PROFESSIONS
Producer, Actor
SOMETIMES CREDITED AS
BIOGRAPHY
Exotic, voluptuous, nostril-flaring British actress Barbara Steele originally aspired to be a painter. At 20, she was sidetracked into acting, and within a year she made her film bow in a one-line bit as a student in Bachelor of Hearts (1958). Most of her roles were nondescript until she moved to Italy and launched her horror-film cycle with her performance as a resuscitated....
Expand Full Bio

Exotic, voluptuous, nostril-flaring British actress Barbara Steele originally aspired to be a painter. At 20, she was sidetracked into acting, and within a year she made her film bow in a one-line bit as a student in Bachelor of Hearts (1958). Most of her roles were nondescript until she moved to Italy and launched her horror-film cycle with her performance as a resuscitated witch in Black Sunday (1961). Throughout the next fifteen years, Steele thrived as an internationally popular "scream queen," undergoing the usual ordeals of being whipped, strangled, dismembered and set ablaze, but also dishing it out as well as taking it -- especially in the role of a demonic woman's prison warden in Caged Heat (1974). Steele attracted the attention of the movie cognoscenti when she answered an open call posted by director Federico Fellini, who promptly cast her in a flashy role in 8 1/2 (1963); fourteen years later, she appeared as Violet in director Louis Malle's controversial Pretty Baby (1977). For many years, Steele was the wife of screenwriter James Poe, who wrote a good part for her in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), only to see the role whittled into oblivion by director Sydney Pollack. Steele remained close to Poe even after their divorce, retiring from the screen when Poe died in 1980.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Collapse Full Bio


Rovi Data Solutions, Inc.
- Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Data Solutions © 2009 Rovi Data Solutions, Inc.

Advertisement

Recently Worked With...

Richard Deacon
Piranha
Released: Jan. 1, 1978

Edith Johnson
Shivers
Released: Jan. 1, 1975

Erica Gavin
Caged Heat
Released: Jan. 1, 1974

Lotte Ledl
Young Torless
Released: Jan. 1, 1966

Helga Liné
Nightmare Castle
Released: Jan. 1, 1966


Fan Sites

Barbara Steele Fansites

No fan sites available. Create the first!
Are you the #1 Barbara Steele Fan? Sign Up To Create A Website Here.

Top 5 Celebrities

Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
August 29, 1958
Gary, IN

Jenna Jameson at the L.A. Premiere of 'Zombie Strippers' held at The Landmark Theatre. Los Angeles, CA - 04-15-08
Jenna Jameson
N/A

Angelina Jolie at the Orange British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) 2009 - Arrivals. London, England - 02/08/09
Angelina Jolie
June 04, 1975
Los Angeles, CA

Megan Fox up close at 'Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen' UK premiere
Megan Fox
May 16, 1986
Tennessee

Robert Pattinson on the set of 'Remember Me' - New York City, NY - 06/15/09
Robert Pattinson
May 13, 1986
London, England