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01
Stanwyck was frequently called the best actress who never won an Oscar.
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02
During her marriage to Frank Fay, Stanwyck lived near Joan Crawford. Between 1932 and 1934, she would escape Fay’s volatility by climbing a fence to Crawford’s house for refuge. The two remained lifelong friends.
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03
When Stanwyck received her Honorary Oscar in 1982, John Travolta presented the statuette. Travolta later called the experience his supreme Oscar moment, as Stanwyck had been a family favorite for years.
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04
Marilyn Monroe, who worked with Stanwyck in Clash by Night 1952, said Stanwyck was the only older Hollywood star kind to her.
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05
The film A Star Is Born 1937 is said to be modeled after Stanwyck’s rise and Frank Fay’s decline.
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06
Stanwyck urged producers to keep William Holden in Golden Boy 1939, making him a star. At the 1978 Oscars, Holden publicly thanked her, and the exchange drew thunderous applause.
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07
In 1981, Stanwyck was burglarized at home, hit on the head, and locked in a closet. Four years later, her house was destroyed by fire, destroying love letters from Robert Taylor.
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08
Stanwyck had no funeral. She was cremated and her ashes scattered from a helicopter over Lone Pine, California, where she made Western films.
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09
Stanwyck starred in DeMille’s Union Pacific 1939 and received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1986. In her speech, she thanked her beloved television brother Charlton Heston.
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10
Stanwyck planned to play the lead in Mildred Pierce 1945, but Joan Crawford got the role first.
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11
According to the documentary Fire and Desire 1991, Stanwyck became a role model for female actors, including Sally Field and Virginia Madsen.
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12
Cecil B. DeMille wrote that among actresses he directed, Stanwyck was his favorite. He said she always worked with all her heart.
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13
Stanwyck’s marriage to Frank Fay ended after he tossed their adopted son Dion into a swimming pool during a drunken brawl. Divorce was finalized on December 30, 1935. Dion became estranged from Stanwyck at age 19 and they only met a few times afterward.
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14
A 1000-page biography of Stanwyck by Victoria Wilson, published in 2013, is only the first volume covering her first 33 years.
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15
Stanwyck was a heavy smoker, later developing bronchitis and COPD, which caused her death at age 82.
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16
She picked up the starring role in Ball of Fire 1941 after Ginger Rogers dropped out.
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17
Peter Breck, Lee Majors, and Linda Evans were huge fans of hers as children. As adults, they co-starred with her on The Big Valley 1965.
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18
Stanwyck was best friends for many years with Frank Sinatra’s first wife, Nancy.
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19
In 1944, she earned $400,000, making her the nation’s highest-paid woman.
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20
She was voted the 40th Greatest Movie Star of All Time by Entertainment Weekly.
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21
She worked briefly as a fashion model in the late 1920s.
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22
Her nickname among co-workers was Missy or The Queen.
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23
AFI listed her as #11 on 100 Years of The Greatest Screen Legends.
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24
Her role as Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity 1944 was ranked #8 on AFI’s 100 Greatest Screen Heroes and Villains list. The performance also ranked #98 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances list and #58 on their 100 Greatest Movie Characters list.
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25
Three comedies she starred in during 1941 Meet John Doe, Ball of Fire, The Lady Eve were Oscar-nominated for Best Story, but none won.
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26
Forty of her films were screened in a tribute at New York City’s Film Forum in December 2013.
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27
She has four films in the National Film Registry: Baby Face 1933, The Lady Eve 1941, Ball of Fire 1941, and Double Indemnity 1944.
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28
During her 1984 Golden Globes acceptance speech for The Thorn Birds, she spent time praising Ann-Margret for her performance in a different category, typical of her generosity.
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29
An early episode of The Big Valley had her character lose both parents as a child, mirroring Stanwyck’s own life.
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30
She was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1973.
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31
Stanwyck said her favorite leading man was her second husband, Robert Taylor. They made three films together: His Brother’s Wife 1936, This Is My Affair 1937, and The Night Walker 1964.
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32
She received the AFI Life Achievement Award.
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33
Robert Wagner, more than 20 years her junior, claimed a four-year relationship with Stanwyck.
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34
She was considered for Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind 1939.
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35
A standard Hollywood joke of the time: Who’s got the biggest prick? Answer: Barbara Stanwyck, referring to her husband Frank Fay’s womanizing and her own success.
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36
Her stage name came from a poster reading Jane Stanwyck in Barbara Frietchie.
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37
Born Ruby Catherine Stevens of English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry, she was the youngest of five children. Her mother died and father abandoned the family; she was raised by sisters.
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38
Stanwyck was a staunch Republican and a member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals alongside Ginger Rogers, Clark Gable, and John Wayne.
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39
She served as acting mentor and friend to Linda Evans and Lee Majors.
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40
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1751 Vine St.
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41
Through Oscar Levant, Frank Fay met Stanwyck after her Broadway debut in Burlesque 1927. They married in 1928.
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42
Stanwyck vehemently opposed Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, believing people should succeed without government assistance.
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43
She appears in one Best Picture nominee: Double Indemnity 1944.
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44
She was Turner Classic Movie’s Star of the Month for December 2012.
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45
She twice played a character named Jessica Drummond: in My Reputation 1946 and Forty Guns 1957.
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46
DeMille cast Stanwyck in Union Pacific 1939 after Claudette Colbert and Vivien Leigh turned it down. She became his all-time favorite actress.
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47
Her papers are held at the American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
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48
She was profiled in the book Funny Ladies by Stephen Silverman.
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49
Her real-life brother Bert Stevens appears as a courtroom defense aide in The File on Thelma Jordan.