Barbara Stanwyck
Ruby Stevens would have some rough beginnings before she would be remembered as the formidable actress Barbara Stanwyck. The youngest of five children, her mother died in a freak streetcar accident, and her father left shortly thereafter. As a result, Ruby’s older sister Millie took on the role of mother, but the necessity to provide for the family eventually meant that Ruby and some of her other siblings were forced to spend most of their childhood in foster homes while their sister worked as a showgirl in vaudeville. Ready to work, at the age of fourteen young Ruby followed in her sister Millie’s footsteps and decided to make her career on “The Gay White Way.” At fifteen she became a chorus girl in The Ziegfeld Follies, making her living as a dancer. Her career only took a turn towards acting when she was cast in the stage play Noose (1926). The author of the play wanted a real showgirl to play the part of the chorus girl in the production and Ruby was cast. This is where she got her stage name. Barbara from her character in the show and Stanwyck from another actress in the production. The show became a great success and Hollywood soon came calling. Stanwyck was cast in several similar roles in pre-code and even silent films, the epitome of which lay in Baby Face (1933) where she plays a girl who will seduce men in order to make her way to the top.
Very quickly Stanwyck proved that she could portray more than the less than savory characters of “easy virtue.” Rather, she demonstrated that she was both a very versatile and talented actress. Her work with director Frank Capra (It’s a Wonderful Life), in particular, demonstrated her acting ability in films, like Miracle Woman (1931) and The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933). Her performance as the sacrificial mother in Stella Dallas (1937) only solidified her status as a consummate actress.
In the ‘40’s she made an extremely successful turn as a comedienne in films, such as the classics Ball of Fire (1941) and The Lady Eve (1941). From there she only continued to reveal her ever extending abilities starring in noirs, the most memorable of which was Double Indemnity (1944) where her role as the fraudulent and enticing femme fatale immortalized her on film. She also made a noteworthy contribution to the western genre starring in marvelous films, like The Furies (1950) and Forty Guns (1957). Later, Hollywood began to deem her an “older” actress, but this did not stop Stanwyck. She only transitioned to the new and ever-expanding world of television, garnering several Emmys in shows, such as The Big Valley (1965-1969). Stanwyck finally won her first Oscar after never winning any of her four nominations in 1982 with an honorary Oscar from the Academy.
From a poor orphan born in Brooklyn to one of film’s most celebrated actresses, Barbara Stanwyck was in a sense the girl from the other side of the tracks just like the characters she played in films, like in Ladies of Leisure (1930) and Stella Dallas (1937). However, she could play the sophisticate, too. Just see her work in films, like East Side, West Side (1949), and even The Lady Eve (1941). Her range of characters and the emotions she displayed during her sixty years on the screen were so contradictory, so compelling, and so natural that they could capture any audience and master any scene. She had this spark about her that one should not even attempt to ascribe. As the film scholar James Naremore remarked, she could “display [the] expressive incoherence [of her characters].” She could be restrained, cold, and at the same time reflective with her heart boldly on her sleeve. A very private and shy person in real life, Capra noted that when she wasn't in front of the camera “she was almost mousy. . . . But when the camera rolled, she turned into a huge person.” Perhaps, then, in a sense, the “real” Stanwyck is up there on the screen, thankfully “embalmed in celluloid.”
*https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/books/review/a-life-of-barbara-stanwyck-by-victoria-wilson.html
Core Films
*= my personal favorites
Miracle Woman (1931)
Baby Face (1933)
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
Stella Dallas (1937)*
Ball of Fire (1941)*
The Lady Eve (1941)*
Double Indemnity (1944)*
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)*
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)*
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)*
Forty Guns (1957)
For More
Books
Biography; A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 by Victoria Wilson: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/a-life-of-barbara-stanwyck-victoria-wilson/1113741649/2672913326782?st=PLA&sid=BNB_ADL+Marketplace+Generic+New+Books+-+Desktop+Medium&sourceId=PLAGoNA&dpid=tdtve346c&2sid=Google_c&gclid=CjwKCAjw0tHoBRBhEiwAvP1GFU6fD72pOY394P7YWV3bRLLjodRAu72az-OebdgyU7OQCwLZ9ciDpxoCPM4QAvD_BwE
Article; A Girl Named Ruby: A Book Review of Victoria Wilson’s “Steel-True”: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/books/review/a-life-of-barbara-stanwyck-by-victoria-wilson.html
