Barbara Steele
{{short description|British actress (born 1937)}}
{{For|the Scottish-South African suffragette|Barbara Steel}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Barbara Steele
| image = Barbara Steele publicity photo 1965.png
| caption = Steele in a 1965 publicity photo
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1937|12|29|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Birkenhead, Cheshire, England
| death_date =
| citizenship = United Kingdom
| alma_mater = {{ubl|
}}
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|producer}}
| years_active = 1958–present
| known_for =
| spouse = {{marriage|James Poe|1969|1978|end=divorced}}
| children = 1
| signature =
}}
Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English actress and producer, known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens"{{Cite web|last=Davis|first=Christopher|date=11 June 2018|title=Queen of All Scream Queens: Barbara Steele|url=http://www.vaultofthoughts.com/2018/06/11/barbara-steele/|access-date=25 November 2021|website=VAULT OF THOUGHTS|language=en-US}} and "Britain's first lady of horror".{{Cite web|date=21 July 2011|title=Barbara Steele: the accidental scream queen|url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jul/21/barbara-steele-roger-corman|access-date=25 November 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en}} She played the dual role of Asa and Katia Vajda in Mario Bava's landmark film Black Sunday (1960), and starred in The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), {{sort|Horrible Dr. Hichcock|The Horrible Dr. Hichcock}} (1962), {{sort|Long Hair of Death|The Long Hair of Death}} (1964), and Castle of Blood (1964).
Additionally, Steele had supporting roles in Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963), David Cronenberg's Shivers (1975), Joe Dante's Piranha and Louis Malle's Pretty Baby (both 1978), and appeared on television in the 1991 TV series Dark Shadows. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for producing the American television miniseries War and Remembrance (1988–89). Steele appeared in several films in the 2010s, including a lead role in The Butterfly Room (2012) and supporting role in Ryan Gosling's Lost River (2014).
Early life
Steele was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire.{{Sfn|Frank|1982|p=175}} She studied art at the Chelsea Art School and in Paris at the Sorbonne.{{Sfn|Frank|1982|p=175}} Before her film career, Steele acted on stage and also worked as a model.
Career
= Early work =
Steele was signed to a contract by the Rank Organisation. She appeared in several minor film roles during the late 1950s, including in the BAFTA-winning Sapphire (where she appeared opposite future Black Sunday co-star John Richardson) and Upstairs and Downstairs.
In 1960, her contract was sold to 20th Century Fox. She guest starred on an episode of the ABC series, Adventures in Paradise, and was cast as the female lead opposite Elvis Presley in the Western film Flaming Star (1960). However, after one week of principal photography, Steele left the production and was replaced by Barbara Eden. Author Adam Victor writes in The Elvis Encyclopaedia that she was fired because studio executives thought her British accent was too pronounced.Victor, Adam (2008) The Elvis Encyclopaedia. Harry N. Abrams. {{ISBN|978-1585675982}}. p. 167 However, Steele claimed she quit over a disagreement with director Don Siegel.{{cite web |title=Reluctant Scream Queen: A Conversation with Barbara Steele – Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict |url=http://popcultureaddict.com/interviews/barbarasteele/ |website=popcultureaddict.com}} Regardless, a March 1960 Screen Actors Guild strike led Steele to abandon her Fox contract.{{Cite book |last=Lucas |first=Tim |title=Mario Bava - All the Colors of the Dark |publisher=Video Watchdog |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-9633756-1-2 |edition=2nd |pages=}}
= Italians films and stardom =
Steele travelled to Italy, with the hopes of working with director Federico Fellini. Soon after her arrival, she was cast in her breakout part, the dual roles of Asa and Katia Vajda in Mario Bava's Black Sunday. There are two accounts describing how Steele came to be cast in the film: one suggests that Bava, while perusing through head shots of British actors under contract at Fox, selected Steele from these photos. Steele, however, recalled that Bava tracked her down after being captivated by photos of her in a Life magazine photoshoot.{{Cite book |last=Conterio |first=Martyn |title=Black Sunday |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-906733-83-4}} Bava later commented that Steele "had the perfect face for my films".
The success of Black Sunday launched Steele to overnight stardom and defined her status as a scream queen. She would star in a string of Italian horror films throughout the decade, including Riccardo Freda's The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962) and The Ghost (1963); Antonio Margheriti's The Long Hair of Death and Castle of Blood (both 1964), Terror-Creatures from the Grave and Nightmare Castle (both 1965).
She also starred in American director Roger Corman's adaptation of The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story of the same title, The She Beast (1966) and the British film Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968).
Steele guest starred in television shows including the spy drama, Danger Man (aka Secret Agent) starring Patrick McGoohan in 1965. In 1961, she appeared as Phyllis in the "Beta Delta Gamma" episode of CBS's Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She also had a supporting role in Fellini's 8½ (1963), and in 1966 appeared in the second-season episode of NBC's I Spy, "Bridge of Spies".
= Supporting parts and producer =
Steele returned to the horror genre in the later 1970s, appearing in three horror films: David Cronenberg's Shivers (1975), Joe Dante's Piranha (1978), and The Silent Scream (1979).{{Sfn|Hogan|1997|p=309}} She also played a lesbian prison warden in Jonathan Demme's directorial debut, the women-in-prison film Caged Heat (1974). She had a supporting role in Louis Malle's critically-acclaimed period drama Pretty Baby (1978).
Steele served as associate producer of the TV miniseries, The Winds of War (1983), and was a producer for its sequel, War and Remembrance (1988), for which she shared the 1989 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special with executive producer Dan Curtis.
Steele was cast as Julia Hoffman in the 1991 remake of the 1960s ABC television series Dark Shadows. In 2010, she was a guest star in the Dark Shadows audio drama, The Night Whispers.
In 2010, actor-writer Mark Gatiss interviewed Steele about her role in Black Sunday for his BBC documentary series A History of Horror.{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/screenwriter/2010/11/02/mark-gatisss-history-of-horror/|title=Mark Gatiss's History of Horror|last=Clarke|first=Donald|access-date = 2 November 2010|newspaper=The Irish Times| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101105153010/http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/screenwriter/2010/11/02/mark-gatisss-history-of-horror/| archive-date= 5 November 2010 | url-status= live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2010/wk42/mon.shtml#mon_horror |title=A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss – Home Counties Horror Ep 2/3|date=18 October 2010|publisher=BBC}} In 2012, Gatiss again interviewed Steele about her role in Shivers for his follow-up documentary, Horror Europa. In 2014, she appeared in Ryan Gosling's directorial debut, the drama-fantasy thriller film Lost River,{{cite web|url=http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3333179/lost-river-clip-dances-dark-synth-score/|title=Lost River|date=18 February 2015|publisher=BD}} in which she portrayed the character Belladonna in a supporting role.{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/90643/ryan-goslings-lost-river-swallows-international-trailer/|title=Lost River|date=18 February 2015|publisher=BD}}
In 2017, she was inducted into the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards' Hall of Fame.
In 2020, she had a guest role on the animated series Castlevania, voicing the character Miranda.
Personal life
Steele was married to American screenwriter James Poe.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115225023/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/91022|publisher=British Film Institute|title=Barbara Steele|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/91022|access-date=29 July 2019|archive-date=15 January 2009}} They were married in 1969 and divorced in 1978.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} Over the same period her focus changed from European (primarily Italian) films to North American ones. They have a son, Jonathan.
Filmography
= Film =
= Television =
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |
| 1958
| Dial 999 | Toni Miller | British. Season 1 Episode 6: "Missing Persons" |
| 1960
| Dolores | American. Season 2 Episode 10: "Daughter of Illusion" |
| 1961
| Phyllis | American. Season 7 Episode 6: "Betta Delta Gamma" |
| 1965
| Cleo | British. Season 2 Episode 12: "The Man on the Beach" |
| 1966
| I Spy | Giana | American. Season 2 Episode 9: "Bridge of Spies" |
| 1972
| The Widow Craighill | American. Season 2 Episode 21: "The Sins of the Fathers" |
| 1983
| Mrs. Stoller | American. Miniseries, also associate producer |
| 1988
| Elsa MacMahon | American. Miniseries, also producer |
| 1991
| Dr. Julia Hoffman / Countess Natalie Du Pres | American. Miniseries |
| 1996
| Dark Shadows 30th Anniversary Tribute | n/a | American. Television special, as producer |
| 2020
| Miranda (voice) | American. Season 3 Episode 7: "Worse Things Than Betrayal" |
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year ! Award ! Category ! Work !Result |
| 1989
|{{won}} |
| 2017
|Hall of Fame |{{N/A}} |{{won}} |
References
{{Reflist}}
Works cited
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book
|last=Curti
|first=Roberto
|title=Italian Gothic Horror Films: 1957–1969
|publisher=McFarland
|isbn=978-1-4766-1989-7
|year=2015
}}
- {{cite book|last=Frank|first=Alan G.|title=The Horror Film Handbook | publisher=Barnes & Noble| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqYqAAAAYAAJ&q=barbara+steele+29+december |year=1982| isbn=978-0-389-20260-8}}
- {{cite book|title=Michael Reeves|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=2003|last=Halligan|first=Benjamin|isbn=0-7190-6351-5}}
- {{cite book|last=Hogan|first=David J.| title=Dark Romance: Sexuality in the Horror Film| year=1997| publisher=McFarland| isbn= 978-0-7864-0474-2}}
{{refend}}
Further reading
- {{cite book |last1=Giovannini |first1=Fabio |title=Barbara Steele: oltre l'icona del gotico |date=2022 |publisher=Shatter Edizioni |isbn=978-88-945707-7-9 |language=it}}
External links
{{sisterlinks|d=no|b=no|wikt=no|s=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|n=no|q=no}}
- {{AFI person | 17878-Barbara-Steele }}
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{Tcmdb name }}
- [http://www.searchmytrash.com/articles/barbarasteele(2-09).shtml Barbara Steele biography] on (re)Search my Trash
- [https://archive.org/details/nightmare_castle Watch Barbara Steele in Nightmare Castle]
- [https://www.facebook.com/Barbara333 Facebook page (official)]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Barbara}}
Category:20th-century English actresses
Category:21st-century English actresses
Category:Actresses from Birkenhead
Category:Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts
Category:English expatriates in Italy
Category:English film actresses
Category:English television actresses
Category:University of Paris alumni