Customer Reviews

Barbara Stanwyck: A Biography

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DiOrio's intentions are good, and he does the best he can considering that he received no cooperation from Stanwyck's friends and closest colleagues. Thus the author is forced to rely primarily on the countless articles written about the actress over the years. The problem is, these articles were usually written carelessly, with the "facts" often in conflict ---- or even made up out of whole cloth. In short, this is a fair-minded cut-and-paste biography.

Nevertheless, I found some of the magazine exerpts interesting, and DiOrio has collected some especially fine quotes (such as director Douglas Sirk's). HOWEVER, I MUST CALL ATTENTION TO A MAJOR ERROR: In describing Stanwyck's slashed artery incident (during her marriage to Bob Taylor) DiOrio states that the accident occurred in October 1941 and infers that it may not have been an accident, but instead a desperate act resulting from her despair over Taylor's affair with "Johnny Eager" co-star Lana Turner. This rumor was first written about by Jane Ellen Wayne in her worshipful biography of Robert Taylor (in which Wayne trashes Stanwyck). How DiOrio came up with the October 1941 date is a mystery, because it is incorrect --- and yet it has now been repeated in two subsequent books about Stanwyck: Jane Ellen Wayne's follow-up to the Taylor book (yes she went to the poisoned well again!), and the even more absurd and error laden book by Axel Madsen.

FOR THE RECORD: Stanwyck's accident occurred in February 1940, long before Taylor worked with Turner. Shortly afterward, in a letter dated February 27, 1940, Stanwyck wrote to a friend explaining that she was injured while trying to open a stuck window: "I carelessly hit it with the heel of my hand. The glass broke and my wrist was badly cut."

Clearly DiOrio's errors are not deliberate or malicious, and the book does have some merit --- but it cannot be considered definitive.

Clearly the author, Al Diorio is a Stanwyck fan. Citing no primary sources in his material, Diorio really doesn't tell us much about Stanwyck that we didn't already know. Stanwyck will always remain an enigma in the annals of Hollywood history because that was the type of person she was. Diorio paints a very flattering picture of Stanwyck and only adequately assesses her film work. The definitive Stanwyck biography is yet to be written. The closest thing to perfection in Stanwyck books is Ella Smith's fine career analysis "Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck". Diorio's intentions are good and there is some merit in this biography. It's just a lukewarm attempt, something Stanwyck never was.

Barbara Stanwyck deserves better than this. The author tells the reader no more than a newspaper article would. Ruby Stevens' traumatic childhood and her chorus-girl period are the best parts of the book, but the rest is dealt with so routinely that the author gives no hint of having even seen her movies. Stanwyck is underrated, considering her versatility and, in the early years, her subtlety. Now that more of her 1930s films are being seen, it is time for someone to set this book aside and write a fresh one.

I enjoyed the book titled The Biography of Barbara Stanwyck by Al DiOrio. However, I agree that it was a cut a paste account of the life of Barbara Stanwyck. The book did not give too much more information about Barbara's personal life and career than I already knew from both the internet and from the book Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck by Ella Smith. Since I am such a big fan of Barbara Stanwyck and am eager to find out more about her, I am eagerly waiting for the Barbara Stanwyck biography by Virginia Wilson which is supposed to be the definitive book about Barbara's life and career. Hopefully, Virginia Wilson's account of Barbara Stanwyck's will be released soon and all of her fans will finally know the real Barbara Stanwyck.