Barbara Baxley; Versatile Stage, Screen Actress

Barbara Baxley, a versatile actress whose work ranged from Shakespeare to musical comedy on stage to “Norma Rae” on film, and to “Hawaii Five-O” on television, has died. She was 63.

She was found dead Thursday in her Manhattan apartment, apparently of a heart attack.

Born in Stockton, she was graduated with honors in speech and history from the College of the Pacific in Stockton before going to New York to study with the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio.

She made her Broadway debut in 1948, as the bride in Noel Coward’s “Private Lives,” and 12 years later won a Tony nomination for her portrayal of another bride in Tennessee Williams’ “Period of Adjustment.”

She was a popular regular in Shakespeare festivals in New York and Connecticut, performing in several plays including “Taming of the Shrew,” “Measure for Measure” and “The Merchant of Venice.”

In Hollywood, she won critical acclaim for her role as Sally Field’s mother in “Norma Rae.” Her other films included “East of Eden,” “The Savage Eye,” “All Fall Down,” “No Way to Treat a Lady” and “The Last Resort.”

Her other Broadway credits included “I Am a Camera,” “Out West of Eighth,” “The Frogs of Spring,” “The Flowering Peach,” “The Three Sisters” and “Whodunnit.”

On television, she was a frequent guest star on several dramatic series, including “The Hitchcock Hour,” “Studio One” and “Playhouse 90.” She also appeared in episodes of lighter series such as “Murder, She Wrote” and “Hawaii Five-O.”

Among her awards were the Philadelphia Drama Critics Award for best female performance in 1960-61; the American Television Commercials Festival Award for best off-camera spokesman in 1964; the California Arts Commission Award for highest standards of quality as performer and individual in 1979, and the Actors Studio Award for achievement in 1980.

There were no immediate survivors.