Carroll Baker: Difference between revisions

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| caption = Baker in a publicity shot for ''[[Station Six-Sahara]]'', 1962

* ''[[Star 80]]'' (1983)

*{{marriage|[[Donald Burton]]|19781982|2007|end=died}}

'''Carroll Baker''' (born May 28, 1931)<ref>{{cite web |title=Carroll Baker |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/carroll-baker-30680 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/2022.05.28-07063420220528070634/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/carroll-baker-30680 |archive-date=May 28, 2022 |workpublisher=[[Internet Broadway Database]] |access-date=May 28, 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|Matheson|2019|p=14}} is aan American retired American actress. After studying under [[Lee Strasberg]] at the [[Actors Studio]], Baker began performing on [[Broadway theater|Broadway]] in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director [[Elia Kazan]] to play the lead in the adaptation of two [[Tennessee Williams]] plays into the film ''[[Baby Doll]]'' in 1956.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Petty |first=Moira |date=June 26, 2000 |title=I'm still a baby at heart |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/318308292 |website=The Times [of |location=London] |id={{ProQuest|318308292}} |language=en}}</ref> Her role in the film as a coquettish but sexually naïve Southern bride earned her a nomination for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]].

Baker had other early film roles in ''[[Giant (1956 film)|Giant]]'' (1956) and the romantic comedy ''[[But Not for Me (1959 film)|But Not for Me]]'' (1959). In 1961, she appeared in the controversial independent film ''[[Something Wild (1961 film)|Something Wild]]'', directed by her then husband [[Jack Garfein]], playing a traumatized rape victim. She went on to star in several critically acclaimed [[Western film|Westerns]] in the 1950s and 1960s such as ''[[The Big Country]]'' (1958), ''[[How the West Was Won (film)|How the West Was Won]]'' (1962), and ''[[Cheyenne Autumn]]'' (1964).

In the mid-1960s, as a contract player for [[Paramount Pictures]], Baker became a sex symbol after appearing as a hedonistic widow in ''[[The Carpetbaggers (film)|The Carpetbaggers]]'' (1964). The film's producer, [[Joseph E. Levine]], cast her in the [[potboiler]] ''[[Sylvia (1965 film)|Sylvia]]'' before giving her the role of [[Jean Harlow]] in the biopic ''[[Harlow (Paramount film)|Harlow]]'' (1965). Despite significant prepublicity, ''Harlow'' was a critical failure, and Baker relocated to Italy in 1966 amid a legal dispute over her contract with Paramount and Levine's overseeing of her career. In Europe, she spent the next 10 years starring in hard-edged ''[[giallo]]'' and [[horror films]], including [[Romolo Guerrieri]]'s ''[[The Sweet Body of Deborah]]'' (1968), a series of four films with [[Umberto Lenzi]] beginning with ''[[Orgasmo]]'' (1969) and ending with ''[[Il coltello di ghiaccio|Knife of Ice]]'' (1972), and [[Corrado Farina]]'s ''[[Baba Yaga (film)|Baba Yaga]]'' (1973). She re-emerged for American audiences as a [[character actress]] in the [[Andy Warhol]]-produced–produced dark comedy ''[[Andy Warhol's Bad|Bad]]'' (1977).

Baker appeared in supporting roles in several acclaimed dramas in the 1980s, including the true-crime drama ''[[Star 80]]'' (1983) as the mother of murder victim [[Dorothy Stratten]], and the racial drama ''[[Native Son (1986 film)|Native Son]]'' (1986), based on the novel by [[Richard Wright (author)|Richard Wright]]. In 1987, she had a supporting part in ''[[Ironweed (film)|Ironweed]]'' (1987). Through the 1990s Baker had guest roles in several television series, such as ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]''; ''[[L.A. Law]]'', and ''[[Roswell (TV series)|Roswell]]''. She also had supporting parts in several big-budget films, such as ''[[Kindergarten Cop]]'' (1990) and the [[David Fincher]]-directed–directed thriller ''[[The Game (1997 film)|The Game]]'' (1997). She formally retired from acting in 2003. In addition to acting, Baker is also the author of two autobiographies and atwo novelnovels.

Baker studied acting at [[HB Studio]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hbstudio.org/about-hb-studio/alumni/ |title=HB Studio - Notable Alumni &#124; One of the Original Acting Studios in NYC |website=Hbstudio.org |access-date=August 4, 2021}}</ref> In 1952, she enrolled at the [[Actors Studio]] and studied under [[Lee Strasberg]].<ref name="yahoo">{{cite web |title=Carroll Baker Biography |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/person/carroll-baker/biography.html |url-status=dead |work=Yahoo! Movies |access-date=June 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/2011.05.22-06202220110522062022/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800030639/bio |archive-date=May 22, 2011}}</ref> There, she was a classmate of [[Mike Nichols]], [[Rod Steiger]], [[Shelley Winters]], and [[Marilyn Monroe]]; she also became a close friend of [[James Dean]] for the rest of his life.<ref name="newsday">{{cite web |last=Bubbeo |first=Daniel |title='Baby Doll' Carroll Baker in Huntington |url=http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/baby-doll-carroll-baker-in-huntington-1.2971728 |url-status=dead |work=Newsday |date=June 20, 2011 |access-date=June 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626222550/http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/baby-doll-carroll-baker-in-huntington-1.2971728 |archive-date=June 26, 2017}}</ref><ref name="jamesdean">{{YouTube|iDhYEttDbnQ|Carroll Baker on working with James Dean}}. ''Media Funhouse'' (2000). Retrieved June 28, 2017.</ref>

===1952–1957: Early work and critical successBeginnings===

In spite of this, ''Baby Doll'' opened to strong box-office receipts, grossing $51,232 in its first week at the [[Victoria Theater (New York City)|Victoria Theater]].{{sfn|Haberski|2007|p=79}} In support of Baker, Marilyn Monroe appeared at the film's premiere, working as an [[Usher (occupation)|usherette]] to help bolster ticket sales, the proceeds of which were donated to the Actors Studio.{{sfn|Baker|1983|p=175}}{{sfn|Harding|2012|p=20}} Baker received immense critical praise for her performance. ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' said that her performance "captures all the animal charm, the naivete, the vanity, contempt and rising passion of Baby Doll",<ref>{{cite web |title=Review: 'Baby Doll' |url=https://variety.com/1955/film/reviews/baby-doll-1200418101/ |date=December 31, 1956 |access-date=March 2, 2015}}</ref> while [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised Baker's ability to exhibit "a piteously flimsy little twist of juvenile greed, inhibitions, physical yearnings, common crudities and conceits".<ref>{{cite web |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |author-link=Bosley Crowther |title=Baby Doll (1956) Screen: Streetcar on Tobacco Road; Williams-Kazan 'Baby Doll' Is at Victoria |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B02EEDB1E30E03BBC4152DFB467838D649EDE |work=The New York Times |date=December 19, 1956 |access-date=March 2, 2015}}</ref> ''Baby Doll'' established Baker as an A-list actress and would remain the film for which she is best remembered.<ref>{{cite web |title=Baby Doll Review |url=http://www.tvguide.com/movies/baby-doll-101609/review/ |work=TV Guide |access-date=March 2, 2015}}</ref> She was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] for her performance, a [[Golden Globe]] for Best Actress, and won a Golden Globe for [[Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress|Most Promising Newcomer]], which she shared with [[Jayne Mansfield]] and [[Natalie Wood]]. The performance also earned her a Film Achievement Award from ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'', as well as the title "Woman of the Year" in 1957 from [[Harvard University]]'s [[Hasty Pudding Club]].<ref name="turner">{{cite web |url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/8384%7C28000/Carroll-Baker/ |work=Turner Classic Movies |title=Overview for Carroll Baker |access-date=February 2, 2015}}</ref> She appeared on the cover of ''[[Life (magazine)|Life Magazine]]'' in June 1956.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=Life |title=A bright star rising |volume=40 |number=24 |date=June 11, 1956 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kgEAAAAMBAJ&q=carroll%20baker%201956%20life&pg=PA2 |via=[[Google Books]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

[[File:The Big Country Baker Peck screenshot.jpg|thumb|Baker with [[Gregory Peck]] in ''[[The Big Country]]'' (in 1958).]]

After her suspension with Warner Bros. was lifted, Baker appeared in [[William Wyler]]'s Western epic ''[[The Big Country]]'' (1958).<ref>{{cite news |last=Parsons |first=Louella |author-link=Louella Parsons |title=Carroll Baker Unleashed by Warner |work=The Washington Post and Times-Herald |date=July 22, 1957 |page=A10}}</ref> The film was well received by critics, though the shoot was described as "problematic": Baker was four months pregnant at the time and had to wear restraining garments, and director Wyler reportedly had her on the verge of tears after forcing her to repeat the same take over 60 times, only to use the first one.{{sfn|Cantarini|Spicer|2010|p=146}} She followed ''The Big Country'' with lead roles in two romances, portraying a nun in ''[[The Miracle (1959 film)|The Miracle]]'' (1959), co-starring [[Roger Moore]], and in ''[[But Not for Me (1959 film)|But Not for Me]]'' (1959), a comedy with [[Clark Gable]]. ''The New York Times'' praised Baker's performance in ''But Not for Me'', saying: "Miss Baker, being a young lady who not only has looks, but also can act, makes you understand why Mr. Gable would like to cheat a little bit on Father Time."<ref>{{cite web |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B02E5DE163FE63BBC4B53DFB6678382649EDE |work=The New York Times |title=Age Before Beauty; Gable, Carroll Baker Appear in Comedy But Not For Me' Opens at the Capitol |date=October 3, 1959 |access-date=April 13, 2015}}</ref> She disliked ''The Miracle'' so much that she bought out her contract with Warner Bros., putting her in considerable debt. ''But Not for Me'' was made at Paramount.{{sfn|Baker|1983|pages=197–198}}

Baker went on to make the experimental film ''[[Something Wild (1961 film)|Something Wild]]'' (1961), directed by her then-husband [[Jack Garfein]]. In this independent production, she plays a young college student from [[the Bronx]] who is raped one night in St. James Park, and later held captive by a Manhattan mechanic ([[Ralph Meeker]]), who witnessed her subsequent suicide attempt. In preparation for her role, Baker lived alone in a boarding house in New York's [[Lower East Side]], and gained employment as a department-store salesgirl; her [[Method acting|Method]] approach to the role was profiled in ''Life'' magazine in 1960.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0U0EAAAAMBAJ&q=carroll%20baker%20raped&pg=PA41 |magazine=Life |title=Practice for an Actress |pages=41–2 |date=November 28, 1960 |via=Google Books}} {{Open access}}</ref> Critical reaction to the film was largely negative,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17773/Something-Wild/articles.html |work=Turner Classic Movies |title=Something Wild Articles |access-date=May 28, 2020}}</ref> though ''Film Quarterly'' cited it as "the most interesting American film of its quarter", and the most underrated film of 1961.{{sfn|Horak|2014|p=244}} However, its controversial depiction of rape led to critical backlash and public criticism, and the film has been credited by historians as nearly halting Baker's career.<ref name="bts" /> The same year, she portrayed Gwen Harold in ''[[Bridge to the Sun]]'' (1961), a production by MGM based on the 1957 best-selling autobiography of a Tennessee-born woman who married a Japanese diplomat (portrayed by [[James Shigeta]]) and became one of the few Americans to live in Japan during World War II. While only a modest success at the box office,<ref name="bts"/> the film was well received by critics and was America's entry at the [[Venice International Film Festival]].

In an interview with [[Rex Reed]] in his book ''People Are Crazy Here'' (1974), Baker revealed that she had felt pressure in both her working relationship with Levine, and her domestic life with her husband whomwho she said wanted to maintain an expensive lifestyle: "We'd been very poor when we started out at the Actors Studio in New York", she told Reed. "I was under contract to Joe Levine, who was going around giving me diamonds and behaving like he owned me. I never slept with him or anything, but everyone thought I was his mistress." In the spring of 1966, Baker returned to theatre, performing in a production of ''[[Anna Christie]]'' at the [[Ricardo Montalbán Theatre|Huntington Hartford Theater]] in Los Angeles. The production was directed by Garfein.{{sfn|Hamblett|1969|p=156}} The production was heralded as the "theatre event of the week" in Los Angeles, though its reception was middling.<ref name=cst>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/77581629/ |work=Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph |date=May 14, 1966 |page=4 |title=Looking at Hollywood |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Cecil Smith of the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote of the production: "The beautiful Miss Baker's vehicle becomes a hearse."<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Cecil |date=May 3, 1966 |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Review: Anna Christie}}</ref> The play was also performed at the [[Tappan Zee Playhouse]] in [[Nyack, New York]] in June 1966.<ref>{{cite episode |series=[[What's My Line?]] |people=Baker, Carroll; [[Phyllis Newman|Newman, Phyllis]]; [[Tony Randall|Randall, Tony]] |date=June 26, 1966 |title=Mystery Guest: Carroll Baker |number=819 |season=17 |network=CBS}}</ref>

Baker separated from her second husband, Jack Garfein, in 1967, and moved to Europe with her two children to pursue a career there after struggling to find work in Hollywood.<ref name="newsday"/>{{sfn|Baker|1983|p=296}} Eventually settling in Rome, Baker became fluent in Italian<ref name="glamour" /> and spent the next several years starring in hard-edged [[giallo|Italian thrillers]], [[exploitation film|exploitation]], and [[horror films]]. In 1966, Baker had been invited to the Venice International Film Festival, where she met director [[Marco Ferreri]],{{sfn|Baker|1983|pages=284, 289}} who asked her to play the lead role in ''[[Her Harem]]'' (1967). This was followed with the horror films ''The Sweet Body of Deborah'' (1968) and ''The Devil Has Seven Faces'' (1971). Baker also starred in ''[[So Sweet... So Perverse]]'' (1969), ''[[Orgasmo]]'' (1969), ''A Quiet Place to Kill'' (1970), and ''[[Il coltello di ghiaccio]]'' (''Knife of Ice'') (1972), all [[giallo]] films directed by Italian filmmaker [[Umberto Lenzi]].

She followed her roles in Lenzi's films with a leading role in [[Corrado Farina]]'s ''[[Baba Yaga (film)|Baba Yaga]]'' (1973) as the titular witch, alongside [[Isabelle De Funès]] and [[George Eastman (actor)|George Eastman]]. ''[[TV Guide]]'' referred to the film as an "exceptionally handsome example of 1970s Italian pop-exploitation filmmaking sweetened by Piero Umilani's lounge-jazz score", and praised Baker's performance, but noted that she was "physically wrong for the role; her elaborate lace-and-beribboned costumes sometimes make her look more like a fleshy [[Miss Havisham]] than a sleekly predatory sorceress".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tvguide.com/movies/baba-yaga-295354/review/ |work=TV Guide |title=Baba Yaga Review |author=McDonagh, Maitland |access-date=June 28, 2017}}</ref>

By the 1980s Baker had largely become a [[character actress]], and was based in London. She starred in a supporting role in the 1980 [[Walt Disney]]-produced horror film ''[[The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)|The Watcher in the Woods]]'', alongside [[Bette Davis]], after having been asked by [[United Kingdom|British]] director [[John Hough (director)|John Hough]], a longtime admirer of her work.<ref>Hough, John. ''The Watcher in the Woods'' Commentary [DVD]. [[Anchor Bay Entertainment|Anchor Bay Home Entertainment]]. 2002.</ref> After an appearance in the British television film ''[[Red Monarch]]'' (1983), she played the mother of murdered ''[[Playboy]]'' model [[Dorothy Stratten]] (played by [[Mariel Hemingway]]) in the biopic ''[[Star 80]]'' (1983). She also appeared as the mother of [[Sigmund Freud]] in the historical comedy ''[[The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud]]'' (1984) with [[Carol Kane]] and [[Klaus Kinski]].{{sfn|Monush|2003|p=33}}

Baker has been married three times. She first married 54 -year-old Louie Ritter, owner of the Weylin Hotel, in 1953.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://groovyhistory.com/carroll-baker-baby-doll-movie |title=Carroll Baker, 'Baby Doll's Scandalous Star: Her Rise And Fall |first=Cyn |last=Felthousen-Post |website=Groovyhistory.com |access-date=August 4, 2021}}</ref> The marriage ended within a year, after which she enrolled at the Actors Studio in New York City.{{sfn|Monush|2003|p=36}} Baker alleged that Ritter had [[rape]]d her when she was still a [[virgin]] in the early stages of their relationship.<ref name="jones">{{cite web |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20086324,00.html |work=People |title=For Baby Doll Carroll Baker, Life Has Been No Nursery Rhyme |author=Jones, Jerene |date=November 7, 1983 |access-date=October 31, 2015 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924015150/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20086324,00.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> Her second was to director [[Jack Garfein]], a [[Holocaust]] survivor she met at the Studio and for whom she [[Conversion to Judaism|converted]] to Judaism (having been raised a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]]).<ref name="newsref1">{{cite news |title=Carroll Baker |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |date=January 23, 1957 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6_ENAAAAIBAJ&pg=5752,3339229 |access-date=June 28, 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> They had one daughter, [[Blanche Baker]] (born 1956),{{sfn|Baker|1983|p=180}} also an actress, and a son, [[Herschel Garfein]] (born 1958),{{sfn|Baker|1983|p=192}} who is a composer and faculty member at the [[Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development|Steinhardt School of Music]] at [[New York University]]. Garfein and Baker divorced in 1969. Baker also has six grandchildren.

After leaving Hollywood in the mid-1960s, Baker travelledtraveled with [[Bob Hope]]'s Christmas [[United Service Organizations|USO]] troupe entertaining soldiers in [[Vietnam]] and [[Southeast Asia]], an experience which she described as reformative: "In the hospitals I held the hands of damaged young men, and I realized that my pain was not exclusive: that in this world there was suffering much more terrible than mine."{{sfn|Baker|1983|p=282}}

Baker resided mainly in New York City and Los Angeles throughout the 1950s and 1960s before relocating to Rome to pursue her career there.{{sfn|Baker|1983|p=294}} Baker was mainly based in [[Palm Springs, California]], throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. {{as of|2016||}}, she resides in New York City.<ref>{{cite interview |first=Carroll |last=Baker |publisher=The Criterion Collection |work=Something Wild |year=2016 |title=Interview with Carroll Baker, 2016 |type=Blu-ray}}</ref> In February 2014, she served as [[maid of honor]] at longtime friend, psychologist, and former actor, Dr Patrick Suraci's wedding to his partner, Tony Perkins, in New York.<ref name="laskey">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/fashion/weddings/when-may-catches-up-to-december.html |author=Laskey, Margaux |work=The New York Times |title=When May Catches Up to December |date=March 7, 2014 |access-date=March 4, 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Carroll Baker Star Hollywood Walk of Fame.png|upright|thumb|right|Baker's star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 1725 [[Vine Street]]]]

* ''[[But Not for Me (1959 film)|But Not For Me]]'' (1959)

* 1964: [[Laurel Awards|Golden Laurel]] for Top Female Star<ref name="mitchell">{{cite web |url=http://www.desertentertainer.com/articles/2010/04/22/entertainment/walk_of_stars/doc4b33aa72c6a69757884554.txt |work=Desert Entertainer |title=Carroll Baker Actress, 'Baby Doll,' grandma |author=Mitchell, Marilyn |access-date=October 31, 2015 |archive-date=September 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906181335/http://www.desertentertainer.com/articles/2010/04/22/entertainment/walk_of_stars/doc4b33aa72c6a69757884554.txt |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Category:Actresses from Queens, New York City]]