Carroll Baker
Biography
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.
Known For
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
What's My Line?
1950
Chicago Hope
1994
Murder, She Wrote
1984
L.A. Law
1986
American Playhouse
1982
Tales from the Crypt
1989
Roswell
1999
Cinépanorama
1956
The Oscars
1953
Thriller
1973
Filmography
The Mike Douglas Show
as Self · 1961
The Merv Griffin Show
as Self · 1962
What's My Line?
as Self - Mystery Guest · 1950
Chicago Hope
as Sylvie Tannen · 1994
Murder, She Wrote
as Sibella Stone · 1984
L.A. Law
as Rae Morrison · 1986
American Playhouse
as Mrs. Dalton · 1982
Tales from the Crypt
as Mother Paloma ("segment "The Trap") · 1989
Roswell
as Claudia Parker · 1999
Cinépanorama
as Self · 1956
The Oscars
as Self · 1953
Thriller
as Sandy Marshall · 1973
The Game
as Ilsa · 1997
Giant
as Luz Benedict II · 1956
Grand
as Viva · 1990
Kindergarten Cop
as Eleanor Crisp · 1990
The Lyon's Den
as Jack's Mother · 2003
P.S. I Luv U
as Victoria · 1991
W. Somerset Maugham
as Sadie Thompson · 1969
How the West Was Won
as Eve Prescott Rawlings · 1962
The Greatest Story Ever Told
as Veronica · 1965
The Big Country
as Patricia Terrill · 1958
The Private Lesson
as Laura Formenti · 1975
Sharing Time
as Fran Haley · 1984
E! True Hollywood Story
· 1996
Armchair Theatre
as Lena Roland · 1956
Cheyenne Autumn
as Deborah Wright · 1964
Bad
as Hazel Aiken · 1977
Baby Doll
as Baby Doll Meighan · 1956
The Watcher in the Woods
as Helen Curtis · 1980
Cyclone
as Sheila · 1978
Ironweed
as Annie Phelan · 1987
Star 80
as Dorothy's Mum · 1983
Confessions of a Frustrated Housewife
as Laura · 1976
So Sweet... So Perverse
as Nicole Perrier · 1969
James Dean: The First American Teenager
as Self · 1975
The Sweet Body of Deborah
as Deborah · 1968
Heart of the Festival
as Self (archive footage) · 2002
Mister Moses
as Julie Anderson · 1965
A Kiss to Die For
as Mrs. Graham · 1993
Paranoia
as Kathryn West · 1969
But Not for Me
as Ellie Brown / Borden · 1959
Hollywood Uncensored
as Self · 1987
In the Flesh
as Elaine Mitchelson · 1995
The Carpetbaggers
as Rina Marlowe Cord · 1964
Valentina... The Virgin Wife
as Lucia · 1975
Nobody's Perfect
as Phyllis Nash · 1980
Blonde Fist
as Lovell Summers · 1991
A Quiet Place to Kill
as Helen · 1970
Something Wild
as Mary Ann Robinson · 1961
Station Six-Sahara
as Catherine · 1963
Knife of Ice
as Martha Caldwell · 1972
The Devil with Seven Faces
as Julie Harrison / Mary Harrison · 1971
Heart Full of Rain
as Edith Pearl Dockett · 1997
The Miracle
as Teresa · 1959
The World Is Full of Married Men
as Linda Cooper · 1979
Time Machine: When Cowboys Were King
as Self · 2003
Native Son
as Mrs. Dalton · 1986
The Fourth Victim
as Julie Spencer / Lillian Martin · 1971
Harlow
as Jean Harlow · 1965
Baba Yaga
as Baba Yaga · 1973
The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud
as Mama Freud · 1984
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class
as Self · 1995
Just Your Luck
as Momie · 1996
Shattered Dreams
as Carol · 1976
Another Woman's Husband
as Laurel’s mother · 2000
The Sky is Falling
as Treasure · 1975
Captain Apache
as Maude · 1971
Lionpower from MGM
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited) · 1967
North Shore Fish
as Arlyne · 1997
Dalva
as Naomi · 1996
You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
as Self · 2008
Red Monarch
as Ellen Brown · 1983
Bridge to the Sun
as Gwen Terasaki · 1961
On Fire
as Maureen Leary · 1987
Judgment Day: The John List Story
as Alma List · 1993
Jack of Diamonds
as Carroll Baker · 1967
Men Don't Tell
as Ruth · 1993
Easy to Love
as Clarice · 1953
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
as Self · 1997
New York Premiere Telecast 'Giant'
as Self · 1956
Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil
as Gerda Hoffman · 1985
The Flower with Petals of Steel
as Evelyne Graffi · 1973
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
as Self · 1995
Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage
as Baby Doll Meighan (archive footage) · 1994
Skeletons
as Nancy Norton · 1997
Rag and Bone
as Sister Marie, Tony's Aunt · 1998
Sylvia
as Sylvia: West (Karoki, Kay, Carlyle) · 1965
Blackmail Chase
as Polly Pott · 1976
Clark Gable: Tall, Dark, and Handsome
as Self · 1996
The Body
as Madeliene · 1974
Western Legenden - Made in Hollywood
as Self · 2009
Cinerama Adventure
as Self · 2002
Storie di seduzione
as Diana's Mother · 1995
Fun in the Big Country
as Self · 1958
La signora della città
as Martha Sheppard · 1996
Cyber Eden
as Madame · 1992
Return to 'Giant'
as Self · 1996
Baby Doll: See No Evil
as Self · 2006
The Harem
as Margherita · 1967
Memories of Giant
as Self · 1998
What Mad Pursuit
as Louise Steinhauser · 1985
Gipsy Angel
as Pheobe · 1990
The Next Victim
as Sandy Marshall · 1975
Carroll Baker: Vom Baby Doll zur Lady Glamour
as Self · 2017
The Paradise Suite
as Lena Roland · 1963
Nowhere to Go
as Nana · 1998
Hollywood Scandals
as Self · 2011