Barbara Stanwyck (July 16, 1907 - January 20, 1990)

Barbara Stanwyck is another perfect example of what a leading lady is and was and should always be. Between 1927 and 1964 she appeared in 93 films including such powerhouses as "Annie Oakley" (with Preston Foster), "Golden Boy" (will William Holden), "Double Indemnity" (with Fred MacMurray), "Sorry, Wrong Number" (with Burt Lancaster) and "Titanic" (with Clifton Webb). On television she guest starred on "The Real McCoys", "The Jack Benny Program", "The Merv Griffin Show", "Letter to Loretta", "The Ford Television Theatre", "Goodyear Theatre", "Zane Grey Theater", "The Joey Bishop Show", "General Electric Theater", "Rawhide", "The Dick Powell Show", "The Untouchables", "Wagon Train" and "Charlie's Angels." In 1960 she starred in "The Barbara Stanwyck Show" which lasted only one season. In 1965 she was cast in the lead role of Victoria Barkley in "The Big Valley." The show was about the Barkley family and their lives in the 1870's. Stanwyck was joined by Richard Long, Peter Breck and Linda Evans as her children and Lee Majors as her late husband's illegitimate son. "The Big Valley" last four seasons and closeds its doors in 1969. Throughout the 1970's Stanwyck appeared in several made for television movies. In 1981, Earl Hamner, Jr. offered her the role of Angela Channing for the new night time soap opera he was creating entitled "Falcon Crest." Stanwyck turned the part down but suggested her good friend Jane Wyman for the job (THANK GOD!). In 1983, she played the evil and unlikable Mary Carson in the mini-series "The Thorn Birds" starring Richard Chamberlain. In 1985 she was invited by producer Aaron Spelling to play Constance Colby Patterson on a new show he was developing called "Dynasty II: The Colbys." After appearing in three episodes of "Dynasty", the Colby family eventually spun off into their own series. As Constance, Barbara played the older sister of Jason Colby (Charlton Heston). The opening premise of the show is that Constance wants to reunite with her estranged nephew Jeffrey (John James) so she invites him to move to California and take over her fifty percent of Colby Enterprises. This sets the rest of the family in an uproar especially Jason's wife Sable (Stephanie Beacham) who goes on a crusade to prove that Constance was mentally unstable when she made that decision. The battle goes on but eventually Jeffrey and Constance are successful. Constance also tried to put Jason's business rival Zachary Powers (Ricardo Montalban) in his place. In one very memorable scene she invites him into Jason's office and asks him to sit behind Jason's desk. She then tells him to enjoy the view while it last because that is the closest he is ever going to get to Colby Enterprises ever again. In 1986, Stanwyck left the show after only one season. At first her absence is explained by having her and her boyfriend Hutch (Joseph Campanella) leave for a vacation. While abroad however Constance runs into her brother Phillip (Michael Parks) whom everyone believe had died in Vietnam. Phillip is on the run from some very dangerous enemies and unfortunately it costs Constance and Hutch their lives when Phillip's enemies put a bomb in the jet they were traveling on. Her death is devistating to the entire family particularly brother Jason and nephew Jeff. The scene in which Jason looks over as Constance's empty chair in the conference room is very powerful because it is then that he realizes that she is never coming back. I personally think that having Constance Colby Patterson "blown up" was a little extreme. She was a little old lady, she couldn't have died a little more peacefully? At the age of 78, Stanwyck along with Cesar Romero (also 78) were the oldest performers to have regular parts on night time soap operas. Stanwyck on "The Colbys" and Romero on "Falcon Crest." From the big screen to the small screen Barbara Stanwyck was a little lady that was always larger than life.