Born on July 16, 1907 to Byron E. and Catherine Ann Stevens in Brooklyn, New York, Barbara Stanwyck's birth name was Ruby Catherine Stevens. She was an American of English-Scottish ancestry. At the age of four, she lost her mother due to a miscarriage. Her father left them and disappeared two weeks after her mother's funeral. Her elder sister Mildred took responsibility for Ruby. Although Mildred was nine at the time of her mother's death, she soon began working as a showgirl. Ruby and her brother were placed in many orphanages, and she accompanied her sister on her tours, which sparked her interest in performing. She is believed to have attended Erasmus Hall High School, though some reports suggest she never went to school.
At the age of fourteen, she began working at a department store. She did many odd jobs, such as working at the Brooklyn telephone office, cutting dress patterns for Vogue, and being a typist, before finally pursuing a career in show business. In 1922, she was hired as a dancer for the Ziegfeld Follies and began working at the New Amsterdam Theater. After this, she worked as a chorus girl at several nightclubs. She got her break in the theater when she was cast as a chorus girl in the play The Noose. The play opened to a mediocre response, but after a few changes to the script that increased Ruby's role, it became one of the most popular plays of that time. It was after the success of this play that Ruby changed her name to Barbara Stanwyck.
After the success of the play, she soon became a well-known Broadway actor and her first lead role on Broadway was in Burlesque in 1927. She got her debut role that same year when she was cast for a minor role as a dancer in the movie Broadway Nights. She has done several movies in her long career, including The Locked Door (1929), Mexicali Rose (1929), Ladies of Leisure (1930), Night Nurse (1931), So Big! (1932), Shopworn (1932), Baby Face (1933), Stella Dallas (1937), Union Pacific (1939), The Lady Eve (1941), You Belong to Me (1941), Ball of Fire (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), and The Other Love (1947).
She has also appeared in several TV shows, including The Barbara Stanwyck Show in 1961, The Big Valley in 1965, The Untouchables, Wagon Train in 1963, and Dynasty in 1985. She married comedian Fay, but the relationship ended in divorce. They had no children together, but they adopted a son. She then went on to marry Robert Taylor in 1939, but this marriage also ended in divorce. She died at the age of 82 on January 20, 1990. According to her biography, her net worth is not disclosed.
| Birth Date: | 16 Jul, 1907 |
| Age: | 112 yrs |
| Citizenship: | United States of America |
| Birth Place: | Brooklyn |
| Gender: | Female |
| Description: | American actress |
| Spouse: | Frank Fay[1928-1935] Robert Taylor[1939-1951] |
| Net Worth 2021: | 1 million |
