#MacabroCoven: Who was Barbara Steele?

By Casandra Vicario

Known as “The queen of all scream queens” (the queen of all scream queens), Barbara Steele was born on December 29, 1937, in England.

Considered as “the great diva” of European horror cinema, she rose to fame after filming with Mario Bava “La Máscara del Demonio” in 1961. This film is also known as “Black Sunday”.

In her early years, Barbara studied painting, but in 1957 she joined a theater company and from there jumped into the world of film. After her striking appearance in “La Máscara del Demonio”, she worked with Roger Corman on one of his famous adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's stories, in this case “El Pozo y el Péndulo” (The Pit and The Pendulum) in 1961.

As a curious fact, her voice was dubbed for both “La Máscara del Demonio” and “El Pozo y el Péndulo,” for no logical reason.

She married screenwriter James Poe, and they stayed together for several years until their divorce in 1978.

Besides working with Corman, Bava, and even a young David Cronenberg, Barbara Steele also worked with Federico Fellini on the famous film “8 ½” and after a few more films, she decided to retire from acting for a decade to devote herself, very successfully, to production.

At 83, Barbara Steele is still remembered by horror fans, many of whom still gather with her to celebrate her birthday. Other figures and artists have immortalized her in other ways; for example, poet R H W Dillard titled his first collection of novels “The Day I Stopped Dreaming About Barbara Steele” in 1966.

Also, the punk band “Boom Boom Chuck and the Psychedelic Berrys” recorded a song and an album which they titled “The Eyes of Barbara Steele”.

Here are some of her most important films in the horror genre:

“La Máscara del Demonio” in 1960.