Barbara Stanwyck: A Look at the Life and Career of the 'Double Indemnity' Icon

Barbara Stanwyck was one of the most versatile and charismatic stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. Best known for her unforgettable performance as a femme fatale in the classic 1944 film noir Double Indemnity, Stanwyck always lit up the screen and her 60-year career included pre-code films, screwball comedies, melodramas, TV roles and much more.

Stanwyck passed away at age 82 in 1990, but her films, among them Baby Face (1933), Stella Dallas (1937), Ball of Fire (1941), The Lady Eve (1941) and Christmas in Connecticut (1945) have been immortalized as some of classic Hollywood's best.

Here are some fascinating facts you may not have known about the great Barbara Stanwyck.

Barbara Stanwyck had a difficult early life

Born Ruby Catherine Stevens in Brooklyn in 1907, Stanwyck had a rough childhood. Her mother died when she was just 4 years old, and shortly after that, her father left the family, leaving the young Stanwyck to be raised in various foster homes.

As a teenager, Stanwyck became a dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies, and later in the '20s, she started acting in Broadway plays. In 1927 she crossed over to film with an uncredited role as a showgirl in the silent film Broadway Nights, and she had her breakout role in 1930, when she starred as a party girl in Ladies of Leisure.

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Looking back on her difficult early years, Stanwyck said, "I knew that after 14 I’d have to earn my own living, but I was willing to do that… I’ve always been a little sorry for pampered people, and of course, they’re ‘very’ sorry for me.”

Over the course of her career, Stanwyck became known for her intense work ethic and her generosity to others, both qualities that were rooted in her overcoming adversity at such a young age.

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She had doubts about her legendary femme fatale role

Double Indemnity is a classic thanks in large part to Stanwyck's saucy performance as a scheming femme fatale. Her role earned her the third of her four Oscar nominations and set a template for countless deviously seductive female characters, but surprisingly, she was initially uncertain about taking on the role.

With its themes of adultery, deception and murder, Double Indemnity was quite scandalous for the era, and Stanwyck, who had previously played a number of likable comic heroines, worried that the role could damage her reputation.

The star told the director, Billy Wilder, "I love the script and I love you, but I am a little afraid after all these years of playing heroines to go into an out-and-out killer." In response, Wilder "looked at me and he said 'Well, are you a mouse or an actress?' And I said 'Well, I hope I'm an actress.' He said 'Then do the part.' And I did and I'm very grateful to him." The rest is film noir history!

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She excelled in comedy and drama

During Stanwyck's era, actors were often known for being either comedic or dramatic, but she was one of the few who could do it all. Before the Hays Code was established, enforcing a new set of rigid morality rules for movies, Stanwyck starred in a number of provocative pre-Code dramas, including Baby Face, a 1933 movie in which she played a woman who uses her sexuality to move up in the world.

In 1941, Stanwyck starred in two classic comedies, The Lady Eve and Ball of Fire, bringing much vivaciousness and wit to both roles. She also acted in the 1945 holiday comedy Christmas in Connecticut, playing an urban writer who pretends to be a country wife, in a role that proved highly influential on the rom-com genre in later years.

Stanwyck was equally skilled at being silly and being serious. In addition to being Oscar-nominated for her powerful work in Double Indemnity, she also received nominations for her dramatic turns in Stella Dallas and Sorry, Wrong Number. In 1982, she was given an honorary Oscar for her outstanding career.

Barbara Stanwyck had a late-career renaissance in TV

In the '50s and '60s, Stanwyck moved into TV roles. She hosted her own dramatic anthology series, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, in 1961, and starred as the matriarch of a ranching family on the Western series The Big Valley, which ran from 1965 to 1969. She earned Emmy Awards for both shows.

In 1983, Stanwyck had a supporting role in the hit miniseries The Thorn Birds and her final role, from 1985 to 1986, was in the short-lived Dynasty spinoff The Colbys.

Whether Barbara Stanwyck played a comic ingenue, a femme fatale, a tragically fated heroine or a Western mother, she was always impossible to look away from.