Biography
She had appeared in a bit role in "Easy to Love" (1953), but it was her performance on Broadway in Robert Anderson's "All Summer Long" (1955) that led director Elia Kazan and playwright-screenwriter Tennessee Williams to chose her (over Marilyn Monroe) for their classic "Baby Doll" (1956). Although George Steven's "Giant", which opened two months earlier that same year, introduced Baker as a terrific screen presence, it did not prepare anyone …
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Career Milestones
1997 | Acted in the TV-movies "North Shore Fish" and "Heart Full of Rain" | |
1997 | Played important role as Michael Douglas' housekeeper in David Fincher's "The Game" | |
1996 | Appeared in HBO movie "Skeleton" | |
1993 | Did a three-week guest stint on TV's "L.A. Law" | |
1991 | Superb as aging ex-stripper who becomes Margi Clarke's "manager" in "Blonde Fist" | |
1990 | Villainous turn as the cold-blooded mother of psychopath Richard Tyson in "Kindergarten Cop", starring Arnold Schwarzenegger | |
1987 | Delivered sympathetic portrayal as Jack Nicholson's long abandoned wife in "Ironweed" | |
1986 | Portrayed blind Mrs Dalton in "Native Son" | |
1985 | Featured role as Gerda Hoffman in "Hitler's SS: Portrait of Evil", an NBC movie released theatrically abroad | |
1983 | Played Dorothy Stratton's mother in "Star 80" and Sigmund Freud's mother in "The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud" | |
1980 | Appeared in British-made Disney effort "Watcher in the Woods", starring Bette Davis | |
1978 | Acted on the stage in American regional theater, Canada and the United Kingdom | |
1977 | Reprised role of Sadie Thompson in London stage debut of Somerset Maugham's "Rain" | |
1972 | British TV debut, "Rain" | |
| Moved to Italy, beginning a 10-year period of doing European sexploitation flicks with such catchy titles as "Orgasmo" (1969) and "Baba Yaga--Devil Witch" (1973) | ||
1965 | Second film of the year with Douglas, "Harlow", rushed through production to compete with the slipshod Carol Linley version of the same year | |
1965 | Played bad girl turned good in Gordon Douglas' "Sylvia" | |
1965 | Reunited with Stevens for "The Greatest Story Ever Told" | |
1964 | Role for "The Carpetbaggers" drawn almost wholly from Jean Harlow; second film with Peppard | |
1963 | Perfectly exploited as the sexpot among five love-starved men in "Station Six-Sahara" | |
1962 | Gets her man (Jimmy Stewart) in star-studded "How the West Was Won" (also first film with George Peppard) | |
1961 | Starred in husband Jack Garfein's second feature film, "Something Wild" | |
1959 | Acted opposite Clark Gable in "But Not for Me" | |
1958 | Portrayed Charles Bickford's tempestuous, pouting daughter in William Wyler's "The Big Country" | |
1956 | Established herself as a sizzling cinematic presence in Elia Kazan's "Baby Doll" (screenplay by Tennessee Williams), playing the underaged but overly ripe and buxom title character; Warner Bros signed her to a contract following her work on the film; earned Best Actress Oscar nomination | |
1956 | Proved herself a competent actress in her first important movie part as the high-spirited daughter of Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson in George Stevens' "Giant" | |
1955 | Broadway debut, "All Summer Long" | |
1953 | Appeared in workshop production of "A Hatful of Rain" at Actors Studio | |
| Returned to NY with Russ Morgan's band; acted on TV commercials (including Coca-Cola) | ||
1953 | Film debut in a bit part in "Easy to Love" | |
| Moved to New York and danced in a nightclub | ||
| Worked as a conjurer's assistant for Burling Hall (known as the Great Volta) who booked her on the Kemp Time Vaudeville Circuit in North Carolina | ||
| Joined itinerant dance troupe and toured southern states | ||
Awards
1956 | Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress |
1956 | Academy Award for Actress in Baby Doll |
1956 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama in Baby Doll |
1956 | BAFTA Award for Foreign Actress in Baby Doll |