Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is a former American film, stage, and television actress. She gained recognition in the 1950s and 1960s for roles ranging from naive ingenues to brash women, establishing herself as both a dramatic actress and a blonde bombshell. While performing on Broadway in 1954, director Elia Kazan cast her in the lead role of Tennessee Williams's Baby Doll (1956), which earned her BAFTA and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress and a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer.
Her notable early films include Giant (1956), But Not for Me (1959), and westerns such as The Big Country (1958), How the West Was Won (1962), and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). In the mid-1960s, she became a sex symbol with roles in The Carpetbaggers (1964), Sylvia (1965), and Harlow (1965). After relocating to Italy in 1966 during a legal dispute with Paramount Pictures, she starred in horror and giallo films like Paranoia (1969) and Knife of Ice (1972). Baker later appeared in American television series during the 1980s and 1990s and had supporting roles in films including Ironweed (1987) and Kindergarten Cop (1990). She retired from acting in 2002 and authored three books.
United States
