Barbara Stanwyck as Victoria Barkley	Richard Long as Jarrod Barkley	Peter Breck as Nick Barkley
Lee Majors as Heath Barkley		Linda Evans as Audra Barkley

The Big Valley

The Big Valley was the first and only Western TV series built around a strong female character. It was a unique TV show among Westerns of its day: a family headed by a strong matriarch with no father figure or husband present. Victoria Barkley, played by Barbara Stanwyck, is a widow in her late 50s or early 60s (it never is revealed exactly how old she is) with four sons and a daughter. The third son, Heath, was fathered by Tom Barkley, her husband, out of wedlock with another woman, but Victoria has accepted Heath as if he were her own son. The Barkley ranch, all 30,000 acres, includes mines, vineyards, orchards, cattle and property in Mexico, all of which make for versatile story lines. The ranch is located near Stockton, in California's Central Valley, in the middle of an agricultural and ranch area. Close by are Sacramento, the state capital, and San Francisco to lend occasional culture and big city excitement. The single most outstanding characteristic of the series was the presence of Barbara Stanwyck, whose iron will and force of personality shone through in each scene in which she appeared. As Victoria Barkley, she was more than able to hold her own against any man in a jam, and was "a tough broad with guts." It would be unthinkable for Victoria Barkley to be a helpless female who needs rescuing--even when she is rescued by others, she contributes to the effort, if only by sheer force of will. During the four years The Big Valley was on the air, 112 episodes aired and Barbara Stanwyck appeared in all but seven.