Barbara Payton (1927-1967). 2017 by Stephen B. Whatley
2017 was the 90th anniversary of the birth of 1950s American film actress Barbara Payton (1927-1967)- and was also the 50th anniversary of her passing; surely one of the most tragic and desperate ends of anyone in Hollywood history.
This portrait tribute was created on the penultimate day of 2017 by expressionist artist Stephen B. Whatley.
The artist was inspired by both her blonde beauty and films; and poignantly by learning that despite the terrible decline into alcoholism and drug addiction that her personal life took in the mid-1950s, she tried to cling to remnants of her Catholic faith through a tiny statue of Saint Jude that she carried with her.
Barbara Payton was on screen in films from 1949 until 1955 , when she starred movingly in the crime thriller, Murder is My Beat; which was a catalyst for this charcoal drawing. The story of her subsequent decline - a life that spiralled out of control - is not for the faint -hearted.
Barbara Payton (1927-1967) 2017
Charcoal on paper, 16.5 x 11.5in/42 x 30cm
Barbara Payton (1927-1967). 2017 by Stephen B. Whatley
2017 was the 90th anniversary of the birth of 1950s American film actress Barbara Payton (1927-1967)- and was also the 50th anniversary of her passing; surely one of the most tragic and desperate ends of anyone in Hollywood history.
This portrait tribute was created on the penultimate day of 2017 by expressionist artist Stephen B. Whatley.
The artist was inspired by both her blonde beauty and films; and poignantly by learning that despite the terrible decline into alcoholism and drug addiction that her personal life took in the mid-1950s, she tried to cling to remnants of her Catholic faith through a tiny statue of Saint Jude that she carried with her.
Barbara Payton was on screen in films from 1949 until 1955 , when she starred movingly in the crime thriller, Murder is My Beat; which was a catalyst for this charcoal drawing. The story of her subsequent decline - a life that spiralled out of control - is not for the faint -hearted.
Barbara Payton (1927-1967) 2017
Charcoal on paper, 16.5 x 11.5in/42 x 30cm