Few actresses have been so enduring as two who died in January, Barbara Stanwyck and Ava Gardner. Stanwyck`s career spanned nearly 60 years and included 82 pictures, several television series and made-for-TV efforts. Gardner`s career approached 40 years and included 60 films.
Gardner, the woman Elizabeth Taylor once called the epitome of beauty, was born in Smithfield, N.C., in 1922. Her acting received far less press attention than her early marriages to Mickey Rooney and bandleader Artie Shaw. After floundering in assorted movies, a smoldering Gardner heated up the screen in ”The Killers” in 1945 alongside a young actor making his film debut, Burt Lancaster.
Her breathtaking beauty also proved to be the bane of her career. She once told critic Rex Reed, ”Every time I tried to act, they stepped on me,” referring both to the Hollywood establishment and film critics. She seemed forever trying to prove herself as a serious actress. In retrospect, some roles were clearly better than others, but the public never seemed to mind. Throughout the late 1940s, her name appeared among the top box office stars.
Gardner`s name also continued to appear in headlines at the top of supermarket tabloids and screen magazines. In 1947, she divorced Shaw, and in 1951, after a reportedly steamy love affair, she married Frank Sinatra. The fiery couple, the Madonna and Sean Penn of their era, were pursued
relentlessly by the press.
Even Gardner`s personal-life drama couldn`t outshine her performance in Ernest Hemingway`s ”The Snows of Kilimanjaro” in 1951, as Gregory Peck`s unattainable love. Finally it seemed Gardner`s perseverance was beginning to pay off, and she hit her stride as an established actress. ”Mogambo,” MGM`s 1953 remake of ”Red Dust,” was another romantic adventure. Gardner was even nominated for an Oscar for best actress (Audrey Hepburn won for ”Roman Holiday”). Gardner received more kudos for playing an actress with a roller- coaster career in ”The Barefoot Contessa” in 1954.
Now divorced from Sinatra, Gardner began shying away from the Hollywood spotlight. No longer considered only a glamor girl, she tackled roles in Hemingway`s ”The Sun Also Rises” in 1957 and Tennessee Williams` ”The Night of the Iguana” in 1964, and she reteamed with Peck in the Stanley Kramer-directed ”On the Beach” in 1957.
After working so hard to prove her abilities, Gardner couldn`t quite turn the corner as a character actress as she entered her mid-40s. For the most part her performances were solid, despite forgettable films ranging from the disaster epic ”Earthquake” in 1976 to the melodrama ”The Kidnapping of the President” with William Shatner in 1979. Her final movie, the English-made
”Priest of Love” in 1981, was barely seen in this country. And then, at age 60 and living in England, Gardner called it quits.
”I never wanted to be a star,” she said, ”I just wanted to be an actress. Now, I`m neither; I`m just an old broad.”
Stanwyck was born Ruby Stevens in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1907. Orphaned, she was raised by her older sister, who was a show girl. Stanwyck was a born actress. Even as a young girl she acted out skits in the park for loose change.
At the age of 15, Stanwyck was appearing as a chorus girl at the Strand Roof nightclub for $35 a week. Eventually, she hooked on with the Ziegfeld Follies touring company.
Stanwyck captured her first screen role in the silent ”Broadway Nights” in 1927 as a result of her glowing reviews in ”Burlesque” on Broadway. But movie stardom wasn`t to come overnight. Stanwyck made 22 films in eight years before hitting it big in ”Annie Oakley” in 1935.
She received the first of four Oscar nominations for best actress in 1937 for the tear-jerker ”Stella Dallas.” Capable of playing a wide range of roles, she was also nominated for playing physical comedy in ”Ball of Fire” in 1941; as anything but a dumb blond in one of the great beautiful-villain roles of all time in ”Double Indemnity” in 1944; and as the bedridden neurotic in ”Sorry, Wrong Number” in 1948.
Several of her other memorable roles-including the sympathetic newspaper reporter in Frank Capra`s ”Meet John Doe” in 1941, the wealthy, controlling wife in ”The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” in 1946 and the tubercular pianist in ”The Other Love” in 1947-could just as easily have earned her nominations as well.
She was undeniably one of the greatest movie actresses ever, but the Oscar forever eluded her-a fact she kidded about in her later years, until she finally received an honorary Academy Award for a career of work in 1982.
However, even at her height Stanwyck never attained the public box office appeal of stars like Gardner. But the Hollywood hype machine mattered little to Stanwyck as long as she was popular with her peers, which she always was.
Actresses including Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Meryl Streep have credited Stanwyck for quietly, single-handedly making it possible for women to play ”tough-guy,” non-stereotypical parts. ”She did more (for women in the movies) in the 1940s than we all did in the 1970s,” Fonda said.
Indeed, Stanwyck was so convincing as a strong woman (often doing her own stunts) that she actually seemed a taller, more commanding a figure than she really was. In truth, she was a petite 5 foot 4 inches and about 110 pounds.
When the quantity and quality of roles for Stanwyck began to dry up in the 1960s, she segued into television. She starred in the ”Barbara Stanwyck Show” (1960-61) and ”The Big Valley” (1965-1969); she won an Emmy award as best actress on each show. When asked, as she frequently was, about a big Hollywood star lowering herself to appear on TV, she typically responded with a quizzical expression. Stanwyck just loved to act. She won another Emmy for best actress (for a special or limited series) in 1983 for ”The Thorn Birds.”
Like Gardner, Stanwyck appeared completely unaware of her lasting contribution. Upon receiving the Film Society of Lincoln Center Award in 1981, Stanwyck quipped, ”When the Film Society first notified me, I thought they made a mistake. I thought they meant Barbra Streisand. . . . I`m just an ordinary actress who has worked with wonderful people.”
You no longer have to rely on the late, late show to see one of those sultry Gardner or rugged Stanwyck roles. Many of the actresses` best efforts are readily available on video. Here`s the rundown:
Ava Gardner
”One Touch of Venus” (1948, Republic Pictures Home Video, $19.98). It`s what the critics call ”an enjoyable romp” when a Greek statue of Venus comes to life in a department store; with Robert Walker, Dick Haymes and Eve Arden. ”Mogambo” (1953, MGM/UA Home Video, $59.95). Gardner at her sultry best competes with Grace Kelly for gorilla hunter Clark Gable`s affections. The idea of game hunting in Africa may sour today, but this remains one of Gardner`s most enduring efforts.
”Show Boat” (1951, MGM/UA, $39.95). There`s no denying Jerome Kern`s score or the energetic choreography. However, Gardner`s songs are dubbed. It`s a role that late in life she regretted taking. Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel and Marge and Gower Champion star.
”The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (1952, Genesis Home Video, $14.95). Gardner and Gregory Peck have onscreen chemistry, and this Ernest Hemingway adventure takes off; also with Susan Hayward and Hildegard Neff.
”Knights of the Round Table” (1954, MGM/UA, $24.95). One of the last of the costume dramas, with Robert Taylor as Lancelot and Gardner as Queen Guinevere.
”The Night of the Iguana” (1964, MGM/UA, $59.95). Gardner turns on the steam as the sensual proprietor of a seedy resort hotel in this Tennessee Williams classic directed by John Huston. Richard Burton is the defrocked clergyman and Deborah Kerr is the spinster.
”The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean” 1972 (Warner Home Video, $59.95). Despite the direction of John Huston, this story of a self-appointed Western judge (Paul Newman) isn`t one of anyone`s best.
”Earthquake,” (1974, MCA Home Video, $19.95). Gardner and the likes of Charlton Heston, Walter Matthau, George Kennedy and Lorne Greene are shaken by the special effects in this disaster epic.
”City on Fire,” (1979, Nelson Entertainment, $9.98). An all-star cast, including Henry Fonda, Shelley Winters and Leslie Nielsen, join Gardner in saving a town from an oil refinery blaze, though some question whether they save this movie.
Barbara Stanwyck
”Stella Dallas” (1937, Nelson, $14.98). Get out the Kleenex. Anything that can happen to Stanwyck does in this melodrama; with John Boles and Anne Shirley.
”The Lady Eve” (1941, MCA, $29.95). Henry Fonda is an heir interested in snakes. Stanwyck is a gold digger who winds up playing quite a viper. Preston Sturges directs this comedy.
”Meet John Doe” (1941, Fox Hills Video, $9.95). Gary Cooper stars in this Frank Capra sentimental gem as a hobo threatening to commit suicide to protest the mess the world has come to. Stanwyck helps change his mind. Also with Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan and Spring Byington.
”Ball of Fire” (1941, Nelson, $14.98). Seven professors offer shelter to Stanwyck, a stripteaser on the run from gangsters. She and Cooper play for belly laughs under Howard Hawks` direction.
”Double Indemnity” (1944, MCA, $29.95). Billy Wilder directs this film noir classic. An insurance agent (Fred MacMurray) plots with Stanwyck, the glamorous wife of a client, to kill her husband and collect; with Edward G. Robinson.
”Christmas in Connecticut” (1945, MGM/UA, $19.95). Stanwyck is a newspaper columnist instructed by her editor to have a war hero as a family guest for Christmas. The problem is she has no family, so she manufactures one in this light-hearted comedy; with Reginald Gardner, Sydney Greenstreet and Dennis Morgan.
”Sorry, Wrong Number” (1948, Paramount Home Video, $49.95). Only Stanwyck could pull off this corn, as she plays a bedridden woman who overhears on the telephone a plot to murder her. If they only had telephone answering machines in those days, all her problems would be solved; with Burt Lancaster, Ed Begley and Wendell Corey.
”Blowing Wild” (1953, Republic, $19.98). Stanwyck is power-hungry, wrestling for control of a Mexican oil field and all the money that goes with it; with Gary Cooper and Anthony Quinn.
”Executive Suite” (1954, MGM/UA, $29.95). The president of a large corporation dies, and the entire business is up for grabs. Stanwyck`s longtime pal William Holden stars, along with Fredric March, June Allyson and Walter Pidgeon.
”The Maverick Queen” (1956, Republic, $14.98). Even with a mediocre script, no one could out-cowgirl Stanwyck. Barry Sullivan also stars.
”Roustabout,” (1964, Key Video, $19.98). Stanwyck plays second fiddle to Elvis Presley. She`s a street-smart carnival operator, and he`s a vagabond punk. But he can sing and dance, so she lets him join the show.
”The Big Valley” (1965-69 TV series, Vid-America, $19.98; two episodes per tape). A `60s Stanwyck is just as captivating to watch and still tough as nails as the Barkley family matriarch. She insisted on doing most of her own stunt work. Two of the Barkley clan are played by Lee Majors and Linda Evans.
