Barbara Stanwyck

[theuofc]

Hello, All,



Barbara Stanwyck's birthday was a few days ago on the 16th of July. Remembering her on that day, in addition to recently seeing all the wonderful video clips of her and co-star Fred MacMurray, made me reminisce again about this beautiful and talented star.



I grew up during Barbara's Western days, but my grandmother and mother were constant fans of hers. Along with my mom, I saw every Stanwyck film airing on TV or showing at the local theatre. Although I was named for my grandmother, I also suspect that my mom's love of Barbara Stanwyck may have contributed to her choice of Barbara as my name.



I hope you'll enjoy this tribute to Barbara. When Ray totally conquers uploading images, I will gladly hand the baton over to the man who knows everything about Barbara and who has also met her in real life.



All the very best,



Barbara

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Barbara Stanwyck in The Other Love









http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/22/ob...ead-at-82.html





Barbara Stanwyck, Actress, Dead at 82



By PETER B. FLINT



Published: January 22, 1990

Barbara Stanwyck, the luminous star of such classic movies as ''Stella Dallas,'' ''The Lady Eve'' and ''Double Indemnity'' and the award-winning western television series ''The Big Valley,'' died of congestive heart failure late Saturday at St. John's Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 82 years old. The actress played a rich mix of characterizations in more than 80 films but developed a distinctive image as a gutsy, self-reliant and self-assured woman whose husky voice and cool exterior usually masked a warm heart.



She was a tough-talking but vulnerable mother in ''Stella Dallas'' (1937), a slang-slinging showgirl in ''Ball of Fire'' (1941), a lurid blonde who orchestrates her husband's murder in ''Double Indemnity'' (1944) and a bedridden neurotic who learns from telephone quirks that she is marked for murder in ''Sorry, Wrong Number'' (1948).



Miss Stanwyck was nominated for best-actress Academy Awards for all four of those performances but won none. But in 1982 the Motion Picture Academy awarded her an honorary Oscar for being ''an artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress and one of the great ladies of Hollywood.''



A year earlier, she became the eighth person, and second woman, to be honored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center for career-long excellence. And, in 1987, her colleagues and admirers added their tributes to her independent spirit and professionalism as she received the 15th annual life achievement award of the American Film Institute.



Her outstanding roles included a card-sharp and pseudo-British socialite who dupes a naive scientist (Henry Fonda) in ''The Lady Eve'' (1941), a manipulative reporter redeemed by an idealist (Gary Cooper) in ''Meet John Doe'' (1941), a millionaire haunted by a childhood murder in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) and a shrewd stockholder in ''Executive Suite'' (1954).



Some of Her Other Films



Other memorable Stanwyck films were ''The Bitter Tea of General Yen,'' which opened Radio City Music Hall in 1933, ''Annie Oakley'' (1935), ''Banjo on My Knee'' (1936), ''The Plough and the Stars'' (1937), ''Union Pacific'' (1939), ''Golden Boy'' (1939), ''Remember the Night'' (1940), ''The Great Man's Lady'' (1942), ''Lady of Burlesque'' (1943), ''Clash by Night'' (1952) and ''Titanic'' (1953).



The actress commanded increasingly higher salaries in the 1930's and early 40's, and in 1944 the Government listed her as the nation's highest-paid woman, earning $400,000.



From the mid-50's on, she lent distinction to a string of otherwise lackluster movies. Turning to televison, she made many guest appearances and then starred in an anthology series, ''The Barbara Stanwyck Show,'' in 1960-61, and the highly popular series ''The Big Valley,'' in which she portrayed a frontier rancher and matriarch from 1965 to 1969. Her television performances won her three Emmys and a cluster of other awards.



The actress's take-charge, down-to-earth screen image mirrored her childhood as Ruby Stevens, born into a poor family of Scottish-Irish descent in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn on July 16, 1907.



When she was 4 years old, her mother was killed when a drunken stranger pushed her off a moving streetcar. The loss devasted her father, a bricklayer, who deserted his five children. They never saw him again.



Left School at Age 13



Young Ruby, who had to board with family friends, sought solace by seeing as many movies as her pennies allowed. At the age of 13, she had to leave school to earn a living. She started as a wrapper in a department store and worked in other low-paying clerical jobs while studying dancing with a vaudevillian friend of her family.



At 15, Ruby entered show business as a chorus girl, first dancing in speakeasies and soon advancing to Broadway and touring stints in the Ziegfeld Follies and other revues. At 18, she won a leading role as a cabaret dancer in a melodrama, ''The Noose,'' which ran on Broadway for nine months. The program introduced her as Barbara Stanwyck, a glamorous name inspired by a theatrical poster: ''Jane Stanwyck in 'Barbara Frietchie.' ''



In 1927, at the age of 20, she won a leading role in the Broadway play ''Burlesque.'' She received good notices, played the part for two years and won nonexclusive contracts with Columbia Pictures and Warner Brothers.



Her first important movie role was classic Stanwyck - a shallow adventuress redeemed by love in a 1930 melodrama, ''Ladies of Leisure,'' directed by a youthful Frank Capra.



'Beloved by All' Involved



Mr. Capra, who also directed her in four later movies, wrote in his 1971 autobiography, ''The Name Above the Title,'' that she was unique in not requiring rehearsals because she ''gave her all the first time she tried a scene.'' Her dedication, he wrote, made her ''beloved by all directors, actors, crews and extras.''



Miss Stanwyck was also the favorite of Cecil B. DeMille, who wrote, ''I have never worked with an actress who was more cooperative, less temperamental and a better workman, to use my term of highest compliment.'' She was also the favorite leading lady of William Holden, Henry Fonda and Robert Preston.



Friends and colleagues described the actress as modest, generous and outspoken, and co-workers fondly called her ''Missy.'' If a cameraman she worked with decades earlier was having financial problems, she invariably gave him enough money to ease his troubles. She repeatedly refused to use a double and was seriously injured several times.



Miss Stanwyck's hair began silvering in her mid-40's, but she refused to dye it, just as she refused to conceal her age. In a 1981 interview at her longtime Beverly Hills home, she offered this advice:



''You have to know when you've had your hour, your place in the sun. To be old is death here. I think it's kind of silly. Be glad you're healthy. Be glad you can get out of bed on your own.''



Even in her 70's Miss Stanwyck began every day by walking half a mile on an uphill treadmill that dominated her bedroom.



Praise for 'Thorn Birds'



In the early 1970's the actress became semi-reclusive. But in 1983 she appeared in a television mini-series, ''The Thorn Birds.'' Of her performance as a wealthy Australian who lusts after a young priest, John J. O'Connor of The New York Times concluded, ''When it comes to the big moments, she demonstrates the kind of disarming toughness that made her a major movie star.''



Miss Stanwyck was married twice, to the comedian Frank Fay from 1928 to 1935, and to the actor Robert Taylor from 1939 to 1951. With Mr. Fay, she adopted a son, Dion Anthony Fay, from whom she had been estranged for decades. In 1981 she said of her second divorce:



''Losing somebody you love by death or divorce is hard. But if they decide they want to be free, there's nothing to battle for. You have to let go. Bob and I didn't stay friends. We became friends again. Time does take care of things.''



In 1965, she and Mr. Taylor co-starred in her last movie, ''The Night Walker,'' four years before his death.



Survivors include a nephew, Eugene Vaslett of San Raphael, Calif.; a grandnephew, and three grandnieces.



At Miss Stanwyck's request, no funeral service is planned.

[John Llewellyn Moxey]

A great Lady and Actress I will never forget.



John

[theuofc]

name='John Llewellyn Moxey' date='19 July 2010 - 04:29 AM' timestamp='1279506578' post='453637']

A great Lady and Actress I will never forget.



John

Hi, John,



It's so kind of you to add this comment. The House That Would Not Die (1970) that you directed Barbara in is at YouTube in entirety:



[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw43t19l1XQ[/media]



Best,



Barbara

[theuofc]

name='John Llewellyn Moxey' date='19 July 2010 - 04:29 AM' timestamp='1279506578' post='453637']

A great Lady and Actress I will never forget.



John

John,



A Taste of Evil (1971) that you directed Barbara in is also at YouTube:



[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoDfdhNdMjM[/media]



Barbara

[John Llewellyn Moxey]

Thank you Barbara.



John

[theuofc]

Barbara as Sugarpuss O'Shea in Ball of Fire (1941)



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Lulu in Forbidden (1932)

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Dixie Daisy in Lady of Burlesque (1943)







Lady of Burlesque (1943)

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Jean in The Lady Eve (1941)



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Barbara as Phyllis with Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity (1944)









Double Indemnity (1944), nominated for seven Academy Awards.

[theuofc]

Not the definitive biography of Stanwyck, but the photo is fabulous:



Stanwyck as Fiona in The Gay (Gaylord) Sisters 1942

[theuofc]

[theuofc]

[theuofc]

Barbara as Karen with David Niven in The Other Love (1947)

[theuofc]

[theuofc]

Barbara with Gary Cooper. They appeared in three films together: Meet John Doe (1941), Ball of Fire (1941), and Blowing Wild (1953).









Barbara as Leona with Burt Lancaster in Sorry Wrong Number (1948)

[Ray]

Barbara,



WOW, For once I am speechless, and thank you so much for that well deserved tribute. I agree with you about the two films she did with John, both of them better than most of her big screen films of the late 50's. I am going to attempt to use the new system to download the photo of us together at The Lincoln Centre in 1981, so fingers crossed!



Thanks again!



Ray

[theuofc]

name='Ray' date='19 July 2010 - 08:03 AM' timestamp='1279519419' post='453652']

Barbara,



WOW, For once I am speechless, and thank you so much for that well deserved tribute. I agree with you about the two films she did with John, both of them better than most of her big screen films of the late 50's. I am going to attempt to use the new system to download the photo of us together at The Lincoln Centre in 1981, so fingers crossed!



Thanks again!



Ray

Hello, Ray,



I'm glad you like the Tribute so far. It's a pretty tough job looking at all the video clips of Barbara's films and her gorgeous photos, but someone has to do it. I've loved every minute of it and I actually have learned a lot. I thought I'd seen most of her films, but once I started searching for pics, I was amazed at the male stars who played opposite Barbara: Jimmy Cagney, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Humphrey Bogart, Gene Raymond, David Niven, and the list continues.



I'd remembered about Fred MacMurray, William Holden, Gary Cooper, Hank Fonda, etc. but not the ones above. I also didn't know she'd been on Broadway. And how 'bout handsome Robert Wagner. Quite a gal.



All the best,



Barbara

[will.15]

[Ray]

name='will.15' date='19 July 2010 - 10:55 AM' timestamp='1279533327' post='453693']

Thats a great Western Will, and her next best[attachment=232:The Furies.jpg] after this Freudian Noir from Anthony Mann

[Ray]

[quote]name='theuofc' date='19 July 2010 - 10:49 AM' timestamp='1279532968' post='453690']

Hello, Ray,



I was amazed at the male stars who played opposite Barbara: Jimmy Cagney, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Humphrey Bogart, Gene Raymond, David Niven, and the list continues.



I'd remembered about Fred MacMurray, William Holden, Gary Cooper, Hank Fonda, etc. but not the ones above. I also didn't know she'd been on Broadway. And how 'bout handsome Robert. Quite a gal.quote][attachment=233:The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.jpg]





Hi Barbara,



The only big leading men that she missed were Spencer Tracy, James Stewart and Cary Grant. I am particularly sorry that she missed Cary, I think they would have been great chemistry. I know that she was desperate to work with him, and had even done the costume tests for Once Upon a Honeymoon. Unfortunately, Ginger Rogers was an RKO contract star, and when she said that she wanted it, she got it!

She worked with Burt Lancaster in her last Oscar Nominated film, Sorry, Wrong Number, and with Bogie in The Two Mrs Carrolls, my favourite bad film!

Kirk Douglas made his film debut in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, her greatest Noir after Double Indemnity.

[theuofc]

name='will.15' date='19 July 2010 - 11:55 AM' timestamp='1279533327' post='453693']

Hi, Will.15,



Terrific poster. Thanks for sharing it.



Barbara

[theuofc]

When Ray Met Missy (Barbara Stanwyck), The Lincoln Center, April 1981:









I couldn't grab the attached pic from Ray, so here he is again with Barbara, affectionately known as "Missy". But a good picture is worth a double viewing. Ray would be too gentlemanly to herald this account of his meeting with Missy, but it's an encounter worth reading and preserving:





Ray wrote: It was all due to a kind security guard that I actually got to meet Missy. I told him that I had travelled all the way from the UK just to see her in the flesh, and that it would mean so much to me to just say hello to her. You may remember she was behind a roped off corden, he let me through, and the next minute I was standing in front of her, visibly shaking I am sure. I could not believe how petite she was, with a small face and such delicate features. I managed to splutter,



"Miss Stanwyck, I have come all the way from London to see you"

She replied, "Oh, you're the one!". I have never been sure whether she had been told that a demented fan was travelling from the UK just to see her, or whether she recognised the name of someone who had been stalking her by post for the past 35 years.



Anyway, I plucked up the courage to ask her if she would mind if I took a photo of her, she said that was fine, adding, "aren't you a bit close?". I said no, which was very cheeky of me, and of course she was right. she knew all about camera angles and distances, and if you look at the photo that I took of her you can see the stage make up, while the photo we had taken together she looks much more natural. After I took the photo I thanked her and was about to depart when she said, "How do you work that thing?". I explained that it was very simple, you just pointed it at your target and clicked.



I almost collapsed when she called a friend over, put her arm around my waist and said, "Well, after you have come all that way I think that we should have a photo taken together". Like you Ray I was completely tongue tied, all I could do was stammer, "I can't believe this is happening". She then said to her friend, "Take another, just for luck". They are slightly different, she has her mouth open in one of the photo's, and closed in the other. I am wearing the same dazed expression in both. She held out her hand to say goodbye, and I instinctively leaned forward and kissed it. I babbled my thanks, and backed away in a total daze.



It was without doubt the greatest night of my life, and wonderful to find her to be as nice as I always thought she would be. I wonder if she realised how much her kind gesture meant to me. There was so much that I wanted to say to her, but she was as you know a very shy and private person, and didn't really feel comfortable with strangers. I am sure that she was shocked thst evening to find just how many people really loved her.



Funny that I discovered her in My Reputation, and I was 9. It was The Other Love the next year that really did it for me, sadly, I was too young to know anything about the London premiere, not that I would have been able to go even if I had known about it."

[Ray]

Hi Barbara,



Thanks again for taking the trouble to copy the message that I wrote to one of the members of my group. His name is also Ray, just in case anyone is confused. Here is the photo that I took of her, and as you can see, I was a bit too close! I am sure that everyone will recognise her Golden Boy, Bill Holden[attachment=237:Barbara poses for me.jpg]. He escorted Barbara that evening, and would tragically die just six months later.