Barbara Eden

She born was Barbara Jean Morehead in Tucson, Arizona, became one of America's most endearing and enduring actresses. A graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco, California, Eden would go on to study at San Francisco's City College as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Elizabeth Holloway School of Theatre. While her aspirations as a singer motivated her during her early years for a career in music, it was her starring role in the NBC TV comedy series, I Dream of Jeannie (1965) where Barbara Eden immediately gained international acclaim. Eden's first public performance was singing in the church choir, where she sang the solos. As a teenager, she sang in local bands for $10 (roughly equivalent to $130 in 2017) a night in night clubs. At age 16, she became a member of Actor's Equity, and studied singing at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and acting with the Elizabeth Holloway School of Theatre. Eden began her television career as a semiregular on the daytime version pf The Johnny Carson Show in 1955. Eden made her first featured appearance on I Love Lucy: Country Club Dance (1957), as the series was nearing cancellation (there were just two more episodes). Eden immediately landed a starring role in the television version of How to Marry a Millionaire (1957), where she portrayed the same character role originated by Marilyn Monroe. Another memorable appearance came on The Andy Griffith Show (1962) "The Manicurist", featuring her in the character role, special guest-star, as well as her occupation being titled. She also made featured appearances on shows such as The West Point Story, Highway Patrol, Private Secretary, The Millionaire, Target: The Corruptors!, Crossroads, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, December Bride, Bachelor Father, Father Knows Best, Adventures in Paradise, Cain's Hundred, Saints and Sinners, The Virginian, Slattery's People, The Rogues, and the series finale of Route 66.

She guest starred in four episodes of Burke's Law, playing different roles each time. She was an uncredited extra in the movie The Tarnished Angels with Rock Hudson, in partnership with 20th Century Fox studios. Discovery, in the Hollywood sense, came when she starred in a play with James Drury. Film director Mark Robson, who later directed her in the movie From the Terrace, had come to the play and wanted her for 20th Century Fox studios. Her screen test was the Joanne Woodward role in No Down Payment (1957). Though she did not get the role, the studio gave her a contract. She did a screen test for the role of Betty Anderson in the 1957 film version of Peyton Place, but Terry Moore got the role. She had minor roles in Bailout at 43,000; Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?; and The Wayward Girl, then became a leading lady in films, starring opposite Gary Crosby, Barry Coe, and Sal Mineo in A Private's Affair. She had a co-starring role in Flaming Star (1960), with Elvis Presley. The following year, she played in a supporting role as Lt. Cathy Connors in Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. She starred in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, a Cinerama film directed by George Pal for MGM, and another Irwin Allen production for 20th Century Fox, Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962). She was the female lead in the 1962 Fox comedy Swingin' Along, starring Tommy Noonan and Peter Marshall, in their final joint screen appearance. She did a screen test with Andy Williams for the 20th Century Fox movie State Fair, but did not get the role. Her last film for 20th Century Fox was The Yellow Canary (1963). She left Fox and began guest starring in television shows and acting in films for MGM, Universal, and Columbia. She played supporting roles over the next few years, including The Brass Bottle and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.

In 1964, Bewitched was the number-two show on television and following on its heels, in 1965, producer Sidney Sheldon signed Eden to star in his upcoming fantasy sitcom I Dream of Jeannie that would air on NBC. After various brunette starlets and beauty queens unsuccessfully tried out for the role, Eden was approached by Sheldon, who had seen her in The Brass Bottle and had received numerous recommendations for Eden from various colleagues. Eden played Jeannie, a beautiful genie set free from her bottle by astronaut and United States Air Force Captain (later Major) Anthony "Tony" Nelson, played by Larry Hagman. Eden played this role for five years and 139 episodes. Additionally in eight episodes, Eden donned a brunette wig to portray Jeannie's evil sister (also named Jeannie) who lusts after Tony Nelson, and in two episodes played Jeannie's hapless mother. After Jeannie, Eden did an unaired pilot, The Barbara Eden Show as well as another pilot, The Toy Game. Her first TV movie was called The Feminist and the Fuzz. Although she is best known for comedy, most of these films were dramas or horror tinged, as when she starred opposite her Jeannie co-star Larry Hagman in A Howling in the Woods (1971). In The Stranger Within (1974), Eden played housewife Ann Collins, a woman impregnated by extraterrestrials. She starred with Barbara Feldon in the lighthearted comedy Let's Switch! (1975), Later, Eden played Liz Stonestreet, a former policewoman now private detective investigating the disappearance of a missing heiress, in a critically acclaimed TV movie Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model? (1977). She starred in and co-produced, with her own production company (MI-Bar Productions), the NBC TV movie romantic comedy The Secret Life of Kathy McCormick (1988).


In 1978, she starred in the feature film Harper Valley PTA, based on the popular country song. This led to a namesake television series in 1981. In both the movie and the TV series, Eden played the show's heroine, Stella Johnson. The show won 11 of its 13 time slots during its first season. It was a comedy version of Peyton Place, In one episode, Stella dressed in a blue and gold genie costume and in another she played both Stella and her cousin Della Smith (similar to Jeannie's evil twin-sister character). The series was renamed simply Harper Valley when the show began its second season on October 29, 1981. Her other film roles included Quick, Let's Get Married (1964) with Ginger Rogers, The New Interns (1964) with George Segal, The Amazing Dobermans (1976) with Fred Astaire, Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984) with Joe Namath, the horror sequel The Stepford Children (1987), A Very Brady Sequel (1996) with Shelly Long and Carolina (2003) with Shirley MacLaine. She was also cast in Creepshow 2 (1987) but had to be replaced by Lois Chiles, due to a family emergency. Some of her other TV films include Your Mother Wears Combat Boots (1989), Her Wicked Ways (1991) with Heather Locklear, Visions of Murder (1993) with James Brolin and Dead Man's Island (1996) with William Shatner and Roddy McDowall. From April 3 through September 16, 1984, Eden starred in the Lee Guber and Shelly Gross national production of the John Kander and Fred Ebb Tony Award-winning musical comedy Woman of the Year, playing the role of Tess Harding Craig, alongside Don Chastain (as Sam Craig), and Marilyn Cooper.


In 1990, Eden had a recurring role as a billionairess seeking revenge against J.R. Ewing in five episodes of the final season of Dallas, playing the captivating character LeeAnn de la Vega, reuniting her with Hagman. In her final episode, the character admits that her maiden name was "LeeAnn Nelson", which was a production gag, as "Nelson" was the surname of Hagman's character and Eden's character's married name in I Dream of Jeannie. In 1991, she starred in the stage play Same Time, Next Year with Wayne Rogers, and reprised her role of "Jeannie" in a television movie of the week. In 1993, she starred in an 11-city national tour of the play Last of the Red Hot Lovers with Don Knotts. Eden starred in such musical comedies as Nite Club Confidential (playing the role of Kay Goodman, in 1996), The Sound of Music, Annie Get Your Gun, South Pacific with Robert Goulet, The Pajama Game with John Raitt, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes playing Lorelei Lee. She has been a musical guest star in many variety television shows, including 21 Bob Hope specials, The Carol Burnett Show, The Jonathan Winters Show, The Jerry Lewis Show, This Is Tom Jones, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and Donny and Marie. She released an album entitled Miss Barbara Eden in 1967 for the record label Dot Records (it is now a collector's item). On the road, she hosted productions of Ballets with a Twist the show that stars rotating celebrity emcees and dancers from Dancing with the Stars (2010). Barbara Eden has appeared in a recurring role on Lifetime's Army Wives (2007) series, guest-starred on ABC's George Lopez (2002), and had a recurring role on Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996) In March 2006, Eden reunited with her former co-star Larry Hagman for a publicity tour in New York City to promote the first-season DVD of I Dream of Jeannie. later that year, Hagman and Eden again reunited, this time onstage, in New York, for Love Letters at the College of Staten Island, and at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. In May 2013, Eden appeared with former US President Bill Clinton, Elton John, and Fergie at the opening ceremony of the 21st Life Ball in Vienna, where Eden wore her famous Jeannie harem costume. In late 2013, Eden was cast in the movie One Song, which was filmed in Excelsior, Minnesota. Eden wrote her memoir Jeannie Out of the Bottle, which chronicles her personal life and Hollywood career of more than 50 years, and includes intimate details about her early childhood, her rise to popularity in her teens and early 20s, her co-stars over the years, and her work leading up to I Dream of Jeannie. It also covers her marriages to Michael Ansara (1958–1974), Charles Fegert (1977–1982), and Jon Eicholtz (1991–present), and her emotional breakdown following the 2001 death of her son Matthew Ansara from a drug overdose. People Magazine named Barbara "One of America's 200 Greatest Pop Icons of the 20th Century." She has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was named one of TV Guide's Most Popular Comedy Stars and has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Broadcasters Hall of Fame, The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and the TV Land Television Network.