When asked my favorite male & female stars of
Hollywood's 1st golden age; I have no problem in announcing Barbara Stanwyck as
my female choice.
Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens in Brooklyn. She
had an unusual beauty & distinctive husky voice & was an extremely
versatile actor, easily moving between, melodrama, thrillers, westerns
& comedies. The buzz was that she was wonderful to work with,
professional, fun on the set, & never acted like the star that she was.
Stanwyck was nominated for 4 Oscars, but never won. In
1982, Stanwyck was awarded an honorary Oscar for "superlative creativity
& unique contribution to the art of screen acting". Later in her
career Stanwyck found work in TV, starring in the series The Big Valley & the miniseries The Thorn Birds (kissing the very gay Richard Chamberlain).
Stanwyck left a legacy of 93 films including one of my
top 10 of all time- Ball Of Fire, with my male choice for best of
the golden age- Gary Cooper. Stanwyck married twice, the first time
to vaudevillian Frank Fay & the second time to Robert Taylor. Although she
rebuffed any questions about her sexuality or her marriages, most of the
Hollywood community believed that neither Stanwyck nor either of her husbands was
straight.
In my research, I don’t find many names named for
Stanwyck’s lovers. She seems to have been both discreet & well loved by
those in the industry. There were the usual suspects- Joan Crawford &
Tallulah Bankhead, not all that impressive as they both fucked me.
"Career
is too pompous a word. It was a job, & I have always felt privileged to be
paid for what I love doing."
She's my favorite as well. But I'm ashamed to say I've never seen Ball of Fire. Hello Netflix.
ReplyDelete"..not all that impressive as they both fucked me." You're too much!
Ronnie
Ball of Fire is one of my very favorite movies!
ReplyDeleteIt's how I will remember her
...the husband
I love her for about a hundred reasons, not the least of which is her turn in The Thorn Birds. THAT is what Emmy Awards are for!
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing back my memories of Drum Boogie. I was so surprised the first time I saw that... and I loved it!
ReplyDeleteWill have to add Ball of Fire to my popcorn bucket list. I would have never thought of her as a singer. Would loved to have seen her sing on The Big Valley with Nick, Jarrod, and Heath, dancing in the background.
ReplyDelete