Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937)[1] is an English actress and producer, known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s.

[3] She played the dual role of Asa and Katia Vajda in Mario Bava's landmark film Black Sunday (1960), and starred in The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962), The Long Hair of Death (1964), and Castle of Blood (1964).

Additionally, Steele had supporting roles in Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963), David Cronenberg's Shivers (1975), Joe Dante's Piranha and Louis Malle's Pretty Baby (both 1978), and appeared on television in the 1991 TV series Dark Shadows.

Author Adam Victor writes in The Elvis Encyclopaedia that she was fired because studio executives thought her British accent was too pronounced.

Soon after her arrival, she was cast in her breakout part, the dual roles of Asa and Katia Vajda in Mario Bava's Black Sunday.

She also starred in American director Roger Corman's adaptation of The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story of the same title, and the British film Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968).

In 2010, actor-writer Mark Gatiss interviewed Steele about her role in Black Sunday for his BBC documentary series A History of Horror.

In 2014, she appeared in Ryan Gosling's directorial debut, the drama-fantasy thriller film Lost River,[12] in which she portrayed the character Belladonna in a supporting role.