Barbara Baxley makes supporting characters feel as though they have lives beyond the scene. We value her naturalism in Nashville, where she helped write Lady Pearl's dialogue and gave her something personal to say.
Fi1m perspective
Lady Pearl talks in Nashville (1975), and Barbara Baxley makes it worth stopping to listen. We were moved by her monologue, because its recollections sound personal rather than supplied to explain a character. Baxley helped write elements of the speech, drawing on her own background and conversations with Tennessee Williams. We value that naturalism: she makes a supporting part feel fully considered, without insisting that everyone else clear a space for her. This is an actor worth looking for in a crowded film.
Her screen career did not simply advance from small parts to leading ones. An uncredited nurse in Elia Kazan's East of Eden (1955) was her film debut; The Savage Eye (1960) then gave her the lead role of Judith McGuire, with extensive voice-over. The lead was an exception in a film career largely spent in supporting roles. Supporting roles became more prominent in the 1970s, notably with Nashville and Norma Rae (1979).
Her account of Robert Altman's direction helps explain why they worked well together: “Bob wanted bigness. He could turn down burners that were overheated, but he hated to try to bring heat to a cold actor or a cold scene.” Nashville needs that readiness to contribute, with its crowded conversations and people desperate to be noticed. We recommend it warmly, though a few stretches dawdle, and Baxley's contribution to Lady Pearl is one reason to give it close attention.
The frustration is how often films kept her in supporting parts despite her prominence on stage. Martin Ritt's Norma Rae provides another substantial role as Leona, the mother of Sally Field's character. It belongs to the supporting and matriarchal work that occupied much of her screen career, though we should not mistake the size of a part for the demands it makes. Start with Nashville, and do not spend the whole film following the loudest voice.
Biography
Barbara Baxley was an American actress of stage, film and television. Born in Porterville, California, she studied at the University of the Pacific and trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York under Sanford Meisner. She was a life member of the Actors Studio and made her Broadway debut in 1948 in a revival of Noël Coward's Private Lives.
Baxley received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the 1960 Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's Period of Adjustment. She appeared in films including East of Eden (1955), Nashville (1975) as Lady Pearl, and Norma Rae (1979) as Leona. Her television credits included episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone and Murder, She Wrote.
She was married to Donald Douglas Taylor from 1961 to 1979. Baxley died in New York in 1990.
