Carroll Baker facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Carroll Baker
Baker in 1962
Born	(1931-05-28) May 28, 1931 (age 94) Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Actress writer
Years active	1952–2003
Notable work	Baby Doll (1956) Giant (1956) The Big Country (1958) Something Wild (1961) How the West Was Won (1962) The Carpetbaggers (1964) Harlow (1965) Star 80 (1983) Native Son (1986) Kindergarten Cop (1990)
Spouse(s)	Louie Ritter ​ ​ (m. 1953; div. 1953)​ Jack Garfein ​ ​ (m. 1955; div. 1969)​ Donald Burton ​ ​ (m. 1982; died 2007)​
Children	Blanche Baker Herschel Garfein
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Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American actress who is now retired. She became famous for her acting roles in movies and on stage. After learning acting from Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker started performing on Broadway in 1954.

Her big break came in 1956 when director Elia Kazan chose her for the main role in the movie Baby Doll. This role was a huge success and even earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also appeared in other early films like Giant (1956) and But Not for Me (1959).

In the 1960s, Baker starred in many Westerns such as The Big Country (1958) and How the West Was Won (1962). Later, she moved to Europe and acted in many different types of films, including thrillers. She returned to American films in the late 1970s and continued to act in supporting roles in popular movies like Kindergarten Cop (1990) and The Game (1997). Carroll Baker officially retired from acting in 2003. Besides acting, she has also written two autobiographies and two novels.

Early Life and Education

Carroll Baker was born on May 28, 1931, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. She grew up in a Catholic family. Her father, William Watson Baker, was a traveling salesman, and her mother was Edith Gertrude. When Carroll was eight, her parents separated. She then moved with her mother and younger sister, Virginia, to Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania.

Carroll's mother worked hard to raise them as a single parent, and the family often faced financial difficulties. Baker went to Greensburg Salem High School in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. There, she was part of the debate team and enjoyed being in the marching band and school musicals.

When she was 18, her family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. Carroll attended St. Petersburg Junior College (now St. Petersburg College). After her first year, she started working as a magician's assistant on the vaudeville circuit. She also joined a dance company and became a professional dancer. In 1949, she won the title of Miss Florida Fruits and Vegetables.

In 1951, Baker moved to New York City. She lived in a simple basement apartment in Queens. She worked as a nightclub dancer and also as a chorus girl in traveling vaudeville shows. These shows took her to places like Windsor, Detroit, and New Jersey.

Baker decided to study acting at HB Studio. In 1952, she joined the Actors Studio and learned from Lee Strasberg. She was in the same class as famous actors like Mike Nichols, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters, and Marilyn Monroe. She also became a close friend of James Dean.

Acting Career Highlights

Starting Out in Film and Theater (1952–1957)

Baker in a publicity photo for Baby Doll by Peter Basch in 1956

Carroll Baker first appeared in TV commercials for Winston cigarettes and Coca-Cola. In 1952, she performed a special acting piece on an episode of Monodrama Theater. The next year, she had a small part in the musical film Easy to Love (1953).

This led to roles in two Broadway plays: Escapade in 1953 and All Summer Long in 1954. In 1955, she tried out for the main role in Picnic but the part went to Kim Novak. She was also considered for Rebel Without a Cause (1955) after James Dean suggested her, but she turned it down.

Baker's first big movie role was in Giant (1956). She played Luz Benedict II alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean. She chose this supporting role because she felt more comfortable starting with a smaller part. Giant was filmed in Marfa, Texas, in 1955. Baker remembered that she and James Dean admired Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor during filming.

At the same time, Baker was cast as the main character in Elia Kazan's Baby Doll (1956). This role was originally meant for Marilyn Monroe. Tennessee Williams, who wrote the screenplay, wanted Baker for the part after seeing her act at the Actors Studio. Kazan was also impressed by her Broadway performance. The film was shot in Benoit, Mississippi. Her role in Baby Doll made Baker famous very quickly, even before the movie was released.

Baby Doll was very popular at the box office. Marilyn Monroe even worked as an usherette at the film's premiere to help sell tickets, with the money going to the Actors Studio. Critics praised Baker's acting. Variety said she captured the character's charm and emotions perfectly. The New York Times also praised her ability to show the character's mix of innocence and desires. Baby Doll made Baker a top actress and is still the film she is most remembered for. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe for Best Actress. She won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer, sharing it with Jayne Mansfield and Natalie Wood. She also received a Film Achievement Award from Look and was named "Woman of the Year" in 1957 by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Club. She even appeared on the cover of Life Magazine in June 1956.

Working Through Challenges (1958–1963)

Baker with Gregory Peck in The Big Country (1958).

After Baby Doll, Baker was offered roles in other big movies. However, she had a contract with Warner Bros. and sometimes couldn't take the roles she wanted. For example, she refused to make Too Much Too Soon, so Warner Bros. stopped her from working for a while. This meant she couldn't star in The Brothers Karamazov (1958) or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). Baker felt that the old studio system limited her choices.

After her work suspension was lifted, Baker appeared in William Wyler's Western movie The Big Country (1958). The film was liked by critics, but filming was tough for Baker. She was pregnant and had to wear special clothes. The director also made her repeat scenes many times. She then starred in two romance films: The Miracle (1959) where she played a nun, and But Not for Me (1959) with Clark Gable. The New York Times praised her performance in But Not for Me. Baker disliked The Miracle so much that she bought out her contract with Warner Bros., which put her in debt.

Baker then made the unique film Something Wild (1961), directed by her husband at the time, Jack Garfein. For this role, she lived alone in a boarding house and worked as a salesgirl to prepare. Critics had mixed reactions to the film, but some called it very interesting. The same year, she played Gwen Harold in Bridge to the Sun (1961), a film based on a true story about an American woman who lived in Japan during World War II. This film was well-received and was America's entry at the Venice International Film Festival.

Next, Baker appeared in the British-German film Station Six-Sahara (1962) and the big Western movie How the West Was Won (1962). She also returned to Broadway in the play Come on Strong in 1962. In 1963, Baker moved to Los Angeles with her husband and children. She then traveled to Kenya to film Mister Moses (1965). A fun story from that time says that a Maasai chief in Kenya offered many animals and money to marry her! She even appeared with Maasai warriors on the cover of Life magazine in 1964.

European Films and Return to America (1967–1987)

In 1967, Carroll Baker separated from her husband, Jack Garfein. She moved to Europe with her two children because she found it hard to get acting jobs in Hollywood. She settled in Rome, learned Italian, and spent the next few years starring in Italian thrillers and suspense films.

In 1966, she met director Marco Ferreri at the Venice International Film Festival, who cast her in Her Harem (1967). She then made films like The Sweet Body of Deborah (1968) and The Devil Has Seven Faces (1971). Baker also starred in So Sweet... So Perverse (1969), A Quiet Place to Kill (1970), and Il coltello di ghiaccio (Knife of Ice) (1972), all directed by Umberto Lenzi.

Many of these films featured her as characters facing difficult situations. While most of these films didn't get great reviews in the United States, they gave Baker a steady income and fame in Europe, which was important as she had left Hollywood with debt and two children to support. Baker later said that working in Italy was "marvelous" and gave her a "whole new outlook."

She also played the main witch character in Corrado Farina's Baba Yaga (1973). TV Guide praised the film's look and Baker's performance, even though they felt she wasn't quite right for the witch role.

Baker's first American film in over 10 years was the comedy Bad (1977), produced by Andy Warhol. She played a beauty salon owner who helps people find jobs. She also appeared in the thriller The Sky Is Falling (1979) with Dennis Hopper.

In the 1970s, Baker also returned to the stage, performing in plays in England and Ireland. In 1978, she met stage actor Donald Burton while touring, and he became her third husband. She also acted in American plays like 13 Rue de l'Amour and Forty Carats.

By the 1980s, Baker mostly played supporting roles. She appeared in the 1980 Walt Disney horror film The Watcher in the Woods with Bette Davis. She also played a role in the true-story film Star 80 (1983) and as the mother of Sigmund Freud in The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud (1984).

Baker was in Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil (1985) and the drama Native Son (1986). In Native Son, she played a 1930s Chicago housewife whose daughter is accidentally harmed, and she tries to hide what happened. Critic Roger Ebert praised Baker's powerful performance in this film.

After Native Son, Baker had a praised role as the wife of a character with mental health struggles (played by Jack Nicholson) in Ironweed (1987), also starring Meryl Streep. Ebert said that Baker was "so good as his wife" and "holds the screen against Jack Nicholson."

Later Roles and Retirement (1988–2003)

In 1990, Baker played Eleanor Crisp in Ivan Reitman's comedy Kindergarten Cop, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. This film was a huge success, earning over $200 million worldwide. She continued to work in films and TV throughout the 1990s, including TV movies like Judgment Day: The John List Story (1993) and Dalva (1996).

In 1997, Baker had a supporting role in David Fincher's thriller The Game. She played a housekeeper to a rich San Francisco banker (played by Michael Douglas). Baker commented that she was honored to be in the film. The Game was a big success, doing well at the box office and getting good reviews.

Baker also appeared in smaller, independent films like Just Your Luck (1996) and Nowhere to Go (1997). In the 1990s, she was often seen on TV shows such as Grand (1990), Tales from the Crypt (1991), Murder, She Wrote (1993), L.A. Law (1993), Chicago Hope (1995), and Roswell (1999). In 2000, she was in the Lifetime film Another Woman's Husband.

In 2002, Baker appeared in the documentary Cinerama Adventure and guest-starred in an episode of The Lyon's Den. This was her last screen appearance before she officially retired from acting in 2003. Her acting career lasted 50 years, with over 80 roles in film, television, and theater.

Even after retiring, she sometimes participated in documentaries. For example, she was interviewed for the 2006 DVD release of Baby Doll, where she talked about the film's impact on her career. Baker has also been featured in documentaries about her co-stars like Clark Gable, Roger Moore, and James Dean.

Writing Career

In 1983, Carroll Baker published her autobiography called Baby Doll: An Autobiography. In this book, she shared details about her life and acting career. She also talked about the challenges she faced with film studios like Paramount and Warner Bros., which led her to move to Europe in the 1970s.

Baker told Regis Philbin in a 1986 interview that she didn't originally plan to write an autobiography. She wanted to write, and she knew an autobiography would be the easiest type of book to get published. She also said she always wanted to write but felt a bit unsure because she didn't have a formal education in writing. Despite her doubts, Baby Doll: An Autobiography was well-received. She later wrote two more books: To Africa with Love (1986), which was about her time in Africa, and a novel called A Roman Tale (1987).

Personal Life

Baker entertaining the US soldiers fighting at the Vietnam War in 1965

Carroll Baker has been married three times. Her first marriage was in 1953 to Louie Ritter, who owned the Weylin Hotel. This marriage ended within a year.

Her second marriage was to director Jack Garfein, whom she met at the Actors Studio. She converted to Judaism for him, as she was raised a Catholic. They had a daughter, Blanche Baker (born 1956), who also became an actress, and a son, Herschel Garfein (born 1958), who is a composer and teacher at New York University. Garfein and Baker divorced in 1969. Carroll Baker also has six grandchildren.

On March 10, 1982, Baker married her third husband, British theater actor Donald Burton. They lived in Hampstead, London, during the 1980s. They stayed together until Burton passed away from emphysema on December 8, 2007, at their home in Cathedral City, California.

After leaving Hollywood in the mid-1960s, Baker traveled with Bob Hope's Christmas USO group. She entertained soldiers in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. She described this experience as life-changing. She said that holding the hands of injured young men in hospitals made her realize that her own problems were not as big as the suffering in the world.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Baker mainly lived in New York City and Los Angeles. After moving to Rome for her career, she was mostly based in Palm Springs, California, in the 1990s and early 2000s. As of 2016, she lives in New York City. In 2014, she was the maid of honor at her long-time friend Dr. Patrick Suraci's wedding in New York.

Legacy and Recognition

Baker's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1725 Vine Street

Carroll Baker's role in Baby Doll became a defining moment in her career. She was often associated with the film and its character throughout her life. In a 1983 People magazine article, "Baby Doll" was even called Baker's "middle name." The play that the film was based on, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton by Tennessee Williams, has been performed on stage many times since the year 2000. Baker's performance in Baby Doll was noted by Vanity Fair as helping to create interest in a certain type of innocent female character in American movies.

In 2011, Baker attended the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival to celebrate Williams' 100th birthday. She took part in a discussion where she talked about her experiences with Williams and acting in Baby Doll. In 2011 and 2012, she received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Hoboken and Fort Lauderdale International Film Festivals.

A famous photograph by Diane Arbus from 1956 shows Baker on screen in Baby Doll with a person's silhouette passing by during a movie screening in New York City. She was also photographed by Andy Warhol in 1975 for his portrait series. Her name is mentioned in his published diaries.

Carroll Baker has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1725 Vine Street, which was placed there on February 8, 1960. In 2001, she also received a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.

Filmography and Credits

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See also

In Spanish: Carroll Baker para niños

• List of actors with Academy Award nominations
• List of actors with Hollywood Walk of Fame motion picture stars