Landmark Performance: Phyllis Dietrich son - Double Indemnity (1944)
Other Great Performances:
- Jean - the Lady Eve (1941)
- Ann Mitchell - Meet John Doe (1941)
- Victoria Barkley - The Big Valley (TV, 1965-1969)
An actress in over one hundred titles, Barbara Stanwyck was a classy, charming performer who appeared in roles across six decades. Stanwyck, like Laruen Bacall, had a different sensibility in her performances. She was darker, often sexual, and sometimes even menacing. Other times, she was vulnerable and mild, but she is most well known for a stunning performance in a “certain” Billy Wilder film noir alongside Fred MacMurray and for her performance as Victoria in the popular 60’s TV series Big Valley.
Barbara Stanwyck, born Ruby Stevens, was an orphan who worked a normal job as an everyday citizen through the early part of her life. She appeared in several stage shows early in her career and after her discovery she appeared in her first film role as a backup dancer in Broadway Nights way back in 1927. She was twenty years old.
It would be more than two years before she would appear in another film role. Getting a lead in just about any movie was rare for most actors, getting a lead in your second film after appearing only as an extra was almost unheard of. She starred as the female lead in a minor romance called the Locked Door along side silent film and character actor Rod La Rocque. From here she consistently took the top billing as the lead in several minor films until 1931 when she starred in Night Nurse alongside rising star Clark Gable. She was beginning to show her range more and more, and her popularity as a leading lady due to her unique sensibility and her lovely inflections and expressions was turning her into a super star.
She proceeded to lead as other rising stars like Bette Davis and Margaret Lindsay appeared alongside her. In 1935, she starred in the title role as Annie Oakley under iconic director George Stevens. She would consistently play leading lady and in 1938 she received her first of four Oscar nominations for her performance in Stella Dallas with Anne Shirley. Her role as the self-sacrificing and embattled Stella was quite powerful and deserving of the accolade.
The very next year she starred alongside another newcomer, William Holden, in the classic Golden Boy about a talented young man who struggles to fight his way up the ranks as a boxer. As the world turned the corner into the 1940’s she would appear in roles such as The Lady Eve and Meet John Doe and would receive a second Oscar nomination in 1941 for Ball of Fire. In 1943 she starred in the genre-breaker Lady of Burlesque, which was part comedy, musical, thriller and love story. The performance was a testament to Stanwyck’s unbelievable range.
Stanwyck was already a popular star in 1944, but everything was about to change. A screenwriter named Billy Wilder was pushing to become a director and wrote a murder mystery that Stanwayck was born to star in. Billy Wilder took the reins behind the camera for Double Indemnity, one of the most popular and well-constructed film noirs of all time. She received another Oscar nomination for her role as the cold hearted and manipulating Phyllis Dietrichson, who cons an insurance agent into aiding in her husband’s murder to receive a hefty payout. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards but did not win a single one, proving that some movies are not appreciated until long after their release. Barbara Stanwyck’s performance here took her from star to Hollywood Legend.
After this performance, Stanwyck’s already illustrious career took a big jump. She would star in over thirty more major films, receiving her final Oscar Nomination in 1949 for her performance in Sorry, Wrong Number. She was never awarded the coveted golden statue unfortunately. However, over thirty years later she would receive a special honorary award from the Academy for her contribution to the art of acting.
As age took hold in the late 1950’s she would retire to television. Though occasionally continuing to appear in films, she settled into life on the small screen and took the role as Victoria, the matriarch, in the popular TV show The Big Valley which ran from 1965 to 1969. She appeared in several mini-series including the popular TV miniseries the Thorn Birds in 1983 for which she would receive both an Emmy and a Golden Globe award. Stanwyck would go on to play minor roles in the mega-hit prime time soap opera Dynasty and its spin off the Colbys. In 1990 Barbara Stanwyck would die from complications from Emphysema after a long battle with recurring respiratory problems.
Comments