show name	The Big Valley
genre	Western
creator	A.I. BezzeridesLouis F. Edelman
starring	Barbara StanwyckRichard LongLee MajorsLinda EvansPeter Breck
country	United States
language	English
num seasons	4
num episodes	112
company	Levee-Gardner-Laven ProductionsFour Star TelevisionMargate
runtime	45–48 minutes
network	ABC
audio format	Monaural
first aired
last aired
status	Ended }}

''The Big Valley'' is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman. The producer was Levy-Gardner-Laven.

Historical background

The TV series was based loosely on the Hill Ranch located at the western edge of Calaveras County, not far from Stockton (one episode places the Barkley Ranch a few hours' ride from town while another has Jarrod riding past a Calaveras County sign on his way to the TV series' ranch). The Hill Ranch existed from 1855 until 1931, exceeded , and had the Mokelumne River running through it. Lawson Hill ran the ranch until he was murdered in 1861. His wife Euphemia (aka "Auntie Hill") then became the matriarch. During their marriage they had four children, one daughter and three sons. Today, the location of the ranch is covered by the waters of Lake Camanche. A California state historical marker standing at Camanche South Shore Park mentions the historic ranch. The set used to film the exterior of the Barkley Mansion stood on the backlot of Republic Studios from 1947 until 1975.

In the first episode ("Palms of Glory") the grave of Thomas Barkley (1813-1870) is shown after it is commented that he fought the railroad six years ago establishing that the show was initially set no later than 1876.

Characters

Main

Victoria Barkley, portrayed by Barbara Stanwyck, was the widow of Thomas Barkley. She was the head of the wealthy, influential Barkley family who living in 19th century Stockton in California's Central Valley. She was the main character of the series. Victoria Barkley was the undisputed mistress of the Barkley ranch. In fact, Stanwyck's refusal to portray Barkley as fragile was controversial at the time. Barkley's husband had been killed six years prior to the beginning of the series. Victoria Barkley loved and was proud of all her children, including her late husband's illegitimate son, Heath, who she would refer to as "my son." Stanwyck, who was able to go effortlessly and convincingly from the refined, elegant lady of the manor to a jean clad cowgirl as tough as any cowboy, appeared in the most episodes for a total of 103 of the 112 episodes. Her episodes were often surprisingly hard hitting, seeing her character either locked away in a lunatic asylum to prevent her testifying as eyewitness at a murder trial ("Down Shadow Street"), or taken prisoner in a prison wagon to replace a dead female convict ("Four Days to Furnace Hill"), or trapped underground following a cave-in ("Earthquake"). Stanwyck always took her featured lead roles with all the confidence of a Hollywood legend, being both credibly warm and tough as and where the scripts required.

Jarrod Thomas Barkley, the eldest son, was a respected attorney. Richard Long played the role of the educated, refined and calmer of the Barkley sons who handled all of the family's legal and business affairs. While Jarrod preferred the law to settle disputes, he was known to resort to frontier justice and violence when necessary. He was briefly married in one episode ("Days of Wrath") only to see his new wife murdered, with a bullet intended for him, in a memorable episode in which an enraged Jarrod loses all his calm genteel mannerisms then relentlessly tracks down the killer and is in the process of killing him with his bare hands before both his brothers Nick and Heath arrive just in time and have to physically stop him. Long appeared in 96 of the 112 episodes.

Hot-tempered brawling younger son Nick Barkley, who managed the family ranch, was portrayed by Peter Breck. Well-known for his black leather vests, large black hat and black leather gloves, as well as his loud and brawling demeanor, he was notorious for getting into fist fights. At times, he would fight with his brothers as well, though underneath the gruff surface Nick was warm and caring, had a fun-loving carefree side, a wonderful sense of humor, and he loved his family deeply and would give his own life for any one or all of them. Breck appeared in 101 of the 112 episodes.

Linda Evans played beautiful Audra Barkley, Victoria's only daughter. Audra was a tad self-absorbed, bold, and forward. Far from demure, she performed daring stunts and rode astride, like her brothers. Audra, like Nick and Eugene, was initially leery of Heath's story that he was her father's son. Early on, she unsuccessfully attempted to seduce Heath, so as to expose him as a fraud. Later however, Audra and Heath become very close as a real brother-and-sister bond develops between them. Audra also has a caring side tending the orphanage children, and a few episodes dealt with her romances, one notable episode being "My Son My Son" in which Robert Walker Jr. guests as a suitor of Audra's who proves to be mentally unstable. During the show's final two seasons, Evans' appearances were reduced because she wanted to spend more time with her husband John Derek.

Heath Barkley was the illegitimate son of Victoria's late husband, and he literally had to fight his way into the Barkley home. Lee Majors portrayed even-tempered but rough and tumble Heath, who was often angry and aggressive throughout the early episodes due to his later-to-be-proven-false belief that Tom Barkley had abandoned his real mother after she became pregnant. In truth, Tom Barkley never knew about Heath, as Heath's mother had never told him, and never even told Heath until she was on her deathbed. Heath gradually gained acceptance from the rest of the Barkley clan as the first season progressed until he became as much a "Barkley" as the rest of the family, and his love for them became equal. Heath would come to call Victoria "Mother" when speaking to her directly and about her with his siblings. Although Nick was initially leery of Heath and felt he had to test Heath's mettle, Heath would go on to prove himself worthy of even Nick's acceptance, and eventually Nick seemed to grow even closer to Heath than he was to Jarrod, perhaps in a sense due to Heath having more in common with him than Jarrod did. Audra became closer to Heath than any of her other brothers. Majors, who is initially very blond-haired but gradually gets darker haired as the show continues, appeared in 95 of the 112 episodes.

The Missing Brother

The youngest Barkley son was Eugene, a medical student studying at Berkeley, played by Charles Briles. Like his older brothers he was known to have a temper as seen in the Season 1 episode "Boots with My Father's Name". He was seen sporadically in only seven first season episodes and then written out. Only once was his name ever mentioned again. In real life Briles was drafted and sent off to Vietnam.

Douglas Kennedy appeared as Sheriff Fred Madden.

The regular cast was rounded out by Napoleon Whiting, as Silas, the Barkleys' majordomo.

Guest stars

''The Big Valley'' was well-known for its plethora of guest stars. Among others:

Julie Adams

Jack Albertson

Claude Akins

Chris Alcaide

John Anderson

Richard Anderson

R. G. Armstrong

Lew Ayres

Diane Baker

Joe Don Baker

Anne Baxter

Milton Berle

Charles Bronson

Joseph Campanella

John Carradine

Michael Burns

Conlan Carter

Jeanne Cooper

Kelly Corcoran

Noreen Corcoran

Walter Coy

Dennis Cross

Royal Dano

Bruce Dern

Colleen Dewhurst

Bradford Dillman

Richard Dreyfuss

Maurice Evans

Paul Fix

Robert Fuller

Harold Gould

Robert Goulet

Lee Grant

James Gregory

Julie Harris

Ron Howard

Dennis Hopper

Steve Ihnat

Russell Johnson

I. Stanford Jolley

L.Q. Jones

Robert Karnes

Dan Kemp

George Kennedy

Sajid Khan

Martin Landau

Cloris Leachman

Julie London

Flip Mark

Strother Martin

Gavin MacLeod

Read Morgan

Leslie Nielsen

Kathleen Nolan

Warren Oates

Susan Oliver

Gregg Palmer

Regis Philbin

John M. Pickard

Lou Rawls

Pernell Roberts

Wayne Rogers

Katharine Ross

Jill St. John

William Shatner

Susan Strasberg

Dub Taylor

Malachi Throne

Adam West

Robert Walker Jr.

James Whitmore

Morgan Woodward

Anthony Zerbe

Cancellation

Despite the show's popularity, it was canceled in 1969 because at that time TV Westerns were fading out to make room for more modern TV shows.

Production notes

While ''The Big Valley'' is set primarily in and near the city of Stockton, the filming of the series took place in Southern California.

Crew

The theme music was composed by George Duning. Paul Henreid, of ''Casablanca'' fame, directed a number of episodes. Four Star Television produced the series.

Wilfred M. Cline, A.S.C., Technicolor Associate Cinematographer on ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939), was director of photography of several ''Big Valley'' episodes, together with Chas E. Burke, A.S.C.

Adaptations

Comic book

Dell Comics published a short-lived comic book for six issues in 1966-69. (the last issue reprinted the first, and came out two years after issue #5). All issues had photo covers.

Film

Film columnist Patrick Goldstein reported in the ''Los Angeles Times'' in July 2009 that filmmakers Daniel Adams and Kate Edelman Johnson were producing a feature film version of ''The Big Valley'' with production to begin in April 2010 in New Mexico and Michigan.

Several episodes of the original TV series have been combined into concurrent running feature length TV movies, while the notable two part episodes: 'Legend of A General' and 'Explosion !' have also been made into feature length TV Movies. These have also been issued as TV Movies on DVD as a box set, along with seasons one and two.

DVD releases

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the first season on DVD in Region 1 on May 16, 2006. Season 2, Volume 1 was released on January 30, 2007. Season 2, Volume 2 has yet to be released and it is unknown if it ever will be.

References

External links

Category:1965 television series debuts Category:1969 television series endings Category:1960s American television series Category:American Broadcasting Company network shows Category:Dell Comics titles Category:English-language television series Category:Television series by Four Star Productions Category:Television series by Fox Television Studios Category:Television shows set in California Category:Western (genre) television series

de:Big Valley es:The Big Valley fr:La Grande Vallée (série télévisée) it:La grande vallata nl:The Big Valley ja:バークレー牧場 pt:The Big Valley sh:The Big Valley

Big Valley can refer to:

The Big Valley, a Western TV series

Big Valley, Alberta

Big Valley, California (disambiguation)

*Big Valley, Calaveras County, California

*Big Valley, Lassen County, California

*Big Valley, California, former name of Lakeport, California

Big Valley City, California, former name of Nubieber, California

Big Valley Jamboree

Big Valley Shockwave, a basketball team in Turlock, California

Big Valley Rancheria in California

Big Valley (Pit River) in Lassen and Modoc Counties, California

*Big Valley Mountains in Lassen County

Kishacoquillas Valley in Pennsylvania

F/V Big Valley, fishing vessel from Alaska

Category:Place name disambiguation pages

name	Barbara Stanwyck
birth name	Ruby Catherine Stevens
birth date	July 16, 1907
birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
death date	January 20, 1990
death place	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
occupation	Actress
years active	1927–86
spouse	Frank Fay (1928–35)Robert Taylor (1939–51) }}

Barbara Stanwyck (July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress. A film and television star, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra. After a short but notable career as a stage actress in the late 1920s, she made 85 films in 38 years in Hollywood, before turning to television.

Stanwyck was nominated for the Academy Award four times, and won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. She was the recipient of honorary lifetime awards from the Motion Picture Academy, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Golden Globes, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the Screen Actors Guild, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is ranked as the eleventh greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute.

Early life and career

Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens in Brooklyn, New York on July 16, 1907. She was the fifth and youngest child of Byron and Catherine (née McGee) Stevens; the couple were working-class natives of Chelsea, Massachusetts, of English and Irish extraction, respectively. When Ruby was four, her mother was killed when a drunken stranger pushed her off a moving streetcar. Two weeks after the funeral, Byron Stevens joined a work crew digging the Panama canal; and was never seen again. Ruby and her brother Byron were raised by their elder sister Mildred, five years Ruby's senior. When Mildred got a job as a John Cort showgirl, Ruby and Byron were placed in a series of foster homes (as many as four in a year), from which Ruby often ran away. Ruby attended various public schools in Brooklyn, where she received uniformly poor grades and routinely picked fights with the other students.

During the summers of 1916 and 1917, Ruby toured with Mildred, and practiced her sister's routines backstage. Another influence toward performing was watching the movies of Pearl White, whom Ruby idolized. At age 14, she dropped out of school to take a job wrapping packages at a Brooklyn department store. Soon after she took a job filing cards at the Brooklyn telephone office for a salary of $14 a week, a salary that allowed her to become financially independent. She disliked both jobs; she was interested in show business, but her sister Mildred discouraged the idea, so Ruby next took a job cutting dress patterns for ''Vogue'', however customers complained about her work and she was fired. Her next job was as a typist for the Jerome H. Remick Music Company, a job she reportedly enjoyed; however her true interest was still show business and her sister gave up trying to dissuade her.

In 1923, a few months short of her 16th birthday, Ruby auditioned for a place in the chorus at the Strand Roof, a night club over the Strand Theatre in Times Square. A few months thereafter she obtained a job as a Ziegfeld girl in the 1922 and 1923 editions of the Ziegfeld Follies. For the next several years, she worked as a chorus girl, performing from midnight to seven a.m. at nightclubs owned by Texas Guinan; she also occasionally served as a dance instructor at a speakeasy for gays and lesbians owned by Guinan.

In 1926, Ruby was introduced to Willard Mack by Billy LaHiff, who owned a popular pub frequented by showpeople. Mack was casting his play ''The Noose''; LaHiff suggested that the part of the chorus girl could be played by a real chorus girl, and Mack agreed to let Ruby audition. Ruby obtained the part, but the play was not a success. In a bid to add pathos to the drama, Ruby's part was expanded. At the suggestion of either Mack or David Belasco, Ruby adopted the stage name of Barbara Stanwyck; the "Barbara" came from Barbara Frietchie and the "Stanwyck" from English actress Jane Stanwyck. ''The Noose'' re-opened on October 20, 1926, became one of the most successful of the season, running for nine months and 197 performances. Stanwyck co-starred with actors Rex Cherryman and Wilfred Lucas.

Her performance in ''The Noose'' earned rave reviews, and she was summoned by film producer Bob Kane to make a screen test for his upcoming 1927 silent film ''Broadway Nights'' where she won a minor part of a fan dancer after losing out on the lead role, because she could not cry during the screen test. This marked Stanwyck's first film appearance. She played her first lead part on stage that year in ''Burlesque''; the play was critically panned, but Stanwyck's performance netted her rave reviews. While playing in ''Burlesque'', Stanwyck was introduced to actor Frank Fay by Oscar Levant; Stanwyck and Fay both later claimed they had hated each other immediately, but became close after the sudden death of fellow actor Rex Cherryman at the age of 30. Cherryman had become ill early in 1928, and his doctor had advised a sea voyage; while on a ship to Paris, where he and Stanwyck had arranged to meet, Cherryman died of septic poisoning. Stanwyck and Fay married on August 26, 1928, and moved to Hollywood.

Film career

Stanwyck's first sound film was ''The Locked Door'' (1929), followed by ''Mexicali Rose'' in 1929. Neither film was successful; nonetheless, Frank Capra chose Stanwyck for his ''Ladies of Leisure'' (1930). Numerous memorable roles followed, among them the children's nurse who saves two would be juvenile murder victims in ''Night Nurse'' (1931), the ambitious woman from "the wrong side of the tracks" in ''Baby Face'' (1933), the self-sacrificing mother in ''Stella Dallas'' (1937), the con artist who falls for her would-be victim (played by Henry Fonda) in ''The Lady Eve'' (1941), the woman who talks an infatuated insurance salesman (Fred McMurray) into killing her husband in ''Double Indemnity'' (1944), the columnist caught up in white lies and Christmas romance in ''Christmas in Connecticut'' (1945) and the doomed wife in ''Sorry, Wrong Number'' (1948). Stanwyck was reportedly one of the many actresses considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in ''Gone With The Wind'' (1939), although she wasn't given a screen test. In 1944, Stanwyck was the highest-paid woman in the United States.

Pauline Kael described Stanwyck's acting, "[she] seems to have an intuitive understanding of the fluid physical movements that work best on camera" and in reference to her early 1930s film work "early talkies sentimentality ... only emphasizes Stanwyck's remarkable modernism."

Stanwyck was known for her accessibility and kindness to the backstage crew on any film set. She knew the names of their wives and children, and asked after them by name. Frank Capra said she was "destined to be beloved by all directors, actors, crews and extras. In a Hollywood popularity contest she would win first prize hands down."

Television career

When Stanwyck's film career declined in 1957, she moved to television. Her – series ''The Barbara Stanwyck Show'' was not a ratings success but earned her first Emmy Award. The – Western series ''The Big Valley'' on ABC made her one of the most popular actresses on television, winning her another Emmy. She was billed as "Miss Barbara Stanwyck", and her role as frontier family matron Victoria Barkley was likened to that of Ben Cartwright, played by Lorne Greene in the series ''Bonanza''. Stanwyck's costars included Richard Long as Jarrod Thomas Barkley, (who had been in Stanwyck's 1953 film ''All I Desire''), Peter Breck as the hot headed Nick Barkley, Linda Evans as the seductress Audra Barkley, and Lee Majors as Heath Barkley, the son fathered out-of-wedlock by the Stanwyck character's husband.

Years later, Stanwyck earned her third Emmy for ''The Thorn Birds''. In , she made three guest appearances on the hit primetime soap opera ''Dynasty'' prior to the launch of its ill-fated spin-off series ''The Colbys'' in which she starred alongside Charlton Heston, Stephanie Beacham and Katharine Ross. Unhappy with the experience, Stanwyck remained with the series for only one season (it lasted for two), and her role as Constance Colby Patterson would prove to be her last. Earl Hamner Jr. (producer of ''The Waltons'') had initially wanted Stanwyck for the lead role of Angela Channing on the successful 1980s soap opera, ''Falcon Crest'', but she turned it down; the role was ultimately given to her best friend Jane Wyman.

William Holden credited her with saving his career when they co-starred in ''Golden Boy'' (1939). They remained lifelong friends. When Stanwyck and Holden were presenting the Best Sound Oscar, Holden paused to pay a special tribute to Stanwyck. Shortly after Holden's death, Stanwyck returned the favor. Upon receiving her honorary Oscar, she said aloud: "And tonight, my golden boy, you got your wish."

Personal life

Her first husband was actor Frank Fay. They were married on August 26, 1928. On December 5, 1932, they adopted a son, Dion Anthony "Tony" Fay. (He and Stanwyck eventually became estranged.) The marriage was a troubled one; Fay's successful career on Broadway did not translate to the big screen, whereas Stanwyck achieved Hollywood stardom, after a bumpy start. Fay did not shy from physical confrontations with his young wife, especially when he was inebriated. Some claim that this union was the basis for ''A Star is Born''. The couple divorced on December 30, 1935. Subsequently, Stanwyck won custody of their adoptive son.

In 1936, while making the film ''His Brother's Wife'', Stanwyck met and fell in love with her co-star, Robert Taylor. Following a whirlwind romance, the couple began living together. Their 1939 marriage was arranged with the help of Taylor's studio MGM, a common practice in Hollywood's golden age. She and Taylor enjoyed time together outdoors during the early years of their marriage, and were the owners of acres of prime West Los Angeles property. Their large ranch and home in the Mandeville Canyon section of Brentwood, Los Angeles is to this day referred to by locals as the old "Robert Taylor ranch".

Taylor reportedly had affairs during the marriage. When Stanwyck learned of Taylor's fling with Lana Turner, she filed for divorce in 1950 when a starlet made Turner's romance with Taylor public. The decree was granted on February 21, 1951. After the divorce, they acted together in Stanwyck's last feature film ''The Night Walker'' (1964). Stanwyck never remarried, collecting alimony of 15 percent of Taylor's salary until his death in 1969.

Stanwyck had an affair with actor Robert Wagner, whom she met on the set of ''Titanic''. Wagner, who was 22, and Stanwyck, who was 45 at the beginning of the affair, had a four-year romance, as described in Wagner's 2008 memoir, ''Pieces of My Heart''. Stanwyck broke off the relationship.

She was reportedly a conservative-minded Republican along with such contemporaries as William Holden, Ginger Rogers, and Gary Cooper.

Later years

Stanwyck's retirement years were active, with charity work outside the limelight. Her decline began after she was robbed and assaulted inside her Beverly Hills home in 1981. The following year, while filming ''The Thorn Birds'', the inhalation of special-effects smoke on the set caused her to contract bronchitis. The illness was compounded by her cigarette habit; she had been a smoker since age 9 until four years before her death.

Death

Stanwyck died of congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at Saint John's Health Center, in Santa Monica, California, in 1990. Her body was cremated, and her ashes scattered in Lone Pine, California.

Filmography

Awards and honors

Academy Awards

1938 - ''nominated'' - "Best Actress in a Leading Role" - ''Stella Dallas''

1942 - ''nominated'' - "Best Actress in a Leading Role" - ''Ball of Fire''

1945 - ''nominated'' - "Best Actress in a Leading Role" - ''Double Indemnity''

1949 - ''nominated'' - "Best Actress in a Leading Role" - ''Sorry, Wrong Number''

1982 - ''won'' - Honorary Award: "For superlative creativity and unique contribution to the art of screen acting."

Emmy Awards

1961 - ''won'' - "Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead)" - ''The Barbara Stanwyck Show''

1966 - ''won'' - "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series" - ''The Big Valley''

1967 - ''nominated'' - "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series" - ''The Big Valley''

1968 - ''nominated'' - "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series" - ''The Big Valley''

1983 - ''won'' "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special" - ''The Thorn Birds'' (part 1)

Golden Globes

1966 - ''nominated'' - "Best TV Star - Female" - ''The Big Valley''

1967 - ''nominated'' - "Best TV Star - Female" - ''The Big Valley''

1968 - ''nominated'' - "Best TV Star - Female" - ''The Big Valley''

1984 - ''won'' - "Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV" - ''The Thorn Birds''

1986 - ''won'' - Cecil B. DeMille Award

Other awards

1967 - ''won'' - Screen Actors Guild - Life Achievement Award

1981 - ''won'' - Film Society of Lincoln Center - Gala Tribute

1981 - ''won'' - Los Angeles Film Critics Association - Career Achievement Award

1987 - ''won'' - American Film Institute - Life Achievement Award

Hollywood Walk of Fame - star at 1751 Vine Street

In 1973, she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Notes

Bibliography

Bachardy, Don. ''Stars in My Eyes.'' University of Wisconsin Press, 2000. ISBN 0299167305.

Balio, Tino. ''Grand design: Hollywood as a modern business enterprise, 1930-1939'' University of California Press, 1995; ISBN 0520203348.

"A Century of Stanwyck." ''The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)'' by John Beifuss on July 16, 2007

Chierichetti, David, and Edith Head. ''Edith Head: the life and times of Hollywood's celebrated costume designer''. HarperCollins, 2003. ISBN 0060567406.

Eyman, Scott. "The Lady Stanwyck". ''The Palm Beach Post (FL)'', July 15, 2007. pg. 1J; accessed through Access World News on 16 June 2009.

Flint, Peter B. "Barbara Stanwyck, Actress, Dead at 82.", ''The New York Times''. January 22, 1990; pg. D11.

Hall, Dennis. ''American icons: an encyclopedia of the people, places, and things that have shaped our culture.'' Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006; ISBN 027598429X.

Hirsch, Foster. ''The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir.'' Da Capo Press, 2008; ISBN 0306817721.

King, Susan. "Wagner Memoir Tells of Wood Death, Stanwyck Affair." ''San Jose Mercury News (CA)'' October 5, 2008, pg. 6D; accessed through Access World News on June 16, 2009.

Lesser, Wendy. ''His Other Half: Men Looking at Women Through Art''. Harvard University Press, 1992; ISBN 0674392116.

Madsen, Axel. ''Stanwyck: A Biography''. HarperCollins, 1994. ISBN 006017997X.

Muller, Eddie. ''Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir''. St. Martin's Griffin, 1998; ISBN 0312180764.

Nassour, Ellis, and Beth A. Snowberger. "Stanwyck, Barbara". ''American National Biography Online'' (subscription only), February 2000; accessed July 1, 2009.

Schackel, Sandra. "Barbara Stanwyck: Uncommon Heroine." In ''Back in the saddle: essays on Western film and television actors.'' McFarland Publishing, 1998; ISBN 078640566X.

"The Rumble: An Off-the-Ball Look at Your Favorite Sports Celebrities", ''New York Post'', December 31, 2006; accessed June 16, 2009.

External links

That Old Feeling: Ruby in the Rough Time Magazine, 2001

Saluting Stanwyck: A Life On Film Los Angeles Times, 1987

Category:1907 births Category:1990 deaths Category:20th-century actors Category:Actors from New York City Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:American female models Category:American film actors Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American radio actors Category:American television actors Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (television) winners Category:California Republicans Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure Category:Deaths from emphysema Category:Emmy Award winners Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Western (genre) film actors Category:Ziegfeld Girls

an:Barbara Stanwyck ca:Barbara Stanwyck cy:Barbara Stanwyck da:Barbara Stanwyck de:Barbara Stanwyck es:Barbara Stanwyck eo:Barbara Stanwyck eu:Barbara Stanwyck fr:Barbara Stanwyck hr:Barbara Stanwyck it:Barbara Stanwyck he:ברברה סטנוויק nl:Barbara Stanwyck ja:バーバラ・スタンウィック no:Barbara Stanwyck pl:Barbara Stanwyck pt:Barbara Stanwyck ru:Барбара Стэнвик simple:Barbara Stanwyck sr:Барбара Стенвик sh:Barbara Stanwyck fi:Barbara Stanwyck sv:Barbara Stanwyck tr:Barbara Stanwyck uk:Барбара Стенвік vi:Barbara Stanwyck zh:芭芭拉·斯坦威克

name	Jim Morrison
background	solo_singer
birth name	James Douglas Morrison
alias	Mr. Mojo Risin' (anagram of "Jim Morrison"), The Lizard King
born	December 08, 1943Melbourne, Florida, United States
died	July 03, 1971Paris, France
genre	Psychedelic rock, blues rock, acid rock, rock and roll, hard rock
occupation	musician, songwriter, poet, filmmaker, actor
instrument	Vocals, Piano
years active	1963–1971
label	Elektra, Columbia
associated acts	The DoorsRick & the Ravens
website	thedoors.com }}

James Douglas "Jim" Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors, as well as a poet. After The Doors' explosive rise to fame in 1967, Morrison developed a severe alcohol and drug dependence which culminated in his death in Paris in 1971 at age 27, due to a suspected heroin overdose. However the events surrounding his death continue to be the subject of controversy, as no autopsy was performed on his body after death and the exact cause of his death is disputed by many to this day.

Jim Morrison would often improvise poem passages while the band played live, which was his trademark. He is widely regarded, with his wild personality and performances, as one of the most iconic, charismatic and pioneering frontmen in rock music history. Morrison was ranked number 47 on ''Rolling Stone's'' "100 Greatest Singers of All Time", and number 22 on ''Classic Rock Magazine's'' "50 Greatest Singers In Rock".

Early years

James Douglas Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida, to future Rear Admiral George Stephen Morrison and Clara Morrison. Morrison had a sister, Anne Robin, who was born in 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and a brother, Andrew Lee Morrison, who was born in 1948 in Los Altos, California. He was of Irish and Scottish descent. Morrison reportedly had an I.Q. of 149.

In 1947, Morrison, then four years old, allegedly witnessed a car accident in the desert, where a family of American Indians were injured and possibly killed. He referred to this incident in a spoken word performance on the song "Dawn's Highway" from the album ''An American Prayer'', and again in the songs "Peace Frog" and "Ghost Song."

Morrison believed the incident to be the most formative event of his life, and made repeated references to it in the imagery in his songs, poems, and interviews. His family does not recall this incident happening in the way he told it. According to the Morrison biography ''No One Here Gets Out Alive'', Morrison's family did drive past a car accident on an Indian reservation when he was a child, and he was very upset by it. The book ''The Doors'', written by the remaining members of The Doors, explains how different Morrison's account of the incident was from the account of his father. This book quotes his father as saying, "We went by several Indians. It did make an impression on him [the young James]. He always thought about that crying Indian." This is contrasted sharply with Morrison's tale of "Indians scattered all over the highway, bleeding to death." In the same book, his sister is quoted as saying, "He enjoyed telling that story and exaggerating it. He said he saw a dead Indian by the side of the road, and I don't even know if that's true."

With his father in the United States Navy, Morrison's family moved often. He spent part of his childhood in San Diego. In 1958, Morrison attended Alameda High School in Alameda, California. He graduated from George Washington High School (now George Washington Middle School) in Alexandria, Virginia, in June 1961. His father was also stationed at Mayport Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida.

Morrison was inspired by the writings of philosophers and poets. He was influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche, whose views on aesthetics, morality, and the Apollonian and Dionysian duality would appear in his conversation, poetry and songs. He read "Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Greeks" (''Parallel Lives''). He also read the French Symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud, whose style would later influence the form of Morrison’s short prose poems. He was also influenced by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Kenneth Patchen, Michael McClure and Gregory Corso. His English teacher once commented, "I felt that Jim was the only one in the class who read Ulysses, and understood it." Honoré de Balzac, Jean Cocteau, and Molière also interested Morrison, along with most of the French existentialist philosophers. His senior-year English teacher said that, "Jim read as much and probably more than any student in class, but everything he read was so offbeat I had another teacher, who was going to the Library of Congress, check to see if the books Jim was reporting on actually existed. I suspected he was making them up, as they were English books on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century demonology. I’d never heard of them, but they existed, and I’m convinced from the paper he wrote that he read them, and the Library of Congress would’ve been the only source."

Morrison went to live with his paternal grandparents in Clearwater, Florida, where he attended classes at St. Petersburg Junior College. In 1962, he transferred to Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, where he appeared in a school recruitment film. While attending FSU, Morrison was arrested for a prank, following a home football game.

In January 1964, Morrison moved to Los Angeles, to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He attended Jack Hirschman's class on Antonin Artaud in the Comparative Literature program within the UCLA English Department. Artaud's brand of surrealist theatre had a profound impact on Morrison's dark poetic sensibility of cinematic theatricality.

Morrison completed his undergraduate degree at UCLA's film school and the Theater Arts department of the College of Fine Arts in 1965. In an early display of rebellion, he refused to attend the graduation ceremony, his degree diploma being mailed to him. He made two films while attending UCLA. ''First Love'', the first of these films, made with Morrison's classmate and roommate Max Schwartz, was released to the public when it appeared in a documentary about the film ''Obscura''. During these years, while living in Venice Beach, he became friends with writers at the ''Los Angeles Free Press''. Morrison was an advocate of the underground newspaper until his death in 1971. He later conducted a lengthy and in-depth interview with Bob Chorush and Andy Kent, both working for the Free Press at the time (January 1971), and was planning on visiting the headquarters of the busy newspaper shortly before leaving for Paris.

The Doors

In the Summer of 1965, after graduating from the UCLA, Morrison led a bohemian lifestyle in Venice Beach. Living on the rooftop of a building inhabited by his old UCLA cinematography friend Dennis Jakobs, he wrote the lyrics of many of the early songs the Doors would later perform live and record on albums, the most notable being "Moonlight Drive" and "Hello, I Love You". According to Jakobs, he lived on canned beans and LSD daily for several months. Morrison and fellow UCLA student Ray Manzarek were the first two members of The Doors, forming the group during that same Summer of 1965. They actually met months earlier as fellow cinematography students. The now-legendary story claims that Manzarek was lying on the beach at Venice one day, accidentally encountered Morrison, he was impressed with Morrison's poetic lyrics, claiming that they were "rock group" material. Thereafter, drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger joined. Krieger auditioned at Densmore's recommendation and was then added to the lineup. All three musicians shared a common interest in the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Meditation practices at the time, attending scheduled classes, but Morrison was not involved in this series of classes, claiming later (prior to the famous Hollywood Bowl show in July 1968) that he "did not meditate".

The Doors took their name from the title of Aldous Huxley's ''The Doors of Perception'' (a reference to the "unlocking" of "doors of perception" through psychedelic drug use). Huxley's own title was a quotation from William Blake's ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'', in which Blake wrote: "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."

Although Morrison is known as the lyricist for the group, Krieger also made significant lyrical contributions, writing or co-writing some of the group's biggest hits, including "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", "Love Her Madly" and "Touch Me". On the other hand, Morrison, who didn't write songs using an instrument, would come up with melodies for his own lyrics, with the other band members contributing chords and rhythm. He didn't play any instrument live (except for maracas on a few occasions) or in the studio, but he played the piano on "Orange County Suite".

In June 1966, Morrison and The Doors were the opening act at the Whisky a Go Go on the last week of the residency of Van Morrison's band Them. Van's influence on Jim's developing stage performance was later noted by John Densmore in his book ''Riders On The Storm'': "Jim Morrison learned quickly from his near-namesake's stagecraft, his apparent recklessness, his air of subdued menace, the way he would improvise poetry to a rock beat, even his habit of crouching down by the bass drum during instrumental breaks." On the final night, the two Morrisons and the two bands jammed together on "Gloria".

The Doors achieved national recognition after signing with Elektra Records in 1967. The single "Light My Fire" eventually reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart. Later, The Doors appeared on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', a popular Sunday night variety series that had introduced The Beatles and Elvis Presley to the nation. Ed Sullivan requested two songs from The Doors for the show, "People Are Strange", and "Light My Fire". The censors insisted that they change the lyrics of "Light My Fire" from "Girl we couldn't get much higher" to "Girl we couldn't get much better"; this was reportedly due to what could be perceived as a reference to drugs in the original lyric. Giving assurances of compliance to Sullivan, Morrison then proceeded to sing the song with the original lyrics anyway. He later said that he had simply forgotten to make the change. This so infuriated Sullivan that he refused to shake their hands after their performance and had a show producer tell the band that they would never do ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' again. Morrison reportedly said to the producer: "Hey man. We just ''did'' the Sullivan Show." In 1967, Morrison and The Doors produced a promotional film for "Break on Through (To the Other Side)", which was their first single release. The video featured the four members of the group playing the song on a darkened set with alternating views and close-ups of the performers while Morrison lip-synched the lyrics. Morrison and The Doors continued to make music videos, including "The Unknown Soldier", "Moonlight Drive", and "People Are Strange".

By the release of their second album, ''Strange Days'', The Doors had become one of the most popular rock bands in the United States. Their blend of blues and rock tinged with psychedelia included a number of original songs and distinctive cover versions, such as their rendition of "Alabama Song", from Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's operetta, ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny''. The band also performed a number of extended concept works, including the songs "The End", "When the Music's Over", and "Celebration of the Lizard".

In 1967, photographer Joel Brodsky took a series of black-and-white photos of Morrison, in a photo shoot known as "The Young Lion" photo session. These photographs are considered among the most iconic images of Jim Morrison and are frequently used as covers for compilation albums, books, and other memorabilia of the Doors and Morrison. In 1968, The Doors released their third studio album, ''Waiting for the Sun''. Their fourth album, ''The Soft Parade'', was released in 1969. It was the first album where the individual band members were given credit on the inner sleeve for the songs they had written.

After this, Morrison started to show up for recording sessions inebriated. He was also frequently late for live performances. As a result, the band would play instrumental music or force Manzarek to take on the singing duties.

By 1969, the formerly svelte singer gained weight, grew a beard, and began dressing more casually — abandoning the leather pants and concho belts for slacks, jeans and T-shirts.

During a 1969 concert at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, Morrison attempted to spark a riot in the audience. He failed, but a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Dade County Police department three days later for indecent exposure. Consequently, many of The Doors' scheduled concerts were canceled. In 2007 Florida Governor Charlie Crist suggested the possibility of a posthumous pardon for Morrison, which was announced as successful on Dec. 9, 2010. Drummer John Densmore denied Morrison ever exposed himself on stage that night.

(See also Miami incident)

Following ''The Soft Parade'', The Doors released the ''Morrison Hotel'' album. After a lengthy break the group reconvened in October 1970 to record their last album with Morrison, ''L.A. Woman''. Shortly after the recording sessions for the album began, producer Paul A. Rothchild — who had overseen all their previous recordings — left the project. Engineer Bruce Botnick took over as producer.

Solo: poetry and film

Morrison began writing in adolescence. In college, he studied the related fields of theater, film, and cinematography.

He self-published two volumes of his poetry in 1969, ''The Lords / Notes on Vision'' and ''The New Creatures''. ''The Lords'' consists primarily of brief descriptions of places, people, events and Morrison's thoughts on cinema. ''The New Creatures'' verses are more poetic in structure, feel and appearance. These two books were later combined into a single volume titled ''The Lords and The New Creatures''. These were the only writings published during Morrison's lifetime.

Morrison befriended Beat Poet Michael McClure, who wrote the afterword for Danny Sugerman's biography of Morrison, ''No One Here Gets Out Alive''. McClure and Morrison reportedly collaborated on a number of unmade film projects, including a film version of McClure's infamous play ''The Beard'', in which Morrison would have played Billy the Kid.

After his death, two volumes of Morrison's poetry were published. The contents of the books were selected and arranged by Morrison's friend, photographer Frank Lisciandro, and girlfriend Pamela Courson's parents, who owned the rights to his poetry. ''The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison'' Volume 1 is titled ''Wilderness,'' and, upon its release in 1988, became an instant ''New York Times'' best seller. Volume 2, ''The American Night,'' released in 1990, was also a success.

Morrison recorded his own poetry in a professional sound studio on two separate occasions. The first was in March 1969 in Los Angeles and the second was on December 8, 1970. The latter recording session was attended by Morrison's personal friends and included a variety of sketch pieces. Some of the segments from the 1969 session were issued on the bootleg album ''The Lost Paris Tapes'' and were later used as part of the Doors' ''An American Prayer'' album, released in 1978. The album reached number 54 on the music charts. The poetry recorded from the December 1970 session remains unreleased to this day and is in the possession of the Courson family.

Morrison's best-known but seldom seen cinematic endeavor is ''HWY: An American Pastoral'', a project he started in 1969. Morrison financed the venture and formed his own production company in order to maintain complete control of the project. Paul Ferrara, Frank Lisciandro and Babe Hill assisted with the project. Morrison played the main character, a hitch hiker turned killer/car thief. Morrison asked his friend, composer/pianist Fred Myrow, to select the soundtrack for the film.

Personal life

Morrison's family

Morrison's early life was a nomadic existence typical of military families. Jerry Hopkins recorded Morrison's brother, Andy, explaining that his parents had determined never to use corporal punishment on their children. They instead instilled discipline and levied punishment by the military tradition known as "dressing down". This consisted of yelling at and berating the children until they were reduced to tears and acknowledged their failings.

Once Morrison graduated from UCLA, he broke off most of his family contact. By the time Morrison's music ascended to the top of the charts in 1967 he had not been in communication with his family for more than a year and falsely claimed that his parents and siblings were dead (or claiming, as it has been widely misreported, that he was an only child). This misinformation was published as part of the materials distributed with The Doors' self-titled debut album.

In a letter to the Florida Probation and Parole Commission District Office dated October 2, 1970, Morrison's father acknowledged the breakdown in family communications as the result of an argument over his assessment of his son's musical talents. He said he could not blame his son for being reluctant to initiate contact and that he was proud of him nonetheless.

George Morrison was not supportive of his son's career choice in music. One day, an acquaintance brought over a record thought to have Jim on the cover. The record was the Doors self-titled debut. The young man played the record for Morrison's father and family. After hearing the record, Morrison's father wrote him a letter telling him "to give up any idea of singing or any connection with a music group because of what I considered to be a complete lack of talent in this direction."

Women in his life

Morrison met his long-term companion, Pamela Courson, well before he gained any fame or fortune, and she encouraged him to develop his poetry. At times, Courson used the surname "Morrison" with his apparent consent or at least lack of concern. After Courson's death on April 25, 1974, the probate court in California decided that she and Morrison had what qualified as a common-law marriage (see below, under "Estate Controversy").

Morrison's and Courson's relationship was a stormy one, with frequent loud arguments and periods of separation. Biographer Danny Sugerman surmised that part of their difficulties may have stemmed from a conflict between their respective commitments to an open relationship and the consequences of living in such a relationship.

In 1970, Morrison participated in a Celtic Pagan handfasting ceremony with rock critic and science fiction/fantasy author Patricia Kennealy. Before witnesses, one of them a Presbyterian minister, the couple signed a document declaring themselves wedded, but none of the necessary paperwork for a legal marriage was filed with the state. Kennealy discussed her experiences with Morrison in her autobiography ''Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison'' in an interview reported in the book ''Rock Wives''.

Morrison also regularly had sex with fans and had numerous short flings with women who were celebrities, including Nico, the singer associated with The Velvet Underground, a one night stand with singer Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, an on-again-off-again relationship with ''16 Magazine'''s Gloria Stavers and an alleged alcohol-fueled encounter with Janis Joplin. However rock musician and rock star expert, Alice Cooper, declared on his syndicated radio show that Jim was scrupulously true to Pamela on tour, eschewing all sexual encounters. Linda Ashcroft in her book "Wild Child: My Life With Jim Morrison" details her life with Morrison as well. Judy Huddleston also recalls her relationship with Morrison in "This is The End...My Only Friend: Living and Dying with Jim Morrison". At the time of his death there were reportedly as many as 20 paternity actions pending against him, although no claims were made against his estate by any of the putative paternity claimants.

Death

Morrison flew to Paris in March 1971, took up residence in a rented apartment on the rue Beautreillis on the Right Bank, and went for long walks through the city, admiring the city's architecture. During that time, Morrison shaved his beard and lost some of the weight he had gained in the previous months. The last studio recording was with two American street musicians  — a session dismissed by Manzarek as "drunken gibberish". The session included a version of a song-in-progress, "Orange County Suite", which can be heard on the bootleg ''The Lost Paris Tapes''.

Morrison died on July 3, 1971. In the official account of his death, he was found in a Paris apartment bathtub by Courson. Pursuant to French law, no autopsy was performed because the medical examiner claimed to have found no evidence of foul play. The absence of an official autopsy has left many questions regarding Morrison's cause of death.

In ''Wonderland Avenue'', Danny Sugerman discussed his encounter with Courson after she returned to the U.S. According to Sugerman's account, Courson stated that Morrison had died of a heroin overdose, having insufflated what he believed to be cocaine. Sugerman added that Courson had given numerous contradictory versions of Morrison's death, at times saying that she had killed Morrison, or that his death was her fault. Courson's story of Morrison's unintentional ingestion of heroin, followed by accidental overdose, is supported by the confession of Alain Ronay, who has written that Morrison died of a hemorrhage after snorting Courson's heroin, and that Courson nodded off instead of phoning for medical help, leaving Morrison bleeding to death.

Ronay confessed in an article in ''Paris Match'' that he then helped cover up the circumstances of Morrison's death. In the epilogue of ''No One Here Gets Out Alive'', Hopkins and Sugerman write that Ronay and Agnès Varda say Courson lied to the police who responded at the death scene, and later in her deposition, telling them Morrison never took drugs.

In the epilogue to ''No One Here Gets Out Alive'', Hopkins says that 20 years after Morrison's death, Ronay and Varda broke silence and gave this account: They arrived at the house shortly after Morrison's death and Courson said that she and Morrison had taken heroin after a night of drinking. Morrison had been coughing badly, had gone to take a bath, and vomited blood. Courson said that he appeared to recover and that she then went to sleep. When she awoke sometime later Morrison was unresponsive, and so she called for medical assistance.

Courson died of a heroin overdose three years later. Like Morrison, she was 27 years old at the time of her death. Contrary to initial reports circulating in 1974, she is not buried with Morrison, but rather her cremated ashes are interred in a wall at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, CA USA, with the plaque bearing the name "Pamela Susan Morrison".

In the epilogue of ''No One Here Gets Out Alive'', Hopkins and Sugerman also claim that Morrison had asthma and was suffering from a respiratory condition involving a chronic cough and throwing up blood on the night of his death. This theory is partially supported in ''The Doors'' (written by the remaining members of the band) in which they claim Morrison had been coughing up blood for nearly two months in Paris. None of the members of the Doors were in Paris with Morrison in the months before his death.

According to an outside individual who witnessed the funeral at Père Lachaise, a woman by the name of Madame Colinette who was at the cemetery that day mourning the recent loss of her husband, the ceremony was "pitiful", with several of the attendants muttering a few words, throwing flowers over the casket, then leaving quickly and hastily within minutes as if their lives depended upon it. Those who attended included Alain Ronay, Agnes Varda, Bill Siddons (manager), Courson, and Robin Wertle (Morrison's Canadian private secretary at the time for a few months).

In the first version of ''No One Here Gets Out Alive'' published in 1980, Sugerman and Hopkins gave some credence to the rumor that Morrison may not have died at all, calling the fake death theory “not as far-fetched as it might seem”. This theory led to considerable distress for Morrison's loved ones over the years, notably when fans would stalk them, searching for evidence of Morrison's whereabouts. In 1995 a new epilogue was added to Sugerman's and Hopkins's book, giving new facts about Morrison's death and discounting the fake death theory, saying “As time passed, some of Jim and Pamela [Courson]'s friends began to talk about what they knew, and although everything they said pointed irrefutably to Jim's demise, there remained and probably always will be those who refuse to believe that Jim is dead and those who will not allow him to rest in peace.” In a July 2007 newspaper interview, a self-described close friend of Morrison's, Sam Bernett, resurrected an old rumor and announced that Morrison actually died of a heroin overdose in the Rock 'n' Roll Circus nightclub, on the Left Bank in Paris. Bernett claims that Morrison came to the club to buy heroin for Courson then did some himself and died in the bathroom. Bernett alleges that Morrison was then moved back to the rue Beautreillis apartment and dumped in the bathtub by the same two drug dealers from whom Morrison had purchased the heroin. Bernett says those who saw Morrison that night were sworn to secrecy in order to prevent a scandal for the famous club, and that some of the witnesses immediately left the country. There have been many other conspiracy theories surrounding Morrison's death but are less supported by witnesses than are the accounts of Ronay and Courson.

Morrison's death at age twenty-seven included him in a phenomenon called the 27 Club, which currently consists of six other prominent musicians who have died at the same age.

Grave site

Morrison is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, one of the city's most visited tourist attractions. The grave had no official marker until French officials placed a shield over it, which was stolen in 1973. In 1981, Croatian sculptor Mladen Mikulin placed a bust of Morrison and the new gravestone with Morrison's name at the grave to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death; the bust was defaced through the years by cemetery vandals and later stolen in 1988. In the 1990s Morrison's father, George Stephen Morrison, placed a flat stone on the grave. The stone bears the Greek inscription: ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ, literally meaning "according to his own daemon" and usually interpreted as "true to his own spirit". Mikulin later made two more Morrison portraits in bronze but is awaiting the license to place a new sculpture on the tomb.

Estate controversy

In his will, made in Los Angeles County on February 12, 1969, Morrison (who described himself as "an unmarried person") bequeathed his entire estate to Courson, also naming her co-executor with his attorney, Max Fink; she thus inherited everything upon Morrison’s death in 1971.

When Courson died in 1974, a battle ensued between Morrison’s and Courson’s parents over who had legal claim to Morrison’s estate. Since Morrison left a will, the question was effectively moot. Upon his death, his property became Courson’s, and on her death her property passed to her next heirs at law, her parents. Morrison's parents contested the will under which Courson and now her parents had inherited their son’s property.

To bolster their position, Courson’s parents presented a document they claimed she had acquired in Colorado, apparently an application for a declaration that she and Morrison had contracted a common-law marriage under the laws of that state. The ability to contract a common-law marriage was abolished in California in 1896. California's conflict of laws rules provided for recognition of common-law marriages when lawfully contracted in foreign jurisdictions — and Colorado was one of the eleven U.S. jurisdictions that still recognized common-law marriage.

Artistic influences

As a naval family the Morrisons relocated frequently. Consequently Morrison's early education was routinely disrupted as he moved from school to school. Nonetheless was drawn to the study of literature, poetry, religion, philosophy and psychology, among other fields.

Biographers have consistently pointed to a number of writers and philosophers who influenced Morrison's thinking and, perhaps, behavior. While still in his teens Morrison discovered the works of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. He was also drawn to the poetry of William Blake, Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Beat Generation writers such as Jack Kerouac also had a strong influence on Morrison's outlook and manner of expression; Morrison was eager to experience the life described in Kerouac's ''On the Road''. He was similarly drawn to the works of the French writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline. Céline's book, ''Voyage au Bout de la Nuit'' (''Journey to the End of the Night'') and Blake's ''Auguries of Innocence'' both echo through one of Morrison's early songs, "End of the Night". Morrison later met and befriended Michael McClure, a well known beat poet. McClure had enjoyed Morrison's lyrics but was even more impressed by his poetry and encouraged him to further develop his craft.

Morrison's vision of performance was colored by the works of 20th-century French playwright Antonin Artaud (author of ''Theater and its Double'') and by Julian Beck's Living Theater.

Other works relating to religion, mysticism, ancient myth and symbolism were of lasting interest, particularly Joseph Campbell's ''The Hero with a Thousand Faces.'' James Frazer's ''The Golden Bough'' also became a source of inspiration and is reflected in the title and lyrics of the song "Not to Touch the Earth".

Morrison was particularly attracted to the myths and religions of Native American cultures. While he was still in school, his family moved to New Mexico where he got to see some of the places and artifacts important to the Southwest Indigenous cultures. These interests appear to be the source of many references to creatures and places such as lizards, snakes, deserts and "ancient lakes" that appear in his songs and poetry. His interpretation of the practices of a Native American "shaman" were worked into parts of Morrison's stage routine, notably in his interpretation of the Ghost Dance, and a song on his later poetry album, ''The Ghost Song''.

Jim Morrison's vocal influences were Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, which is evident in his own baritone crooning style used in several of the Doors songs. It is mentioned within the pages of "No One Here Gets Out Alive" by Danny Sugerman, that Morrison as a teenager was such a fan of Presley's music that he demanded people be quiet when Elvis was on the radio. The Frank Sinatra influence is mentioned in the pages of "The Doors, The Illustrated History" also by Sugerman, where Frank Sinatra is listed on Morrison's Band Bio as being his favorite singer. Reference to this can also be found in a Rolling Stone article about Jim Morrison, regarding the top 100 rock singers of all time.

Legacy

Morrison remains one of the most popular and influential singer-songwriters in rock history as The Doors' catalog has become a staple of classic rock radio stations. To this day he is widely regarded as the prototypical rock star: surly, sexy, scandalous and mysterious. The leather pants he was fond of wearing both on stage and off have since become stereotyped as rock star apparel. In 2011, a ''Rolling Stone'' readers' pick placed Jim Morrison in fifth place of the magazine's "Best Lead Singers of All Time".

Iggy and the Stooges are said to have formed after lead singer Iggy Pop was inspired by Morrison while attending a Doors concert in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One of Pop's most popular songs, "The Passenger", is said to be based on one of Morrison's poems. After Morrison's death, Pop was considered as a replacement lead singer for The Doors; the surviving Doors gave him some of Morrison's belongings and hired him as a vocalist for a series of shows. Wallace Fowlie, professor emeritus of French literature at Duke University, wrote ''Rimbaud and Jim Morrison,'' subtitled ''"The Rebel as Poet – A Memoir".'' In this he recounts his surprise at receiving a fan letter from Morrison who, in 1968, thanked him for his latest translation of Arthur Rimbaud's verse into English. "I don't read French easily", he wrote, "...your book travels around with me." Fowlie went on to give lectures on numerous campuses comparing the lives, philosophies and poetry of Morrison and Rimbaud.

Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam, Layne Staley, the late vocalist of Alice in Chains, Scott Weiland, the vocalist of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, James LaBrie of Dream Theater, as well as Scott Stapp of Creed, claimed Morrison to be their biggest influence and inspiration. Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver have both covered "Roadhouse Blues" by the Doors. Weiland also filled in for Morrison to perform "Break On Through" with the rest of the Doors. Stapp filled in for Morrison for "Light My Fire", "Riders on the Storm" and "Roadhouse Blues" on ''VH1 Storytellers''. Creed performed their version of "Roadhouse Blues" with Robbie Krieger for the 1999 Woodstock Festival.

The book ''The Doors'' by the remaining Doors quotes Morrison's close friend Frank Lisciandro as saying that too many people took a remark of Morrison's that he was interested in revolt, disorder, and chaos “to mean that he was an anarchist, a revolutionary, or, worse yet, a nihilist. Hardly anyone noticed that Jim was restating Rimbaud and the Surreal poets.”

Books

By Jim Morrison

''The Lords and the New Creatures'' (1969). 1985 edition: ISBN 0-7119-0552-5

''An American Prayer'' (1970) privately printed by Western Lithographers. (Unauthorized edition also published in 1983, Zeppelin Publishing Company, ISBN 0-915628-46-5. The authenticity of the unauthorized edition has been disputed.)

''Wilderness: The Lost Writings Of Jim Morrison'' (1988). 1990 edition: ISBN 0-14-011910-8

''The American Night: The Writings of Jim Morrison'' (1990). 1991 edition: ISBN 0-670-83772-5

About Jim Morrison

Dylan Jones, ''Jim Morrison: Dark Star'', (1990) ISBN 0-7475-0951-4

Linda Ashcroft, ''Wild Child: Life with Jim Morrison'', (1997) ISBN 1-56025-249-9

Lester Bangs, "Jim Morrison: Bozo Dionysus a Decade Later" in ''Main Lines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader'', John Morthland, ed. Anchor Press (2003) ISBN 0-375-71367-0

Patricia Butler, ''Angels Dance and Angels Die: The Tragic Romance of Pamela and Jim Morrison'', (1998) ISBN 0-8256-7341-0

Stephen Davis, ''Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend'', (2004) ISBN 1-59240-064-7

John Densmore, ''Riders on the Storm: My Life With Jim Morrison and the Doors'' (1991) ISBN 0-385-30447-1

Dave DiMartino, ''Moonlight Drive'' (1995) ISBN 1-886894-21-3

Wallace Fowlie, ''Rimbaud and Jim Morrison'' (1994) ISBN 0-8223-1442-8

Jerry Hopkins, ''The Lizard King: The Essential Jim Morrison'' (1995) ISBN 0-684-81866-3

Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman, ''No One Here Gets Out Alive'' (1980) ISBN 0-85965-138-X

Patricia Kennealy, ''Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison'' (1992) ISBN 0-525-93419-7

Frank Lisciandro, ''Morrison — A Feast of Friends'' (1991) ISBN 0-446-39276-6, ''Morrison — Un festin entre amis'' (1996) (French)

Frank Lisciandro, ''Jim Morrison — An Hour For Magic'' (A Photojournal) (1982) ISBN 0-85965-246-7, ''James Douglas Morrison'' (2005) (French)

Ray Manzarek, ''Light My Fire'' (1998) ISBN 0-446-60228-0L. First by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman (1981)

Peter Jan Margry, The Pilgrimage to Jim Morrison's Grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery: The Social Construction of Sacred Space. In idem (ed.), ''Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Modern World. New Itineraries into the Sacred.'' Amsterdam University Press, 2008, p. 145–173.

Thanasis Michos, ''The Poetry of James Douglas Morrison'' (2001) ISBN 960-7748-23-9 (Greek)

Mark Opsasnick, ''The Lizard King Was Here: The Life and Times of Jim Morrison in Alexandria, Virginia'' (2006) ISBN 1-4257-1330-0

James Riordan & Jerry Prochnicky, ''Break on through : The Life and Death of Jim Morrison'' (1991) ISBN 0-688-11915-8

Adriana Rubio, ''Jim Morrison: Ceremony...Exploring the Shaman Possession'' (2005) ISBN

The Doors (remaining members Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore) with Ben Fong-Torres, ''The Doors'' (2006) ISBN 1-4013-0303-X

Films

Documentaries featuring Jim Morrison

''The Doors Are Open'' (1968)

''Live in Europe'' (1968)

''Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' (1968)

''Feast of Friends'' (1969)

''The Doors: A Tribute to Jim Morrison'' (1981)

''The Doors: Dance on Fire'' (1985)

''The Soft Parade, a Retrospective'' (1991)

''Final 24: Jim Morrison'' (2007), The Biography Channel

''The Doors: No One Here Gets Out Alive'' (2009)

''When You're Strange'' (2009)

Films about Jim Morrison

''The Doors'' (1991), A fiction film by director Oliver Stone, starring Val Kilmer as Morrison and with cameos by Krieger and Densmore. Kilmer's performance was praised by some critics. Members of the group criticized Stone's portrayal of Morrison, and noted that numerous events depicted in the movie were pure fiction.

References

External links

Earliest film of Jim Morrison

A lost painting collaboration with Jim Morrison intended for his American Prayer Album

George Washington High School Alumni Association, Alexandria, Va., Morrison page

Category:1943 births Category:1971 deaths Category:American baritones Category:American expatriates in France Category:American film actors Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of Scottish descent Category:American poets Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American spoken word artists Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Category:The Doors members Category:Florida State University alumni Category:Military brats Category:Musicians from Florida Category:Obscenity controversies Category:People from Brevard County, Florida Category:Psychedelic drug advocates Category:Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:Writers from Florida

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name	Jessica Lange
birth name	Jessica Phyllis Lange
birth date	April 20, 1949
birth place	Cloquet, Minnesota, United States
disappeared date
death date
resting place coordinates
nationality	American
ethnicity
education	Cloquet High School (1967) University of Minnesota (1967)
occupation	model, actor, producer, photographer
years active	1976–present
agent	Creative Artists Agency
religion
denomination
criminal charge
spouse	Francisco Paco Grande (1970–81)
partner	Mikhail Baryshnikov (1976–82) Samuel Shepard (1982–present)
children	Alexandra Baryshnikov (1981) Hannah Jane Shepard (1985) Samuel Walker Shepard (1987)
parents	Albert John Lange (1911–88) Dorothy Florence Sahlman (1913–68)
relatives	Ann and Jane Lange (sisters) George Lange (brother)
awards	Academy Awards (1983, 95) Golden Globes (1977, 83, 95, 96) Emmy Award (2009)
website
footnotes	}}

Jessica Phyllis Lange (, born April 20, 1949) is an American screen and stage actress. Most recently, she debuted also as a photographer.

The actress may be most notable for her performance of Frances Farmer (ranked #85 on ''Premiere'' magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time in 2006) in ''Frances'', and ''Tootsie''. Both from 1982, for which she was nominated on Oscars in two categories at the same time, becoming the first such female since Teresa Wright in 1942. Her other significant roles featured Patsy Cline in ''Sweet Dreams'' (1985), Carly Marshall in ''Blue Sky'' (1994), Blanche DuBois in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1995), Irma Applewood in ''Normal'' (2003), and Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale in ''Grey Gardens'' (2009). Amongs other, she has won two Academy Awards (for ''Tootsie'' and ''Blue Sky''), four Golden Globes, and lately an Emmy Award.

Lange published in 2008 her own collection of black-and-white pictures, simply entitled ''50 Photographs'' (powerHouse Books). Since 1982, Lange has lived with the Pulitzer Prize-winner, Sam Shepard.

Early life

Lange, the third of four children, was born in Cloquet, Minnesota, the daughter of Dorothy Florence (''née'' Sahlman) and Albert John Lange, a teacher and salesman. Her maternal grandparents were of Finnish descent, while her paternal grandparents were German and Dutch. She studied art briefly at the University of Minnesota before going to Paris, France, where she studied mime with Étienne Decroux. She returned to New York in 1973 and took acting lessons while working as a waitress and a fashion model for the Wilhelmina Models agency. She was discovered by the fashion illustrator Antonio in 1974.

Career

In 1976, Dino De Laurentiis cast her in his film motion picture remake of ''King Kong'', which both started and almost ended her career. Although the film was a box office hit, critics were not kind to Lange and the film and Lange did not appear in another film for three years, when Bob Fosse cast her as the glamorous figure of death in ''All That Jazz'' (1979). The unfavorable reviews were devastating but critics took notice with her impressive turn in Bob Rafelson's remake of ''The Postman Always Rings Twice'' (1981).

Her performance in her next film, ''Frances'' (1982), in which she portrayed actress Frances Farmer, was highly lauded and earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She received two Academy Award nominations that year, the other for Best Supporting Actress in the comedy ''Tootsie'' (1982), for which she won. She continued giving impressive performances through the 1980s and 1990s in films such as ''Sweet Dreams'' (1985) (playing country/western singer Patsy Cline), ''Crimes of the Heart'' co-starring with Diane Keaton and Sissy Spacek, along with Sam Sheppard (1986), ''Music Box'' (1989), ''Men Don't Leave'' (1990), and ''Blue Sky'' (1994), directed by Tony Richardson, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She portrayed the wife of the titular legendary Scottish hero in ''Rob Roy'' with Liam Neeson (1995).

Since 2000, Lange has mostly appeared in supporting roles on screen. In 2006, she appeared as part of the ensemble cast of Kathy Bates and Joan Allen in ''Bonneville''. In her most recent film, she played Edith "Big Edie" Bouvier Beale in ''Grey Gardens'' (2009), a film based in part on biographical information, and in part on the 1970s cult documentary. Her performance earned her an Emmy Award.

Humanitarian work and political views

She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). She has also been a public critic of former U.S. President George W. Bush, once calling his administration, "a self-serving regime of deceit, hypocrisy and belligerence."

Personal life

Lange was married to photographer Paco Grande from 1970–1981. Since 1982, she has lived with playwright/actor Sam Shepard. She has three children, Alexandra (born 1981) from her relationship with dancer/actor Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Hannah Jane (born 1985) and Samuel Walker (born 1987) with Shepard.

Photography

After three decades in front of the camera, Lange has realized her dream of being on the other side of the lens, and published in 2008 her own collection of black-and-white pictures, simply entitled ''50 Photographs'' (powerHouse Books). Their exhibition, along with series of her films, was presented at the oldest international museum of photography and film George Eastman House, to be awarded by the first GEH Honors Award in 2009.

Filmography

Cinema

Cinema
Year	Title	Role	Director
1976		Dwan	John Guillermin
1979	''All That Jazz''	Angelique	Bob Fosse
1980	''How to Beat the High Co$t of Living''	Louise Travis	Robert Scheerer
1981	''''	Cora Smith	Bob Rafelson
	''Tootsie''	Julie Nichols	Sydney Pollack
''Frances''	Frances Farmer	Graeme Clifford
1984		Jewell Ivy
1985		Patsy Cline	Karel Reisz
1986		Margaret Magrath	Bruce Beresford
		Kate	Sam Shepard
	Babs Rogers Grey	Taylor Hackford
1989		Ann Talbot	Costa-Gavras
1990	''Men Don't Leave''	Beth Macauley	Paul Brickman
1991		Leigh Bowden	Martin Scorsese
1992		Helen Nasseros	Irwin Winkler
1994		Carly Marshall	Tony Richardson
	''Losing Isaiah''	Margaret Lewin	Stephen Gyllenhaal
	Mary MacGregor	Michael Caton-Jones
1997	''''	Ginny Cook Smith	Jocelyn Moorhouse
		Martha Baring	Jonathan Darby
	Cousin Bette	Des McAnuff
1999		Tamora	Julie Taymor
2001		Mrs Wurtzel	Erik Skjoldbjærg
	''Masked and Anonymous''	Nina Veronica	Larry Charles
''Big Fish''	Sandra K. Bloom	Tim Burton
	''Broken Flowers''	Dr Carmen Markowski	Jim Jarmusch
''Don't Come Knocking''	Doreen	Wim Wenders
''Neverwas''	Katherine Pierson	Joshua Michael Stern
2006		Arvilla Holden	Christopher N. Rowley
2011	''The Big Valley'' (in post-production)	Victoria Barkley
2012			Michael Sucsy

Television

Television
Year	Title	Role	Director
1981	''''		Sam O'Steen
1985		Maggie	Jack Hofsiss
1992		Alexandra Bergson	Glenn Jordan
1995	''''	Blanche DuBois	Glenn Jordan
2003		Irma Applewood	Jane Anderson
2004	''Peace by Peace: Women on the Frontlines''	Narrator	Lisa Hepner
2007		Dr Cornelia Wilbur	Joseph Sargent
2009			Michael Sucsy
2011	''American Horror Story''	Constance
Documentaries
1981	''Notre Dame of the Cross''		Daniel Schmid
1994	''''	Caroline Thomas
1997	''Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's''	Shari Springer Berman Robert Pulcini
2003	''XXI Century''	Gabriele Zamparini
2005	''''	Dani Minnick

Stageography

In 1992, Lange made her Broadway-theatre début in New York City opposite Alec Baldwin in Tennessee Williams's ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. She appeared in the West End in London, United Kingdom, in 2000, as Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's ''Long Day's Journey Into Night''. In 2005, she returned to Broadway in another Tennessee Williams play, ''The Glass Menagerie'' with Christian Slater.

Theater
Year	Title	Role	Director
1992		Blanche DuBois	Gregory Mosher
2000	''Long Day's Journey into Night''	Mary Cavan Tyrone	Robin Phillips
2005	''The Glass Menagerie''	Amanda Wingfield	Rupert Goold

Awards

References

Further reading

External links

Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:People from Cloquet, Minnesota Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Finnish descent Category:American female models Category:American film actors Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Actors from Minnesota Category:New Star of the Year (Actress) Golden Globe winners

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