**Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990)** was one of the most versatile and esteemed American actresses, with a career spanning over six decades. Celebrated for her ability to portray strong, independent, and complex women, often with a touch of cynicism but always endowed with profound vulnerability and resilience.

Her acting style was characterized by a disarming naturalness and an incisive screen presence. Stanwyck excelled in a wide range of genres: she is perhaps most iconic in the role of a femme fatale in Billy Wilder's film noir *Double Indemnity* (1944). She demonstrated her brilliance in comedy in Preston Sturges's *The Lady Eve* (1941) and in *Ball of Fire* (1941), and in drama with *Stella Dallas* (1937) and the thriller *Sorry, Wrong Number* (1948).

Her undeniable expressive power and the authenticity of her characters made her a Hollywood icon, receiving an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 1982.