Barbara Payton was an American actress whose career spanned the late forties into the mid-fifties.
She was born and raised by Norwegian immigrant parents in Minnesota. The family moved to Texas in 1938. Her father was hard-working, but quick-tempered. Her mother was more loving, but both her parents struggled with alcohol dependency. She moved to Los Angeles in 1945, aged eighteen, when she married her second husband, William Hodge. The marriage quickly dissolved and was annulled. Even still, Barbara's good looks garnered her attention and she began a semi-successful career as a model.
Payton made her feature film debut in 1949, having a small, uncredited role ONCE MORE, MY DARLING. That same year, she received good notices for playing the female lead in TRAPPED, co-starring Lloyd Bridges. In 1950, she screen-tested for the small role in John Huston's crime drama THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, but lost the part of Louis Calhern's young mistress to newcomer Marilyn Monroe. Her developing friendship with film star James Cagney and his producer brother, William, secured her a top role in KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE, a 1950 film noir. The film was a popular success and Payton was signed to an exclusive contract at Warner Brothers, starting at $5,000 a week, which was a large sum for a relative newcomer who had yet to prove her star-power.
KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE was the highlight of Barbara's career. She followed this career-defining role with supporting roles in DALLAS (1950), co-starring Gary Cooper, and ONLY THE VALIANT (1951), co-starring Gregory Peck, two lackluster Westerns that failed to progress her acting career. Payton's career began a downward spiral after she starred in BRIDE OF THE GORILLA in 1951, a B-movie horror film that failed to attract an audience, but has since achieved a cult status.
Her career never recovered. Her third husband was classically trained actor Franchot Tone (who had been married to Joan Crawford in the thirties), but she later boasted of affairs with Howard Hughes, Bob Hope, Woody Strode, Guy Madison, George Raft, John Ireland, Steve Cochran, and Texas oilman Bob Neal. During her marriage to Franchot Tone, she also publicly dated B-movie actor Tom Neal. Payton publicly went back and forth between her husband and lover in the press. The Payton-Tone marriage ended after Neal had physically assaulted Tone in his home.
Barbara's relationship with Tom Neal essentially ended her Hollywood career. They capitalized on their tabloid publicity by touring in roadshow-style productions of THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, based on the 1946 film adaption, and by starring together in THE GREAT JESSE JAMES RAID, a 1953 low-budget Western that flopped. Payton herself found some work in England, where she appeared in to Hammer Studios productions, namely FOUR SIDED TRIANGLE and BAD BLONDE (both 1953), but neither film was successful.
Payton's hard drinking and erotic personal life destroyed her emotionally and physically. It effectively ended her career as an actress. She drifted into obscurity, and spent years in poverty. In 1963, she was paid $1,000 to write her autobiography called I AM NOT ASHAMED. It was ghostwritten by Leo Guild, and was reissued in 2016. The book featured unflattering photos of Barbara, and admissions that she had been forced to sleep in bus stations and suffered regular beatings as a prostitute.
In 1967, Payton fell ill and sought refuge from her turbulent circumstances when she moved to San Diego to live with her parents. On May 8, 1967, Barbara Payton died at age thirty-nine after suffering heart and liver failure. Her remains were cremated.
