Barbara Steele
| Barbara Steele | |
|---|---|
 Steele in a trailer for The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) | |
| Born |
29 December 1937 Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1958–present |
| Spouse(s) | James Poe (m. 1969; div. 1978) |
| Children | 1 |
Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English film actress. She is best known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. Her breakthrough role came in Italian director Mario Bava's Black Sunday (1960).[1]
Career
Steele starred in a string of horror films, including The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962), The Ghost (1963) directed by Riccardo Freda, The Long Hair of Death (1964) and Roger Corman's 1961 adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Pit and the Pendulum, among others. She also starred in Castle of Blood (1964), Terror-Creatures from the Grave and Nightmare Castle (both 1965) and Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968).
She guest starred on various British television shows including the spy drama, Danger Man starring Patrick McGoohan. She made her American television debut in 1960 as Dolores in the "Daughter of Illusion" episode of the ABC series, Adventures in Paradise, starring Gardner McKay. In that same year she was replaced in the Elvis Presley film Flaming Star after a disagreement with director Don Siegel. In 1961, she appeared as Phyllis in the "Beta Delta Gamma" episode of CBS's Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She also had an important role in Federico Fellini's celebrated 8½ in 1963, and in 1966 appeared in the second season episode of NBC's I Spy, "Bridge of Spies".
Steele returned to the horror genre in the later 1970s, appearing in three classic horror films, Silent Scream, Piranha and Shivers (aka They Came From Within).
Steele was cast as Julia Hoffman in the 1991 remake of the 1960s ABC television series, Dark Shadows. In 2010, she was a guest star in the Dark Shadows audio drama, The Night Whispers.
In 2010, actor-writer Mark Gatiss interviewed Steele about her role in Black Sunday (1960) for his BBC documentary series A History of Horror.[2][3] In 2012, Gatis interviewed Steele about her role in David Cronenberg's Shivers (1975) for his 2012 follow-up documentary Horror Europa. In 2014, she appeared in the directorial debut of Ryan Gosling's drama-fantasy thriller film Lost River,[4] in which she portrayed the character Belladonna in a supporting role.[5]
Selected filmography
References
- ↑ Dave Kehr "Critics Choice: New DVDs: The Mario Bava Collection, Volume 1", New York Times, April 10, 2007
- ↑ Clarke, Donald. "Mark Gatiss's History of Horror". Irish Times.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
- ↑ "A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss – Home Counties Horror Ep 2/3". BBC. 2010-10-18.
- ↑ "Lost River". BD. 2015-02-18.
- ↑ "Lost River". BD. 2015-02-18.
External links
- Barbara Steele at the Internet Movie Database
- Barbara Steele at AllMovie
- Barbara Steele biography on (re)Search my Trash
- Watch Barbara Steele in Nightmare Castle