10 Facts About Barbara Eden

She’s still rolling along at 94.

Creative Commons: Manfred Werner (Tsui)

Dawn Wells is partially responsible for this piece. Generally speaking, I had not had much success with writing about female celebrities. However, a recent piece I did about Dawn generated some readership, so I thought I’d delve into the life of another female star of 60s TV, Barbara Eden.

Obviously, Barbara is best known for her work as Jeannie in I Dream of Jeannie but there is so much more to her career than that. In addition, I didn’t know a lot about Barbara beyond her TV career, so, after some additional reading, here are some things you might not have known about Barbara Eden.

1: Barbara is descendant of Benjamin Franklin.

Fortunately, I don’t see the family resemblance.

2: She made her first money as a performer by singing with bands in night clubs in San Francisco.

She was making about $10 per night which would be about $160 in today’s money. Since she was a teenager at the time, it was better than babysitting money.

3: Barbara was a semi-regular in the short-lived “Johnny Carson Show.”

No, not the Tonight Show, this was a variety show that Johnny hosted before the Tonight Show. Notice the review of the show by Kenneth Tynan of the New Yorker, “a half-hour program that goes through seven directors, eight writers, and 39 weeks of worsening health before expiring, in the spring of 1956.” Well, it wasn’t Barbara’s fault.

4: She was named Miss San Francisco in 1951.

And she may be the reason Tony Bennett left his heart there.

5: At the suggestion of her agent, Barbara changed her last name from Huffman to Eden.

Eden does have a better ring to it.

6: In 2013 Barbara broke out her Jeannie costume at the Life Ball in Vienna. And this time she was allowed to show her belly button.

And that’s not an easy look for an eighty-year-old woman to pull off.

7: As a young girl in school, she wasn’t considered pretty and was bullied.

Yeah, those two things often go together.

8: Barbara watches her diet, but not like you would think.

She says she’s a carnivore and eats a lot of meat. That just makes her more attractive.

9: She is better with lions than Larry Hagman is.

One of the memorable guest stars on I Dream of Jeannie was a lion. Barbara got acquainted with the lion before shooting, but Larry didn’t. When the time came for the lion’s scene to be shot, the lion roared which resulted in the men on the set running, while the lion went over and out its head in Barbara’s lap. Sounds like a remake of Beauty and the Beast.

10: In addition to working with Larry Hagman on “I Dream of Jeannie,” she also worked with him in the series Dallas.

Her character, LeeAnn de la Vega, played a billionairess who was out to wreak havoc on JR. Those rich people never seem to be happy.

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