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Filmography
1927
Broadway Nights (uncredited)
1929
The Locked Door
Mexicali Rose
1930
Ladies of Leisure
1931
Illicit
Ten Cents a Dance
The Stolen Jools
Night Nurse
The Miracle Woman
1932
Forbidden
Shopworn
So Big!
The Purchase Price
1933
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
Ladies They Talk About
Baby Face
Ever in My Heart
1934
Gambling Lady
A Lost Lady
The Secret Bride
1935
The Woman in Red
Red Salute
Annie Oakley
1936
A Message to Garcia
The Bride Walks Out
His Brother’s Wife
Banjo on My Knee
The Plough and the Stars
1937
Internes Can’t Take Money
This Is My Affair
Stella Dallas
Breakfast for Two
1938
Always Goodbye
The Mad Miss Manton
1939
Union Pacific
Golden Boy
1940
Remember the Night
1941
The Lady Eve
Meet John Doe
You Belong to Me
Ball of Fire
1942
The Great Man’s Lady
The Gay Sisters
1943
Lady of Burlesque
Flesh and Fantasy
1944
Double Indemnity
Hollywood Canteen
1945
Christmas in Connecticut
Hollywood Victory Caravan
1946
My Reputation
The Bride Wore Boots
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
1947
California
The Two Mrs. Carrolls
The Other Love
Cry Wolf
Variety Girl
1948
B.F.’s Daughter
Sorry, Wrong Number
1949
The Lady Gambles
East Side, West Side
1950
The File on Thelma Jordon
No Man of Her Own
The Furies
To Please a Lady
1951
The Man with a Cloak
1952
Clash by Night
1953
Jeopardy
Titanic
All I Desire
Blowing Wild
The Moonlighter
1954
Witness to Murder
Executive Suite
Cattle Queen of Montana
1955
The Violent Men
Escape to Burma
1956
There’s Always Tomorrow
The Maverick Queen
These Wilder Years
1957
Crime of Passion
1958
Trooper Hook
Forty Guns
1962
Walk on the Wild Side
1964
Roustabout
The Night Walker
Awards
Stanwyck was nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award four times (1937 – Stella Dallas, 1941 – Ball of Fire, 1944- Double Indemnity, 1948 – Sorry Wrong Number).
She never won, but received an honorary award in 1982.
Barbara Stanwyck: Learn more about her, review her filmography and more
Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Stevens on July 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York. She had a troubled childhood, having become an orphan at the age of 4.
By age 15, she made her way into the entertainment industry after becoming a chorus girl and later made her Broadway debut in 1926 as a cabaret dancer in The Noose .
Stanwyck made the transition from Broadway to the silver screen in the late-1920s, trying her hand at acting in the film Broadway Nights (1927) as a dancer. The following year, she married comedian Frank Fay and in 1929 she took on a part in the film The Locked Door (1929) before she finished her stage run on Broadway and moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in film. Although Stanwyck’s career in film almost ended before it began she managed to convince director Frank Capra to have a role in his film 1930 film Ladies of Leisure . The film garnered Stanwyck the attention that she desired.
Stanwyck’s role as a woman whose priorities revolved around money was only the first in a string of performances that showed a progressive, stronger side of women. She was signed to a contract with Columbia and appeared in the film Illicit (1931). She soon followed with several popular films, including Ten Cents a Dance (1931), Night Nurse (1931) and Forbidden (1932), a film that landed Stanwyck on the Hollywood’s A-list.
Stanwyck helped to redefine the typical role of women in film. Unlike the damsels in distress and happy housewives often shown in films during this era, Stanwyck played a wide range of women, all having their own set of motives and ideals. Some examples of her landmark roles were in Ladies They Talk About (1933) and Annie Oakley (1935).
In 1937, Stanwyck’s talent as an actress was recognized on a grander scale as she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Stella Dallas (1937). She would come to be nominated three more times for the films Ball of Fire (1941), Double Indemnity (1944) and Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)—each time for best actress in a leading role—however, she never won the award. In addition to the recognition she received from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Double Indemnity , she was lauded by critics for having what is considered one of her greatest roles as seductress and murderer Phyllis Dietrichson in the popular noir film. She did, however, receive an honorary Oscar in 1982. In total she filmed more than 90 films.
As Stanwyck got older, she began making more appearances in television and fewer on film. In the 1952, she made her first television appearance on The Jack Benny Program (1932-55). She followed with more steady work on TV in series such as Goodyear Theater (1957-60), Zane Grey Theater (1956-61) and The Barbara Stanwyck Show (1960-61), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award. One of her most memorable roles on TV was in The Big Valley (1965-69), in which she played the lead role as Victoria Barkley.
In the 1980s, Stanwyck made several memorable television appearances. She played Mary Carson in the 1983 miniseries The Thorn Birds with Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. For portrayal of Ward’s strong-willed grandmother, Stanwyck won both a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. She returned to prime time two years later with a role on Dynasty and then appeared on the popular drama’s spin-off The Colbys .
She divorced Fay in 1935. She then married actor Robert Taylor in 1939, and the couple stayed together for a little more than a 10 years before they got divorced in 1951. She never married again. Stanwyck died in Santa Monica, California, on January 20, 1990, from congestive heart failure. No funeral or memorial service was held, at her request.
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