Stars & Players · Biography

Barbara Stanwyck

1907–1990 · Actor

Biography

Barbara Stanwyck (July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress. A film and television star, she was known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence and was a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra. After a short stint as a stage actress, she made 85 films in 38 years in Hollywood, before turning to television. Stanwyck was nominated for the Academy Award four times, and won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. She was the recipient of honorary lifetime awards from the Motion Picture Academy, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Golden Globes, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the Screen Actors Guild, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is ranked as the eleventh greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute.

Notable Noir Roles

Double Indemnity

1944Dir. Billy Wilder · Phyllis Dietrichson

An insurance representative is seduced by a dissatisfied housewife into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, a claims investigator.

The File on Thelma Jordon

1949Dir. Robert Siodmak · Thelma Jordon

Cleve Marshall, an assistant district attorney, falls for Thelma Jordon, a mysterious woman with a troubled past. When Thelma becomes a suspect in her aunt's murder, Cleve tries to clear her name.

No Man of Her Own

1950Dir. Mitchell Leisen · Helen Ferguson

A penniless pregnant woman adopts the identity of a rich woman killed in a train crash.

The Man with a Cloak

1951Dir. Fletcher Markle · Lorna Bounty

Set in 19th-century New York, this mystery begins when a Frenchwoman shows up at the home of one of Napoleon's former marshals. The alcoholic man is badly crippled and slowly dying, but this doesn't s…

Full Noir Filmography

7 films · 1944–1956