History Creator / BarbaraStanwyck

* ''Literature/TheThornBirds'' (TV miniseries, 1983)

!!Barbara Stanwyck on TV Tropes:

* ''Series/TheBigValley'' (TV series, 1965-69)

She was married to actor-comedian Frank Fay from 1928 to 1935 and to Creator/RobertTaylor from 1939 to 1951. She had one adopted son with Fay.

Stanwyck made 85 films over a 38-year motion picture career. She continued to be a leading actor for decades, at a time when fellow stars such as Creator/GretaGarbo, Creator/MarleneDietrich, Creator/KatharineHepburn, and Creator/IngridBergman ebbed and flowed in their fortunes and star power. Her incredible range was the main reason - she could play a self-sacrificing, noble mother (''Film/{{Stella Dallas|1937}}''), or a slutty, [[GoldDigger gold-digging]] schemer (''Film/BabyFace''), or a con artist with a heart of gold (''Film/TheLadyEve''), or a murderous FemmeFatale (''Film/DoubleIndemnity''), or a screwball comedy heroine (''Film/BallOfFire'').

Directors almost unanimously praised her, whether it was Creator/FrankCapra, Creator/WilliamAWellman, Creator/PrestonSturges, Creator/SamuelFuller, Creator/DouglasSirk and even a notoriously prickly actor-hating director like Creator/FritzLang called her "an angel".

Stanwyck was nominated for four competitive UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s but never won. As she got older she moved to television (her last film was in 1964), most notably as the steely family matriarch Victoria Barkley in the {{western}} series, ''Series/TheBigValley'', and won three Emmy Awards. She also received an honorary Oscar in 1982 for her whole body of work. In 1999, the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute named her the eleventh greatest female star of classic Hollywood.

* SmokyVoice: Stanwyck apparently started smoking at ''nine''. She didn't quit until a few months before her death. Explains her [[ContraltoOfDanger deep voice]].

* DeadpanSnarker: Much of her movie and television roles. In an OnlySaneWoman way.

* ContraltoOfDanger: Stanwyck apparently started smoking at ''nine''. She didn't quit until a few months before her death. Explains her [[SmokyVoice deep voice]].

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Barbara's voice stuck out in her film career because she spoke in her natural Brooklyn accent, whereas other Hollywood actors at the time were taught to speak in a more genteel sounding "Mid-Atlantic" accent.

She was married to Creator/RobertTaylor from 1939 to 1951.

Barbara Stanwyck (born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was one of the greatest screen actors of Hollywood's studio era, who appeared in both movies and television and had successes during UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra and UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood.

[[DarkAndTroubledPast She had a rough childhood]]. Stanwyck was orphaned at the age of four when her mother died from a car crash caused by a drunk and her father disappeared while working at the Panama Canal. Stanwyck's sister Mildred got a PromotionToParent at the ripe old age of nine. Mildred got a job as a dancer in a traveling theater troupe, and Ruby tagged along sometimes, thus getting a taste for show business. When she was 16 she got a job dancing in the Ziegfeld Follies. This led to parts on the stage, and starring roles on Broadway by the time she was 20. That, in turn, led to parts in movies in the late silent era, and by 1930, starring roles.

Stanwyck made 85 films over a 38-year motion picture career. She continued to be a leading actor for decades, at a time when fellow stars such as Creator/GretaGarbo, Creator/MarleneDietrich, Creator/KatharineHepburn, and Creator/IngridBergman ebbed and flowed in their fortunes and star power. Her incredible range was the main reason - she could play a self-sacrificing, noble mother (''Film/StellaDallas''), or a slutty, [[GoldDigger gold-digging]] schemer (''Film/BabyFace''), or a con artist with a heart of gold (''Film/TheLadyEve''), or a murderous FemmeFatale (''Film/DoubleIndemnity''), or a screwball comedy heroine (''Film/BallOfFire'').

* ''Film/StellaDallas'' (1937)

Stanwyck was nominated for four competitive UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s but never won. As she got older she moved to television (her last film was in 1964), most notably as the steely family matriarch Victoria Barkley in the {{western}} series, ''Series/TheBigValley'', and won three Emmy Awards. She also received an honorary Oscar in 1982 for her whole body of work. In 1999, the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute named her the [[AFIS100Years100Stars eleventh greatest female star of classic Hollywood]].

Barbara Stanwyck (born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was one of the greatest screen actresses of Hollywood's studio era, who appeared in both movies and television and had successes during UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra and UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood.

Stanwyck made 85 films over a 38-year motion picture career. She continued to be a leading actress for decades, at a time when fellow stars such as Creator/GretaGarbo, Creator/MarleneDietrich, Creator/KatharineHepburn, and Creator/IngridBergman ebbed and flowed in their fortunes and star power. Her incredible range was the main reason - she could play a self-sacrificing, noble mother (''Film/StellaDallas''), or a slutty, [[GoldDigger gold-digging]] schemer (''Film/BabyFace''), or a con artist with a heart of gold (''Film/TheLadyEve''), or a murderous FemmeFatale (''Film/DoubleIndemnity''), or a screwball comedy heroine (''Film/BallOfFire'').

* StageNames: An interesting case of someone born with a fairly generic name (Ruby Stevens) choosing a more unusual stage name, with "Barbara" coming from a character she played in a Broadway play, and "Stanwyck" from the surname of one of the other actresses in the play.

Stanwyck was nominated for four competitive UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s but never won. As she got older she moved to television (her last film was in 1964), most notably as the steely family matriarch Victoria Barkley in the {{western}} series, ''Series/TheBigValley'', and won three Emmy Awards. She also received an honorary Oscar in 1982 for her whole body of work. In 1999, the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute ranked her the [[AFIS100Years100Stars eleventh greatest female star of classic Hollywood]].

Stanwyck was nominated for four competitive UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s but never won. As she got older she moved to television (her last film was in 1964), most notably as the steely family matriarch Victoria Barkley in the {{western}} series, ''Series/TheBigValley'', and won three Emmy Awards. She also received an honorary Oscar in 1982 for her whole body of work. In 1999, the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute ranked her the [[AFIS100Years100Stars eleventh greatest female star of classic Hollywood]]

Stanwyck was nominated for four competitive UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s but never won. As she got older she moved to television (her last film was in 1964), most notably as the steely family matriarch Victoria Barkley in the {{western}} series, ''Series/TheBigValley'', and won three Emmy Awards. She also received an honorary Oscar in 1982 for her whole body of work.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Barbara's voice stuck out in her film career because she spoke in her natural Brooklyn accent, whereas other Hollywood actors at the time were taught to speak in a more sophisticated sounding "Mid-Atlantic" accent.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Barbara's voice stuck out in her film career because she spoke in her natural Brooklyn accent, whereas other Hollywood actors at the time were taught to speak in a "Mid Atlantic"/sophisticated accent.

[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_salute_barbara_stanwyck_1935.jpg]]

Barbara Stanwyck, born Ruby Catherine Stevens (July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was one of the greatest screen actresses of Hollywood's studio era, who appeared in both movies and television and had successes during UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra and UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood.