Carroll Baker
Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is a former American actress who has enjoyed popularity as both a serious dramatic actress and, particularly in the 1960s, as a movie sex symbol. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in the adaptation of two Tennessee Williams plays into the film Baby Doll in 1956. In the mid-1960s, as a contract player for Paramount Pictures, Baker became a sex symbol after appearing as a hedonistic widow in The Carpetbaggers (1964). The film's producer, Joseph E. Levine, cast her in Sylvia before giving her the role of Jean Harlow in the biopic Harlow (1965). Despite significant prepublicity, Harlow was a critical failure, and Baker relocated to Italy in 1966 amid a legal dispute over her contract with Paramount and Levine's overseeing of her career. In Europe, she spent the next 10 years starring in hard-edged giallo and horror films, including Romolo Guerrieri's The Sweet Body of Deborah (1968), a series of four films with Umberto Lenzi beginning with Orgasmo (1969) and ending with Knife of Ice (1972), and Corrado Farina's Baba Yaga (1973). Baker appeared in supporting roles in several acclaimed dramas in the 1980s, including the drama Star 80 (1983) as the mother of murder victim Dorothy Stratten, and the racial drama Native Son (1986), based on the novel by Richard Wright. Through the 1990s Baker had guest roles in several television series, such as Murder, She Wrote; L.A. Law, and Roswell. She formally retired from acting in 2003.
Filmography
You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
as Self
You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
as Self
Baby Doll: See No Evil
as Self
Baby Doll: See No Evil
as Self
Time Machine: When Cowboys Were King
as Self
Time Machine: When Cowboys Were King
as Self
Cinerama Adventure
as Self
Cinerama Adventure
as Self
Heart of the Festival
as Self (archive footage)
Heart of the Festival
as Self (archive footage)
Another Woman's Husband
as Laurel’s mother
Another Woman's Husband
as Laurel’s mother
Memories of Giant
as Self
Memories of Giant
as Self
Nowhere to Go
as Nana
Nowhere to Go
as Nana
Rag and Bone
as Sister Marie, Tony's Aunt
Rag and Bone
as Sister Marie, Tony's Aunt
Heart Full of Rain
as Edith Pearl Dockett
Heart Full of Rain
as Edith Pearl Dockett
The Game
as Ilsa
The Game
as Ilsa
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
as Self
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
as Self
Skeletons
as Nancy Norton
Skeletons
as Nancy Norton
North Shore Fish
as Arlyne
North Shore Fish
as Arlyne
Just Your Luck
as Momie
Just Your Luck
as Momie
Return to 'Giant'
as Self
Return to 'Giant'
as Self
La signora della città
as Martha Sheppard
La signora della città
as Martha Sheppard
Dalva
as Naomi
Dalva
as Naomi
Clark Gable: Tall, Dark, and Handsome
as Self
Clark Gable: Tall, Dark, and Handsome
as Self
Storie di seduzione
as Diana's Mother
Storie di seduzione
as Diana's Mother
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class
as Self
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class
as Self
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
as Self
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
as Self
In the Flesh
as Elaine Mitchelson
In the Flesh
as Elaine Mitchelson
Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage
as Baby Doll Meighan (archive footage)
Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage
as Baby Doll Meighan (archive footage)
A Kiss to Die For
as Mrs. Graham
A Kiss to Die For
as Mrs. Graham
Men Don't Tell
as Ruth
Men Don't Tell
as Ruth
Judgment Day: The John List Story
as Alma List
Judgment Day: The John List Story
as Alma List
Cyber Eden
as Madame
Cyber Eden
as Madame
Blonde Fist
as Lovell Summers
Blonde Fist
as Lovell Summers
Kindergarten Cop
as Eleanor Crisp
Kindergarten Cop
as Eleanor Crisp
Ironweed
as Annie Phelan
Ironweed
as Annie Phelan
Hollywood Uncensored
as Self
Hollywood Uncensored
as Self
On Fire
as Maureen Leary
On Fire
as Maureen Leary
Native Son
as Mrs. Dalton
Native Son
as Mrs. Dalton
What Mad Pursuit
as Louise Steinhauser
What Mad Pursuit
as Louise Steinhauser
Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil
as Gerda Hoffman
Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil
as Gerda Hoffman
The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud
as Mama Freud
The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud
as Mama Freud
Star 80
as Dorothy's Mum
Star 80
as Dorothy's Mum
Red Monarch
as Ellen Brown
Red Monarch
as Ellen Brown
The Watcher in the Woods
as Helen Curtis
The Watcher in the Woods
as Helen Curtis
The World Is Full of Married Men
as Linda Cooper
The World Is Full of Married Men
as Linda Cooper
Cyclone
as Sheila
Cyclone
as Sheila
Bad
as Hazel Aiken
Bad
as Hazel Aiken
Shattered Dreams
as Carol
Shattered Dreams
as Carol
Confessions of a Frustrated Housewife
as Laura
Confessions of a Frustrated Housewife
as Laura
Blackmail Chase
as Polly Pott
Blackmail Chase
as Polly Pott
The Private Lesson
as Laura Formenti
The Private Lesson
as Laura Formenti
James Dean: The First American Teenager
as Self
James Dean: The First American Teenager
as Self
The Body
as Madeliene
The Body
as Madeliene
Knife of Ice
as Martha Caldwell
Knife of Ice
as Martha Caldwell
The Devil with Seven Faces
as Julie Harrison / Mary Harrison
The Devil with Seven Faces
as Julie Harrison / Mary Harrison
Captain Apache
as Maude
Captain Apache
as Maude
The Fourth Victim
as Julie Spencer / Lillian Martin
The Fourth Victim
as Julie Spencer / Lillian Martin
A Quiet Place to Kill
as Helen
A Quiet Place to Kill
as Helen
So Sweet... So Perverse
as Nicole Perrier
So Sweet... So Perverse
as Nicole Perrier
Paranoia
as Kathryn West
Paranoia
as Kathryn West
The Sweet Body of Deborah
as Deborah
The Sweet Body of Deborah
as Deborah
The Harem
as Margherita
The Harem
as Margherita
Lionpower from MGM
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Lionpower from MGM
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Greatest Story Ever Told
as Veronica
The Greatest Story Ever Told
as Veronica
Sylvia
as Sylvia: West (Karoki, Kay, Carlyle)
Sylvia
as Sylvia: West (Karoki, Kay, Carlyle)
Cheyenne Autumn
as Deborah Wright
Cheyenne Autumn
as Deborah Wright
The Carpetbaggers
as Rina Marlowe Cord
The Carpetbaggers
as Rina Marlowe Cord
Station Six-Sahara
as Catherine
Station Six-Sahara
as Catherine
How the West Was Won
as Eve Prescott Rawlings
How the West Was Won
as Eve Prescott Rawlings
Something Wild
as Mary Ann Robinson
Something Wild
as Mary Ann Robinson
Bridge to the Sun
as Gwen Terasaki
Bridge to the Sun
as Gwen Terasaki
The Miracle
as Teresa
The Miracle
as Teresa
But Not for Me
as Ellie Brown / Borden
But Not for Me
as Ellie Brown / Borden
The Big Country
as Patricia Terrill
The Big Country
as Patricia Terrill
Baby Doll
as Baby Doll Meighan
Baby Doll
as Baby Doll Meighan
Giant
as Luz Benedict II
Giant
as Luz Benedict II
New York Premiere Telecast 'Giant'
as Self
New York Premiere Telecast 'Giant'
as Self
Easy to Love
as Clarice
Easy to Love
as Clarice