BARBARA STEELE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Barbara Steele was born on December 29th, 1937 in Birkenhead, Chesire England.  She had such a unique appearance that she made sure to use that to her advantage.  Initially she had goals of becoming a painter, but when she developed an interest in acting she decided to pursue that as her career choice.
 
In 1957, she joined a repertory company and her acting debut was in a comedy called, "Bachelor of Hearts" (1958).  When she followed this role in 1960 working on the film, "Black Sunday" she began to gain the attention of film critics everywhere.
 
Since the film gained such success in America, AIP decided to bring Barbara to America to work on films.  Barbara began with being cast on, "Pit and the Pendelum" (1961), even though the film was done in English, they did not use Barbara's own voice.
 
Barbara was earning the reputation of being type cast as a actress that only starred in horror films.  A number of other films roles followed such as, "8 1/2" (1963), "The Horrible Dr. Hichcock" (1962), "The Ghost" (1963), "Castle of Blood" (1964), "An Angel for Satan" (1966) and "Curse of the Crimson Altar" (1968).
 
She was doing very well with her career, but she was getting tired of being known as the best female horror movie actress.  She wanted to try something different which actually hurt her career and lead to no film roles for five years. 
 
When she returned to films in 1974 working on, "Caged Heat" she earned positive reviews.  This role was followed by another big screen appearance on, "I Never promised You a Rose Garden" (1977), sadly her scenes were all cut from the final finished product.
 
She did a couple more film roles but for the most part they were un memorable and she then took another ten years off acting.  When she returned to the industry she decided to pursue another avenue and worked as a producer on a number of films that proved she was very talented in other arena's.  Barbara worked on, "The Winds of War" (1983) and "War and Remembrance" (1988) for which she earned an Emmy. 
 
Today she will still make occasional appearances her last film roles were in, "The Prophet" (1999), "Her Morbid Desires" (2008) and "The Butterfly Room" (2010).  Barbara has only married once to director, James Poe from 1969 and they had one child together, Jonathan Jackson Poe, before divorcing in 1978.  She has not remarried again and continues to have a huge fan base who appreciate her unique appearance and talent she portrays on the big screen. 

Filmography 

2010 The Butterfly Room
2008 Her Morbid Desires
1999 The Prophet 
1994 Tief oben 
1991 Dark Shadows
1990 Dark Shadows
1988 War and Remembrance
1983 The Winds of War
1980 The Silent Scream 
1978 The Key Is in the Door
1978 Piranha 
1978 Pretty Baby 
1977 I Never Promised You a Rose Garden 
1975 They Came from Within 
1975 The Space-Watch Murders
1974 Caged Heat
1972 Rod Serling's Night Gallery
1970 Fermate il mondo... voglio scendere 
1969 Honeymoon with a Stranger
1968 Curse of the Crimson Altar 
1968 Handicap
1968 La amante estelar
1966 I Spy
1966 An Angel for Satan 
1966 She Beast 
1966 For Love and Gold 
1966 Young Torless 
1965 Secret Agent
1965 I soldi 
1965 Once Upon a Tractor 
1965 Nightmare Castle 
1965 Terror-Creatures from the Grave 
1964 The Long Hair of Death 
1964 Amore facile 
1964 The Monocle 
1964 Tre per una rapina
1964 Castle of Blood 
1964 Undercover Rogue 
1964 Les baisers 
1964 I maniaci 
1963 A Sentimental Attempt
1963 The Ghost 
1963 The Hours of Love 
1963 8½ 
1962 Il capitano di ferro 
1962 The Horrible Dr. Hichcock 
1961 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 
1961 Pit and the Pendulum 
1960 Adventures in Paradise 
1960 Black Sunday 
1960 Your Money or Your Wife 
1959 Upstairs and Downstairs 
1959 Sapphire 
1959 The 39 Steps 
1958 Bachelor of Hearts 
1958 Houseboat