Carroll Baker was born on 28 May 1931, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania USA, into a Roman Catholic family of Polish ancestry. She is a former actress who appeared in movies, on television and on stage, and known for numerous movie roles during appearances in the ‘50s and ‘60s in such as the movie ‘’Baby Doll’’ and ‘’Giant’’.
So just how rich is Carroll Baker, as of mid-2017? Authoritative sources report that Baker’s wealth is as high as $4 million, with her net worth accumulated from her acting career in the Hollywood, but includes income from her Broadway days, and writing as well.
Carroll Baker Net Worth $4 million
Carroll attended Greensburg Salem High School and is said to have been a prominent and successful student, appearing in school musicals and being a part of other school clubs and activities. Having moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, Baker enrolled into St. Petersburg College, and her career in the entertainment field began at that time. She went on to become a magician’s assistant, and joined a dance company later on. Wishing to pursue her career furthermore, Carroll moved to Queens, New York City, although during that time she was struggling financially, even to keep her apartment. Baker decided to develop her acting skills furthermore, and enrolled into the Actors Studio where she established a friendship with actor James Dean, whom she would work with later on. Her first jobs were appearances in several commercials, going on to play a couple of small television and movie roles, which established her net worth.
Having made her big screen debut in ‘’Easy to Love’’ in 1953, Carroll caught the eye of the media and due to the positive critiques she received, eventually appeared in two Broadway plays in 1953 – “Escapade” and “All Summer Long”. After turning down several movie roles, Baker made her big breakthrough in ‘’Giant’’, a 1965 Western drama movie, portraying Luz Benedict II alongside James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. In the same year, Baker got the role in ‘’Baby Doll’’, a dark comedy drama adapted from two Tennessee Williams’ one-act play; the role of a teenage bride married to the middle-aged owner of a cotton gin gained her a lot of recognition and critical praise in the acting industry, being her most notable part. However, the movie caused a lot of drama and received a backlash from Roman Catholic Church criticizing it for apparent lack of morals. Nonetheless, ‘’Baby Doll’’ achieved success in the box office, making $2.3 million in total, very significant at that time, and boosted her net worth.
In the following years, Carroll declined several movie roles which affected her partnership with Warner Bros. Being put under suspension, she wasn’t able to perform in several movies. When her suspension was over, she was cast in ‘’The Big Country’’ as Patricia Terrill, which received a mostly positive reaction, but wasn’t considered to be Baker’s finest work. One of her notable roles was her portrayal of Ellie Brown in a 1959 comedy film ‘’But Not for Me’’, with her acting skills critically praised and acknowledged by both critics and the audience. During mid-60s, Baker played a variety of notorious and problematic characters.
In the mid-‘70s, Carroll moved to Italy looking for new acting experiences, and went on to appear in several horror and thriller films, which gave her the opportunity to prove her skills in a different genre.
She subsequently wrote an autobiography entitled ‘’Babydoll: An Autobiography’’ in 1983.
Having returned to American movies and theatre, Baker played a wide range of characters – from naïve to bold and flamboyant ones, including Eleanor Crisp in ‘’Kindergarten Cop’’ in 1990, which was a huge success. In the following years, Baker played supporting roles in plenty movies, before eventually retiring in 2003.
In her personal life, Baker has been married three times, firstly in 1953 to Louie Ritter but which lasted less than a year. From her second marriage to Jack Garfein (1955-69), she has two children. She was thirdly married to British actor Donald Burton from 1978 until his death in 2007.
