Carroll Baker

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Birthday:

28 May 1931, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA

Height:

165 cm

Carroll Baker was born Karolina Piekarski on May 28, 1931 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a traveling salesman. She attended community college for a year and then worked as a dancer and magician's assistant. After a brief marriage, she had a small part in Easy to Love (1953), did TV commercials, and had a bit part on Broadway. She studied at the Actors Studio and was married to director Jack Garfein (one daughter, Blanche Baker). Warner Brothers, sensing a future Marilyn Monroe, cast her in Giant (1956), Baby Doll (1956) (Oscar nomination for her thumb-sucking role), The Carpetbaggers (1964) and Harlow (1965) (title role). Moving to Italy, she made films there and in England, Germany, Mexico and Spain . After returning to American films, she married Donald Burton in 1982 and resided in Hampstead, London in the 1980s. They remained together until Burton's death from emphysema in their home in Cathedral City, California in 2007. Show less «

When Clark Gable kissed me, they had to carry me off the set.

Bad directors are the ones who want to tell you every move, and think they're a better actor than you.

After Baby Doll (1956) I did some Westerns. I would try to do something so far away from "Baby Doll".

I was very young when I saw Gone with the Wind (1939), but I fell in love with Clark Gable. And when I got to work with him, I couldn't beli...Show more »

I was very young when I saw Gone with the Wind (1939), but I fell in love with Clark Gable. And when I got to work with him, I couldn't believe it. I still had a crush on him. He was quite an old man by then; he must have seen that I was head over heels, even though I was married. Show less «

The big one I missed out on was Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). MGM wanted me for it, and Warner Bros. wouldn't give me permission to do it.

Life seems to be a never-ending series of survivals, doesn't it?

[Joseph E. Levine] behaved like he owned me. My husband thought it was all terrific as long as I kept bringing in the money. I started objec...Show more »

[Joseph E. Levine] behaved like he owned me. My husband thought it was all terrific as long as I kept bringing in the money. I started objecting to everything, but it was too late. The sex-symbol image had already started. I turned down parts and they blacklisted me. The press attacked me viciously at every opportunity. I came very close to suicide. Show less «

[on John Ford, with whom she worked on How the West Was Won (1962) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964)] I adored and admired "Pappy", and have been g...Show more »

[on John Ford, with whom she worked on How the West Was Won (1962) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964)] I adored and admired "Pappy", and have been grateful forever to have been able to work with him-twice, the second time on "Cheyenne Autumn". Elia Kazan was, without a doubt, the best actor's director, but John Ford put "motion" in motion pictures. I learned more about the visual side of pictures from him--a very unique experience. No amount of time spent at the Actors Studio could have taught me nearly as much! Show less «

[on working with George Peppard in The Carpetbaggers (1964)] As I understand it, [he] later became a nice guy, a gentleman, but when we work...Show more »

[on working with George Peppard in The Carpetbaggers (1964)] As I understand it, [he] later became a nice guy, a gentleman, but when we worked together back then, he was pretentious, egotistical, a brat, and an asshole--and that's just for starters! He pretended he was seven years younger than he was; he even claimed to be a bachelor and denied he was married--in front of me (I knew better), he denied their existence. The role of Jonas Cord in "The Carpetbaggers" really went to his big head. He acquired delusions of grandeur--thought he was God's gift to women and the movies! His attitude towards me was very bizarre--he acted as though we'd never met! Or that I had a husband! George asked not "if" but "when" we could be intimate together! He came to my house uninvited with an ultimatum--if I don't have an affair with him, he'll have an affair with Elizabeth Ashley! Can you believe this guy? He was totally jealous of any and all attention I received! Show less «