Barbara Steele
British actress (born 1937)
title: "Barbara Steele" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1937-births", "living-people", "20th-century-english-actresses", "21st-century-english-actresses", "actresses-from-birkenhead", "alumni-of-chelsea-college-of-arts", "english-expatriates-in-italy", "english-film-actresses", "english-television-actresses", "university-of-paris-alumni", "english-television-producers", "english-expatriate-actresses-in-the-united-states"] description: "British actress (born 1937)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Steele" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary British actress (born 1937) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Barbara Steele |
| image | Barbara Steele publicity photo 1965.png |
| caption | Steele in a 1965 publicity photo |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Birkenhead, Cheshire, England |
| citizenship | United Kingdom |
| alma_mater | {{ubl |
| occupation | |
| years_active | 1958–present |
| spouse | |
| children | 1 |
| :: |
| name = Barbara Steele | image = Barbara Steele publicity photo 1965.png | caption = Steele in a 1965 publicity photo | birth_date = | birth_place = Birkenhead, Cheshire, England | death_date = | citizenship = United Kingdom | alma_mater = {{ubl|
- Chelsea College of Arts
- University of Paris | occupation = | years_active = 1958–present | known_for = | spouse = | children = 1 | signature = Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English actress and producer, known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens" and "Britain's first lady of horror". She played the dual role of Asa and Katia Vajda in Mario Bava's landmark film Black Sunday (1960), and starred in The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), (1962), (1964), and Castle of Blood (1964).
Additionally, Steele had supporting roles in Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963), David Cronenberg's Shivers (1975), Joe Dante's Piranha and Louis Malle's Pretty Baby (both 1978), and appeared on television in the 1991 TV series Dark Shadows. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for producing the American television miniseries War and Remembrance (1988–89). Steele appeared in several films in the 2010s, including a lead role in The Butterfly Room (2012) and supporting role in Ryan Gosling's Lost River (2014).
Early life
Steele was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire. She studied art at the Chelsea Art School and in Paris at the Sorbonne. Before her film career, Steele acted on stage and also worked as a model.
Career
Early work
Steele was signed to a contract by the Rank Organisation. She appeared in several minor film roles during the late 1950s, including in the BAFTA-winning Sapphire (where she appeared opposite future Black Sunday co-star John Richardson) and Upstairs and Downstairs.
In 1960, her contract was sold to 20th Century Fox. She guest starred on an episode of the ABC series, Adventures in Paradise, and was cast as the female lead opposite Elvis Presley in the Western film Flaming Star (1960). However, after one week of principal photography, Steele left the production and was replaced by Barbara Eden. Author Adam Victor writes in The Elvis Encyclopaedia that she was fired because studio executives thought her British accent was too pronounced. However, Steele claimed she quit over a disagreement with director Don Siegel. Regardless, a March 1960 Screen Actors Guild strike led Steele to abandon her Fox contract.
Italians films and stardom
Steele travelled to Italy, with the hopes of working with director Federico Fellini. Soon after her arrival, she was cast in her breakout part, the dual roles of Asa and Katia Vajda in Mario Bava's Black Sunday. There are two accounts describing how Steele came to be cast in the film: one suggests that Bava, while perusing through head shots of British actors under contract at Fox, selected Steele from these photos. Steele, however, recalled that Bava tracked her down after being captivated by photos of her in a Life magazine photoshoot. Bava later commented that Steele "had the perfect face for my films".
The success of Black Sunday launched Steele to overnight stardom and defined her status as a scream queen. She would star in a string of Italian horror films throughout the decade, including Riccardo Freda's The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962) and The Ghost (1963); Antonio Margheriti's The Long Hair of Death and Castle of Blood (both 1964), Terror-Creatures from the Grave and Nightmare Castle (both 1965).
She also starred in American director Roger Corman's adaptation of The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story of the same title, The She Beast (1966) and the British film Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968).
Steele guest starred in television shows including the spy drama, Danger Man (aka Secret Agent) starring Patrick McGoohan in 1965. In 1961, she appeared as Phyllis in the "Beta Delta Gamma" episode of CBS's Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She also had a supporting role in Fellini's 8½ (1963), and in 1966 appeared in the second-season episode of NBC's I Spy, "Bridge of Spies".
Supporting parts and producer
Steele returned to the horror genre in the later 1970s, appearing in three horror films: David Cronenberg's Shivers (1975), Joe Dante's Piranha (1978), and The Silent Scream (1979). She also played a lesbian prison warden in Jonathan Demme's directorial debut, the women-in-prison film Caged Heat (1974). She had a supporting role in Louis Malle's critically-acclaimed period drama Pretty Baby (1978).
Steele served as associate producer of the TV miniseries, The Winds of War (1983), and was a producer for its sequel, War and Remembrance (1988), for which she shared the 1989 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special with executive producer Dan Curtis.
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 for his BBC documentary series A History of Horror. In 2012, Gatiss again interviewed Steele about her role in Shivers for his follow-up documentary, Horror Europa. In 2014, she appeared in Ryan Gosling's directorial debut, the drama-fantasy thriller film Lost River, in which she portrayed the character Belladonna in a supporting role.
In 2017, she was inducted into the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards' Hall of Fame.
In 2020, she had a guest role on the animated series Castlevania, voicing the character Miranda.
Personal life
Steele was married to American screenwriter James Poe. They were married in 1969 and divorced in 1978. Over the same period her focus changed from European (primarily Italian) films to North American ones. They have a son, Jonathan.
Filmography
Film
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Houseboat | uncredited minor role | American | |
| Bachelor of Hearts | Fiona | British | ||
| 1959 | The 39 Steps | uncredited extra | British | |
| Sapphire | Student | British | ||
| The Heart of a Man | Girl (scenes deleted) | British | ||
| Upstairs and Downstairs | Mary | British | ||
| 1960 | Your Money or Your Wife | Juliet Frost | British | |
| Black Sunday | Asa Vajda / Katia Vajda | Italian | ||
| 1961 | The Pit and the Pendulum | Elizabeth Barnard Medina | American | |
| 1962 | (L'orribile segreto del Dr. Hichcock) | Cynthia | Italian | |
| Il capitano di ferro (also known as The Captain of Iron and Revenge of the Mercenaries) | Floriana | Italian | ||
| 1963 | 8½ | Gloria Morin | Italian | |
| (Le ore dell'amore) | Leila | Italian | ||
| (Lo spettro) | Margaret Hichcock | Italian | ||
| (Un tentativo sentimentale) | Silvia | Italian | ||
| 1964 | Castle of Blood (Danza macabra) | Elisabeth Blackwood | Italian-French | |
| Barbara ('L'hobby'), Mrs. Brugnoli ('La Cambiale') | Italian anthology film | |||
| Les baisers | Thelma | French. Anthology film: segment 3, "Baiser du Soir" | ||
| White Voices (Le voci bianche) | Giulia | Italian | ||
| Tre per una rapina | Barbara Sims (Germany: Anna) | Italian | ||
| The Monocle Laughs (Le monocle rit jaune) | Valérie | French-Italian | ||
| Amore facile | Contessa Bardi-Stucchi | Italian. Segment "Divorzio italo-americano" | ||
| (I lunghi capelli della morte) | Helen Karnstein / Mary Karnstein | Italian | ||
| 1965 | Terror-Creatures from the Grave (5 tombe per un medium) | Cleo Hauff | Italian | |
| Nightmare Castle (also known as The Faceless Monster; Amanti d’Oltretomba) | Muriel and Jenny | Italian | ||
| Once Upon a Tractor | Lady Clerk | Italian. Short film | ||
| Italian | Cameo | |||
| 1966 | Young Törless | Bozena | German | |
| For Love and Gold | Teodora | Italian | ||
| (also known as Revenge of the Blood Beast; Il lago di Satana) | Veronica | British-Italian | ||
| (Un angelo per Satana) | Harriet Montebruno / Belinda | Italian | ||
| 1967 | Barbara et ses fourrures | French. Short film (9 mins) | ||
| 1968 | Curse of the Crimson Altar | Lavinia Morley | British | |
| La amante estelar | Italian. Short film (37 mins) | |||
| Handicap | Spanish. Short film | |||
| 1969 | Honeymoon with a Stranger | Carla | American. made-for-TV film (74 mins). | |
| 1970 | Fermate il mondo... voglio scendere! | Danielle | Italian | |
| 1974 | Caged Heat | Superintendent McQueen | American | |
| 1975 | Shivers | Betts | Canadian | |
| 1977 | I Never Promised You a Rose Garden | uncredited, in fantasy sequence | American | |
| 1978 | Pretty Baby | Josephine | American | |
| The Space-Watch Murders | American. made-for-TV film (74 mins). | |||
| Piranha | Dr. Mengers | American | ||
| La clé sur la porte | Cathy | French | ||
| 1979 | Silent Scream | Victoria Engels | American | |
| 1995 | Tief oben | Mrs. Wagner | German | |
| 1998 | The Prophet (also known as The Capitol Conspiracy) | Agent Oakley | American | |
| 2008 | The Boneyard Collection | Vanessa Peabody | American. Anthology film: segment "Her Morbid Desires" | |
| 2012 | Ann | American-Italian | ||
| 2014 | Lost River | Grandmother | American | |
| The Shutterbug Man | Narrator | American. Short animation (5 mins) | ||
| 2015 | The Mill at Calder's End | The Apparition of the Mill | American. Short film (14 mins) | |
| 2016 | The Widow | American. Advertisement (short film, 8 minutes long) | ||
| *Minutes Past Midnight * | The Apparition of the Mill | American. Anthology film: segment "The Mill at Calder's End" | ||
| 2023 | Ulalume - A Ballad | Narrator, opening credits | American | |
| :: |
Television
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Dial 999 | Toni Miller | British. Season 1 Episode 6: "Missing Persons" |
| 1960 | Adventures in Paradise | Dolores | American. Season 2 Episode 10: "Daughter of Illusion" |
| 1961 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Phyllis | American. Season 7 Episode 6: "Betta Delta Gamma" |
| 1965 | Danger Man | Cleo | British. Season 2 Episode 12: "The Man on the Beach" |
| 1966 | I Spy | Giana | American. Season 2 Episode 9: "Bridge of Spies" |
| 1972 | Night Gallery | The Widow Craighill | American. Season 2 Episode 21: "The Sins of the Fathers" |
| 1983 | The Winds of War | Mrs. Stoller | American. Miniseries, also associate producer |
| 1988 | War and Remembrance | Elsa MacMahon | American. Miniseries, also producer |
| 1991 | Dark Shadows | Dr. Julia Hoffman / Countess Natalie Du Pres | American. Miniseries |
| 1996 | Dark Shadows 30th Anniversary Tribute | n/a | American. Television special, as producer |
| 2020 | Castlevania | Miranda (voice) | American. Season 3 Episode 7: "Worse Things Than Betrayal" |
| :: |
Awards and nominations
::data[format=table]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Miniseries | War and Remembrance | |
| 2017 | Fangoria Chainsaw Award | Hall of Fame | ||
| :: |
References
Works cited
- {{cite book |last=Curti |first=Roberto |title=Italian Gothic Horror Films: 1957–1969 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-1989-7 |year=2015
References
- Davis, Christopher. (11 June 2018). "Queen of All Scream Queens: Barbara Steele".
- (21 July 2011). "Barbara Steele: the accidental scream queen".
- Victor, Adam (2008) ''The Elvis Encyclopaedia''. Harry N. Abrams. {{ISBN. 978-1585675982. p. 167
- "Reluctant Scream Queen: A Conversation with Barbara Steele – Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict".
- Lucas, Tim. (2013). "Mario Bava - All the Colors of the Dark". Video Watchdog.
- Conterio, Martyn. (2015). "Black Sunday".
- Clarke, Donald. "Mark Gatiss's History of Horror". [[The Irish Times]].
- (18 October 2010). "A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss – Home Counties Horror Ep 2/3". BBC.
- (18 February 2015). "Lost River". BD.
- (18 February 2015). "Lost River". BD.
- "Barbara Steele". [[British Film Institute]].
- "Bachelor of Hearts". [[American Film Institute]].
- (2020-10-25). "Barbara Steele is an angel for Satan".
- "Your Money or Your Wife". American Film Institute.
- "The Pit and the Pendulum". American Film Institute.
- "Release". British Film Institute.
- "Cast". British Film Institute.
- "8½". American Film Institute.
- "The Hours of Love". American Film Institute.
- (2018). "Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci". Fab Press.
- "White Voices". American Film Institute.
- "Release". [[British Film Institute]].
- "Cast". British Film Institute.
- "Young Törless". American Film Institute.
- "Release". [[British Film Institute]].
- "Cast". British Film Institute.
- "The She Beast". [[American Film Institute]].
- "The Crimson Cult". American Film Institute.
- "Caged Heat!". American Film Institute.
- (12 May 2015). "Parasite Murders". [[Collections Canada]].
- "Pretty Baby". American Film Institute.
- ["Piranha]"](http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=56961). American Film Institute.
- "Silent Scream". American Film Institute.
- (15 November 1979). "The Silent Scream". Tulare Advance-Register.
- "Butterfly Room (The)". Brussels International Fantasy Film Festival.
- Newman, Kim. (12 December 2012). "The Butterfly Room".
- (20 May 2014). "Lost River". [[Cannes Film Festival]].
- (20 May 2014). "Inside Ryan Gosling's 'Lost River' Premiere in Cannes (Photos)". The Wrap.
- vhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnpsH3gBLjA
- (16 October 2016). "Award-Winning Actor Mads Mikkelsen Stars in New Short Film 'Le Fantome' For Fored Edge Campaign". Ford.
- (20 October 2016). "Ad of the Day: Mads Mikkelsen is a Riveting, Bizarre Hitman in Ford's 8-Minute Gangster Flick".
- (20 October 2016). "Le Fantome Starring the new Ford Edge | Mads Mikkelsen | Birchwood Ford".
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