BARBARA STANWYCK Her Last True Love

THE LEGENDARY ACTRESS CARRIED A TORCH FOR HER EX, ROBERT TAYLOR, TO THE END OF HER LIFE

- LOUISE A. BARILE

In 1981, Barbara Stanwyck caressed a gold cigarette case as she spoke with a reporter. The art deco-style box, decorated with a sunburst of her face and her birthstone, a brilliant ruby, had been a gift from her second husband, Robert Taylor. "Losing somebody you love by death or divorce is hard," the then 73-year-old legend admitted.

Though she became Hollywood's highest-paid actress in classic films such as Stella Dallas, The Lady Eve and Double Indemnity, Barbara, nicknamed "The Queen" for her imperious manner, endured much heartache often at the hands of the men she loved. Abandoned by her father as a child, she withstood an abusive first marriage before finding a better life with Robert. The end of their union after 12 years broke her heart, but proved that the star of TV's The Big Valley would always be a survivor. "If they decide they want to be free, there's nothing to battle for. You have to let go," she reasoned.

But there were good times first. In 1947, Barbara reminisced with Robert about their first meeting. "The night I first met you, at a dinner party at the old Trocadero in Hollywood, my first thought about you was, 'He's a lot of fun," she recalled.

Barbara deserved some fun. She had fallen for her first husband, vaudeville star Frank Fay, around the time she broke out in Broadway's 1927 hit Burlesque. But after they wed, Barbara's blossoming movie career began to eclipse his fading one, turning the alcoholic actor mean and physically abusive. They divorced in 1935.