Classic Hollywood From A to Z – B is for Barbara Stanwyck

 Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Stevens in Brooklyn. That is one thing I never have been able to wrap my brain about. Not the Brooklyn thing. The name thing. I love the name Ruby Stevens AND I think it sounds just like a name a film studio would give a person named Barbara Stanwyck. But, nope it’s the opposite. Funny, huh?

Anyway, she had a tough childhood with her mother dying when she was four and her father abandoning the family soon after (as in two weeks after, what a louse!). After that she was initially raised by her sister (who was only five years older. which made her 9 when they were orphaned. That’s something you wouldn’t find nowadays.) and then shuffled through foster homes. Like I said, tough childhood.

She became a chorus girl at the ripe old age of 15 and continued that for several years. Legend has it that she was then discovered by the famous entertainer Al Jolson and eventually ended up in Hollywood.

 Her first starring role came in 1929 in the largely forgotten film The Locked Door. She was 22 years old. It seems amazing that she reached that success that young but when watching her early films it’s easy to understand. I’ve watched several of her Pre-Code films and, despite the fact that most are fairly terrible, she shines in all of them. She was an incredible, incredible talent. Just catch this glimpse of her in the trailer for Baby Face.

This movie is cuh-razy but her talent shines through. She could do angry like no other. Seductive like no other. And heartbreaking like no other. This was most evident in one of her most famous roles, Stella Dallas, in the movie of the same name.

 I have to admit I avoided watching this movie for the longest time because I knew it was a downer. Essentially Stella Dallas is a gal from the wrong side of the tracks who for a brief time is married to a wealthy, society man. This union produces a daughter who Stella bends over backwards to give a decent life eventually giving her up so that she may have the opportunities her mother never had. It is heartbreaking. She received an Oscar nomination for this role but didn’t win. I think it’s such a shame because this role is a tour de force.

 While Barbara Stanwyck’s dramatic range is stellar her comedic side can’t be ignore. She’s responsible for some of the funniest scenes in film history. Take this moment from The Lady Eve

or this scene from Ball of Fire.

 Hilarious. And while some of that is attributed to the great performances by Henry Fonda and Gary Cooper the scenes would have been nothing without her.

 Although, I consider the 1940’s her best decade, she continued to act throughout most of her life. Her films in the fifties were mostly dramas and mysteries and though her characters often had a harsh edge to them her talent always shone through. Eventually she made a successful transition from film to television starring in the western, The Big Valley.