- Born
- Height5′ 5″ (1.65 m)
- Carroll Baker was born on May 28, 1931 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a traveling salesman, William W. Baker. She attended community college for a year and then worked as a dancer and magician's assistant. After a brief marriage, she had a small part in Easy to Love (1953), did TV commercials, and had a bit part on Broadway. She studied at the Actors Studio and was married to director Jack Garfein (one daughter, Blanche Baker). Warner Brothers, sensing a future Marilyn Monroe, cast her in Giant (1956), Baby Doll (1956) (Oscar nomination for her thumb-sucking role), The Carpetbaggers (1964) and Harlow (1965) (title role). Moving to Italy, she made films there and in England, Germany, Mexico and Spain . After returning to American films, she married Donald Burton in 1982 and resided in Hampstead, London in the 1980s. They remained together until Burton's death from emphysema in their home in Cathedral City, California in 2007.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
- SpousesDonald Burton(March 10, 1982 - December 8, 2007) (his death)Jack Garfein(April 3, 1955 - August 13, 1969) (divorced, 2 children)Louie Ritter(January 1953 - August 1953) (divorced)
- Children
- ParentsWilliam Watson BakerVirginia Duffy
- Often plays brash, flamboyant women
- Light blonde hair
- Sparkling blue eyes
- Seductive deep voice
- When she refused to play a nymphomaniac in the trashy Too Much, Too Soon (1958), Warner Bros. refused to loan her out to appear opposite Laurence Olivier, Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas in The Devil's Disciple (1959).
- Her trouble with Warner Bros. continued when she declined to act in a series of movies based on books by pulp writer Erskine Caldwell. This led to her losing out on outside offers to do The Three Faces of Eve (1957) for 20th Century-Fox, and both Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and The Brothers Karamazov (1958) for MGM.
- Despite playing the daughter of Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor in Giant (1956), she was just nine years younger than Hudson and actually nine months older than Taylor.
- She became a nightclub dancer to raise money for her tuition at the Actors Studio.
- Spent several years--from the late 1990s to 2007--caring for her third husband, who suffered from emphysema. She remained retired from acting since being widowed in 2007.
- When Clark Gable kissed me, they had to carry me off the set.
- Bad directors are the ones who want to tell you every move, and think they're a better actor than you.
- After Baby Doll (1956) I did some Westerns. I would try to do something so far away from "Baby Doll".
- I was very young when I saw Gone with the Wind (1939), but I fell in love with Clark Gable. And when I got to work with him, I couldn't believe it. I still had a crush on him. He was quite an old man by then; he must have seen that I was head over heels, even though I was married.
- The big one I missed out on was Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). MGM wanted me for it, and Warner Bros. wouldn't give me permission to do it.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content