Barbara Stanwyck | Biography, Movies, & Facts | Britannica

Barbara Stanwyck

American actress
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Print
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Also known as: Ruby Stevens
Quick Facts
Original name:
Ruby Stevens
Born:
July 16, 1907, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died:
January 20, 1990, Santa Monica, California (aged 82)
Awards And Honors:
Emmy Award
Honorary Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1982)
Cecil B. DeMille Award (1986)
Emmy Award (1983): Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special
Emmy Award (1966): Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series
Emmy Award (1961): Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead)
Golden Globe Award (1984): Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television

Barbara Stanwyck (born July 16, 1907, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.—died January 20, 1990, Santa Monica, California) was an American motion-picture and television actress who played a wide variety of roles in more than 80 films but was best in dramatic parts as a strong-willed, independent woman of complex character.

Stanwyck was effectively orphaned as a small child when her mother died and her father almost immediately abandoned the family. She was raised partly by an elder sister and partly in foster care. Her formal education did not extend past eighth grade, and she began working when she was 13 years old. She became a chorus girl at the age of 15 and danced in nightclubs and in touring companies, including the Ziegfield Follies. She was chosen to play the role of a cabaret dancer in the Broadway play The Noose in 1926, and, at the suggestion either of the play’s producer or of impresario David Belasco, she adopted the name Barbara Stanwyck. Her performance in the leading role in Burlesque (1927) won praise and resulted in movie offers.

USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood
Britannica Quiz
Pop Culture Quiz

Stanwyck’s first credited film role was a leading part in The Locked Door in 1929. Neither that movie nor Mexicali Rose that same year was a success, but her breakthrough came with the early Frank Capra movie Ladies of Leisure (1930). She went on to appear in more than 80 films in a variety of genres. Her movies included the dramas Baby Face (1933), Forbidden (1932), and Golden Boy (1939); the comedies Remember the Night (1940) and The Lady Eve (1941); and the westerns Union Pacific (1939) and Cattle Queen of Montana (1954). Other notable films were Meet John Doe (1941), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Clash by Night (1952), and Executive Suite (1954).

Stanwyck received Academy Award nominations for her performances as a mother who sacrifices her own happiness for that of her daughter in the melodrama Stella Dallas (1937) and as the nightclub singer Sugarpuss O’Shea in the comedy Ball of Fire (1941). She was also nominated for her portrayals of a femme fatale in the noir thriller Double Indemnity (1944) and of a bedridden woman who discovers a murder plot in Sorry, Wrong Number (1948). Although she never won a competitive Oscar, she received an honorary award in 1982.

Stanwyck worked mainly in television from the 1960s, notably as the proud widow and matriarch of the Barkley clan in the western series The Big Valley (1965–69), a role for which she won an Emmy Award in 1966. She also received an Emmy (1961) for her anthology series The Barbara Stanwyck Show (1960–61) and a third for her role in the 1983 miniseries The Thorn Birds.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.