Barbara Eden is a well known actress who has a vast experience in acting on stage, television and in films as well. She starred in her debut film Back From Eternity in the year 1956. Her breakthrough performance was in the popular TV sitcom named I Dream of Jeannie. The show saw her portray the role of a Genie in the bottle.

Personal Life

Barbara Eden born on August 23,1931 as Barbara Jean Morehead, in Tucson, Arizona. In her early years Barbara Eden was a cheerleader and a pop singer in high school and college respectively. Post her parent’s divorce, Eden along with her mother moved to San Francisco. Her initial performances as a singer was at the church, where she sang solos as part of the choir. Later on, she became a singer for local bands and performed at nightclubs for a fee of $10 per night.

Eden had become the member of the Actor’s Equity by the age of 16 and she also was a student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she became a trained singer and furthermore she enrolled in the Elizabeth Holloway School of Theatre and professionally took up acting. In 1949, Eden graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School. Eden was also adjudged Miss San Francisco in the year 1951. Eden has been married four times, her first husband was Michael Ansara, they were married in 1958 and divorced in 1974. Eden’s first son was born on August 29th 1965, named Matthew Ansara and he died of a drug overdose in the year 2001.

Career

Through the 1950’s and the 1960’s she was part of a string of TV shows and movies but she had failed to make a mark through the performances. Her debut film was Back From Eternity in the year 1956. Following this she was part of the TV show How to Marry a Millionaire in the year 1957 and she also was a part of shows such as I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Route 66 and Perry Mason. Her breakthrough role was that of a Genie in the hugely popular and immensely loved TV show named I Dream of Jeannie.

The role was presented to her by renowned author Sidney Sheldon. The popular sitcom featured Eden, where she co-starred along with actor Larry Hagman who portrayed the role of Major Anthony Nelson, a NASA astronaut by profession.The show was on air for 5 long years and had gained a following among the viewers and even years later the show is deemed to be a cult classic.

Almost 8 years after her breakthrough role in I Dream of Jeannie, Eden was part of the movie Harper Valley P.T.A in which she essayed the role of Stella Johnson, this was a character that was again immensely popular and boosted Eden’s fame. A TV show was also adapted from the movie and Eden continued to portray her role of a singe mother. The TV show was on air for 2 seasons in 1981 and 1982.

Eden has also published her autobiography called Barbara Eden: My Story, which was published in 1986 and the memoir that followed the autobiography was published in 2011 and it was named Jeannie Out Of the Bottle.