid wife overhearing her own murder plot in the thriller filmNoir, Sorry, Wrong Number. She received her second Academy Award nomination for Ball Of Fire, and in recent decades has come to be regarded as one of the best in American comedy.
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