Barbara Graham
Barbara Graham,
née Barbara Elaine Wood (
June 26,
1923 in
Oakland, California -
June 3,
1955 at
San Quentin) was an
American criminal and convicted murderer who was executed in the
gas chamber along with two accomplices.
Graham, a prostitute and drug addict nicknamed "Bloody Babs" by the press, was convicted of beating a widow to death during a botched robbery in March 1953 in
Burbank, California. She was introduced to her accomplices by her fourth husband, Harry Graham, a career criminal and father of her son, Tommy (she had 2 sons by her first husband).
Susan Hayward won an
Academy Award for playing Graham in the movie
I Want to Live! (1958). The film strongly suggests Graham was innocent. However, it is largely fiction (especially how the police found and arrested her), and evidence clearly pointed to her guilt. She was also played by
Lindsay Wagner in a 1983 version of
I Want to Live!*
Barbara Graham at Internet Movie Database