Carroll Baker

Carroll Baker Introduction

Carroll Baker is an American former Academy Award winning veteran actress.

Carroll Baker Biography

Early life and career

Carroll was born on May 28, 1931 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania to Virginia Baker and William Baker, a travelling salesman of Polish Ancestry. She got her education from St. Petersburg College in Florida and worked then as a magician’s assistant and dancer.

In 1953, she started her film career by portraying a small role in “Easy to Love”. She also appeared in TV commercials and attended workshops at Actors Studio in New York after her separation with first husband Louie Ritter. Her appearance in the Broadway production “All Summer Long” impressed famed director Elia Kazan who gave her a breakthrough in the film Baby Doll in 1956, the film that took her to instant fame and gave her a very much deserved Academy Award nomination. The Baby Doll was a highly controversial movie, and some reports said that a New York Cardinal requested people to avoid the film lest they wander into sin. In spite of this, the movie was nominated for the Oscar on four counts!

She also had a memorabale role as Luz Benedict in the ever popular film classic Giant, here she appeared opposite such acting stalwarts such as the iconic James Dean, Rock Hudson, and Elizabeth Taylor.

Film genres

Carroll has appeared in variety of film genres: romances, such as The Miracle where she was paired by Roger Moore (1959); westerns including The Big Country (1958) and How the West Was Won (1962); melodramas including Something Wild (1961) which was directed by her second husband Jack Garfein. She also starred in Garson Kanin’s Come on Strong on Broadway in 1962.