Barbara Eden
Barbara Eden was actually born Barbara Jean Morehead on August 23, 1934. She
later took her stepfather's last name of Huffman when her mother remarried.
Her first agent later had it changed to Eden as he did not think it would sell
in Hollywood.
Barbara was actually kind of shy as a child becasue she had to wear glasses and and eye patch. To help her over come her shyness, her mother put her in singing lessons. She graduated Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco in 1949. Then she was later elected Miss San Francisco in 1951.
One of her first television roles was the guest starring role of Diana Jordan on a sixth season episode of I Love Lucy. In this she played the cousin of a friend (Grace Munson) of the Ricardos, the Mertzes, and the Ramseys. All of them were meeting for dinner party in which Fred, Ricky, and Ralph were, in a nut shell, kicking and screaming about having to go. That is until Diana walked into the room and all three of them went gaga over her, very much to the dismay of Lucy, Ethel, and Betty. Anywho, it was through this that Lucille Ball bceame Barbara's mentor and offered her a contract with Desilu, but the same time, 20th Century Fox offered one as well and she signed with them. Many more roles were to follow her after that is television shows such as The Andy Griffith Show, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, and many others. She also had roles in movie such as Flaming Star (starring along side Elvis Presley), Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Brass Bottle, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. It was after that that she was signed on to play her most widely acclaimed famous role of her career, the character of Jeannie on I Dream of Jeannie, in which she was a genie tarpped in a bottle for over 2000 years, until she was one day rescued when Captain Anthony Nelson's (portrayed by Larry Hagman), ship misfired and had to be brought down on the beach where bottle lay. No one but Barbara could have played the role of Jeannie. The show would have been a failure for sure without her. Right after filming began for the show's pilot episode, Barbara discovered she was pregnant. Of course she was thrilled because she had been wanting to have a baby for a long time. Rather than cancelling the show or replacing her, she wore a large veil covering over her middle episodes 2-13 to cover her preganant belly. It is said she went right back to work after having having her son, whom she and husband Michael Ansara named Matthew Michael Ansara (born on August 29, 1965) that she went right back to work.
Some years later, she reprised her role of Jeannie in two tv movies, I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later (1985) and I Still Dream of Jeannie. Unfortunately, Larry Hagman was not to appear in these movies.
After I Dream of Jeannie, she continued to appear on television. One such project was Harper Valley PTA that was based on the ever so popular country song. Afer her appearance in the film, it became a television series in 1981 in which she played the character of Stella Johnson. Then in 1990, she reunited with Larry Hagman in a recurring role in five episodes of Dallas, playing the role of Lee Ann de la Vega. She was on old girlfriend of J.R.'s and she had gotten pregnant. Since she and J.R. had already broken up, she had an abortion, but it went wrong and she blamed J.R for it. So she went to Dallas to seek revenge on him.
Through out her acting career, she continued to make appearances in television shows and television movies. She also did work on stage in the female version of The Odd Couple along side her friend, Rita McKenzie, and also in a play called "Love Letters". In a couple of the Loev Letters show, she got was able to play opposite her logn time friend and castmate, Larry Hagman. She also did some singing. She appeared as a musical guest in over 50 variety tv shows, some of which included 21 Bob Hope Specials. She also released an album in 1967 entitled Miss Barbara Eden.
Barbara also wrote an autobiography entitled Barbara Eden: My Story and it was published in October 1989. Although it was given the proper avenues to be circulated, she did not allow it to circulate because there were some disputes over the content of the book between her and the publisher.
Barbara also received an honorary Doctor of Law degree in the spring of 1990 from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law.
Barbara currently resides in Beverly Hills with husband, Jon Eicholtz. Before Jon, she was married to Michael Ansara from January 1958 to May 1974 and to Charles Fegert from September 1977 to sometime in 1983. She had one child, Matthew Michael Ansara born August 29, 1965, with first husband Michael. Tragically, her son died from an accidental drug over dose on June 25, 2001. She married her current husband, Jon, on January 5, 1991 in San Francisco at Grace Cathedral.
All in all, I'm gonna say Barbara Eden is truly legendary. She's been through deep personal tragedy and she is still going. She has brought smiles to the faces of millions upon millions of people. It is said by people who have met her in person that she is such a sweetheart. Even though I have not had that honor and privilege yet, I don't doubt a word of it.
Barbara was actually kind of shy as a child becasue she had to wear glasses and and eye patch. To help her over come her shyness, her mother put her in singing lessons. She graduated Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco in 1949. Then she was later elected Miss San Francisco in 1951.
One of her first television roles was the guest starring role of Diana Jordan on a sixth season episode of I Love Lucy. In this she played the cousin of a friend (Grace Munson) of the Ricardos, the Mertzes, and the Ramseys. All of them were meeting for dinner party in which Fred, Ricky, and Ralph were, in a nut shell, kicking and screaming about having to go. That is until Diana walked into the room and all three of them went gaga over her, very much to the dismay of Lucy, Ethel, and Betty. Anywho, it was through this that Lucille Ball bceame Barbara's mentor and offered her a contract with Desilu, but the same time, 20th Century Fox offered one as well and she signed with them. Many more roles were to follow her after that is television shows such as The Andy Griffith Show, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, and many others. She also had roles in movie such as Flaming Star (starring along side Elvis Presley), Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Brass Bottle, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. It was after that that she was signed on to play her most widely acclaimed famous role of her career, the character of Jeannie on I Dream of Jeannie, in which she was a genie tarpped in a bottle for over 2000 years, until she was one day rescued when Captain Anthony Nelson's (portrayed by Larry Hagman), ship misfired and had to be brought down on the beach where bottle lay. No one but Barbara could have played the role of Jeannie. The show would have been a failure for sure without her. Right after filming began for the show's pilot episode, Barbara discovered she was pregnant. Of course she was thrilled because she had been wanting to have a baby for a long time. Rather than cancelling the show or replacing her, she wore a large veil covering over her middle episodes 2-13 to cover her preganant belly. It is said she went right back to work after having having her son, whom she and husband Michael Ansara named Matthew Michael Ansara (born on August 29, 1965) that she went right back to work.
Some years later, she reprised her role of Jeannie in two tv movies, I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later (1985) and I Still Dream of Jeannie. Unfortunately, Larry Hagman was not to appear in these movies.
After I Dream of Jeannie, she continued to appear on television. One such project was Harper Valley PTA that was based on the ever so popular country song. Afer her appearance in the film, it became a television series in 1981 in which she played the character of Stella Johnson. Then in 1990, she reunited with Larry Hagman in a recurring role in five episodes of Dallas, playing the role of Lee Ann de la Vega. She was on old girlfriend of J.R.'s and she had gotten pregnant. Since she and J.R. had already broken up, she had an abortion, but it went wrong and she blamed J.R for it. So she went to Dallas to seek revenge on him.
Through out her acting career, she continued to make appearances in television shows and television movies. She also did work on stage in the female version of The Odd Couple along side her friend, Rita McKenzie, and also in a play called "Love Letters". In a couple of the Loev Letters show, she got was able to play opposite her logn time friend and castmate, Larry Hagman. She also did some singing. She appeared as a musical guest in over 50 variety tv shows, some of which included 21 Bob Hope Specials. She also released an album in 1967 entitled Miss Barbara Eden.
Barbara also wrote an autobiography entitled Barbara Eden: My Story and it was published in October 1989. Although it was given the proper avenues to be circulated, she did not allow it to circulate because there were some disputes over the content of the book between her and the publisher.
Barbara also received an honorary Doctor of Law degree in the spring of 1990 from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law.
Barbara currently resides in Beverly Hills with husband, Jon Eicholtz. Before Jon, she was married to Michael Ansara from January 1958 to May 1974 and to Charles Fegert from September 1977 to sometime in 1983. She had one child, Matthew Michael Ansara born August 29, 1965, with first husband Michael. Tragically, her son died from an accidental drug over dose on June 25, 2001. She married her current husband, Jon, on January 5, 1991 in San Francisco at Grace Cathedral.
All in all, I'm gonna say Barbara Eden is truly legendary. She's been through deep personal tragedy and she is still going. She has brought smiles to the faces of millions upon millions of people. It is said by people who have met her in person that she is such a sweetheart. Even though I have not had that honor and privilege yet, I don't doubt a word of it.