Carroll Baker
Biography
Carroll Baker, born May 28, 1931 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, is a former American actress who achieved recognition as both a serious dramatic performer and, during the 1960s, as a movie sex symbol. She studied under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio before beginning her Broadway career in 1954. Director Elia Kazan selected her to star in the 1956 film adaptation of two Tennessee Williams plays, Baby Doll. In the mid‑1960s she worked as a contract player for Paramount Pictures and gained further notoriety as a hedonistic widow in the 1964 film The Carpetbaggers. Producer Joseph E. Levine subsequently cast her in Sylvia and later as Jean Harlow. She is also credited under the names Carrol Baker and Karolina Piekarski.
Career overview
Carroll Baker, born on May 28, 1931 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, is a former American actress whose career spanned stage and screen. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, she made her Broadway debut in 1954, establishing herself as a serious dramatic performer. Her transition to film came when director Elia Kazan selected her to star in the 1956 adaptation of two Tennessee Williams plays, Baby Doll, marking her entry into Hollywood.
In the mid‑1960s Baker became a contract player for Paramount Pictures and gained prominence as a movie sex symbol. Her portrayal of a hedonistic widow in the 1964 film The Carpetbaggers contributed significantly to this reputation. The film’s producer, Joseph E. Levine, subsequently cast her in Sylvia and later assigned her the role of Jean Harlow, further cementing her status in the industry. Over the course of her career, Baker accumulated more than one hundred credited appearances across movies and television, reflecting a versatile body of work that combined dramatic depth with the allure of a leading screen icon. Her professional journey illustrates the evolution of a stage‑trained actress into a celebrated figure of mid‑century American cinema.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- Carroll Baker: Vom Baby Doll zur Lady Glamour (2017) as Self
- Hollywood Scandals (2011) as Self
- Western Legenden - Made in Hollywood (2009) as Self
- You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008) as Self
- Baby Doll: See No Evil (2006) as Self
- The Lyon's Den (2003) as Jack's Mother
- Time Machine: When Cowboys Were King (2003) as Self
- Heart of the Festival (2002) as Self (archive footage)
- Cinerama Adventure (2002) as Self
- Another Woman's Husband (2000) as Laurel’s mother
- Roswell (1999) as Claudia Parker
- Rag and Bone (1998) as Sister Marie, Tony's Aunt
- Memories of Giant (1998) as Self
- Nowhere to Go (1998) as Nana
- The Game (1997) as Ilsa
- North Shore Fish (1997) as Arlyne
- Heart Full of Rain (1997) as Edith Pearl Dockett
- Skeletons (1997) as Nancy Norton
- Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western (1997) as Self
- E! True Hollywood Story (1996)
- Just Your Luck (1996) as Momie
- Dalva (1996) as Naomi
- Clark Gable: Tall, Dark, and Handsome (1996) as Self
- Return to 'Giant' (1996) as Self
- La signora della città (1996) as Martha Sheppard
- Storie di seduzione (1995) as Diana's Mother
- Roger Moore: A Matter of Class (1995) as Self
- In the Flesh (1995) as Elaine Mitchelson
- Charlton Heston: For All Seasons (1995) as Self
- Chicago Hope (1994) as Sylvie Tannen
- Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage (1994) as Baby Doll Meighan (archive footage)
- A Kiss to Die For (1993) as Mrs. Graham
- Men Don't Tell (1993) as Ruth
- Judgment Day: The John List Story (1993) as Alma List
- Cyber Eden (1992) as Madame
- P.S. I Luv U (1991) as Victoria
- Blonde Fist (1991) as Lovell Summers
- Kindergarten Cop (1990) as Eleanor Crisp
- Grand (1990) as Viva
- Gipsy Angel (1990) as Pheobe
- Tales from the Crypt (1989) as Mother Paloma ("segment "The Trap")
- Hollywood Uncensored (1987) as Self
- Ironweed (1987) as Annie Phelan
- On Fire (1987) as Maureen Leary
- L.A. Law (1986) as Rae Morrison
- Native Son (1986) as Mrs. Dalton
- Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil (1985) as Gerda Hoffman
- What Mad Pursuit (1985) as Louise Steinhauser
- Murder, She Wrote (1984) as Sibella Stone
- Sharing Time (1984) as Fran Haley
- The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud (1984) as Mama Freud
- Star 80 (1983) as Dorothy's Mum
- Red Monarch (1983) as Ellen Brown
- American Playhouse (1982) as Mrs. Dalton
- The Watcher in the Woods (1980) as Helen Curtis
- The World Is Full of Married Men (1979) as Linda Cooper
- Cyclone (1978) as Sheila
- Bad (1977) as Hazel Aiken
- Shattered Dreams (1976) as Carol
- Confessions of a Frustrated Housewife (1976) as Laura
- Blackmail Chase (1976) as Polly Pott
- The Private Lesson (1975) as Laura Formenti
- Valentina... The Virgin Wife (1975) as Lucia
- The Sky is Falling (1975) as Treasure
- James Dean: The First American Teenager (1975) as Self
- The Next Victim (1975) as Sandy Marshall
- The Body (1974) as Madeliene
- Thriller (1973) as Sandy Marshall
- Baba Yaga (1973) as Baba Yaga
- The Flower with Petals of Steel (1973) as Evelyne Graffi
- Knife of Ice (1972) as Martha Caldwell
- The Devil with Seven Faces (1971) as Julie Harrison / Mary Harrison
- Captain Apache (1971) as Maude
- The Fourth Victim (1971) as Julie Spencer / Lillian Martin
- A Quiet Place to Kill (1970) as Helen
- Paranoia (1969) as Kathryn West
- So Sweet... So Perverse (1969) as Nicole Perrier
- W. Somerset Maugham (1969) as Sadie Thompson
- The Sweet Body of Deborah (1968) as Deborah
- Lionpower from MGM (1967) as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- The Harem (1967) as Margherita
- Jack of Diamonds (1967) as Carroll Baker
- The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) as Veronica
- Mister Moses (1965) as Julie Anderson
- Sylvia (1965) as Sylvia: West (Karoki, Kay, Carlyle)
- Harlow (1965) as Jean Harlow
- Cheyenne Autumn (1964) as Deborah Wright
- The Carpetbaggers (1964) as Rina Marlowe Cord
- Station Six-Sahara (1963) as Catherine
- The Paradise Suite (1963) as Lena Roland
- The Merv Griffin Show (1962) as Self
- How the West Was Won (1962) as Eve Prescott Rawlings
- The Mike Douglas Show (1961) as Self
- Something Wild (1961) as Mary Ann Robinson
- Bridge to the Sun (1961) as Gwen Terasaki
- But Not for Me (1959) as Ellie Brown / Borden
- The Miracle (1959) as Teresa
- The Big Country (1958) as Patricia Terrill
- Fun in the Big Country (1958) as Self
- Cinépanorama (1956) as Self
- Giant (1956) as Luz Benedict II
- Armchair Theatre (1956) as Lena Roland
- Baby Doll (1956) as Baby Doll Meighan
- New York Premiere Telecast 'Giant' (1956) as Self
- The Oscars (1953) as Self
- Easy to Love (1953) as Clarice
- What's My Line? (1950) as Self - Mystery Guest