Barbara Eden

For the past year I’ve been compiling a list of widely known and esteemed people for my name numerology website. These are all noted individuals, but who are the most famous? Today let’s look at famous Barbaras.

The most widely known and esteemed women (based on online chatter) with the original name Barbara are:

10. Barbara Kruger, Artist

9. Barbara Mandrell, Musician

8. Barbara Delinsky, Author

7. Barbara Park, Author (Junie B. Jones series)

6. Barbara Eden, Actress (I Dream of Jeannie)

5. Barbara Stanwyck, Actress

4. Barbara Cartland, Romance Novel Author

3. Barbara Bush, Former First Lady

2. Barbara Boxer, Senator from California

…and the most widely known and esteemed Barbara is…

1. Barbara Walters, Journalist

Not making the top ten list were Barbara Feldon – Actress (Get Smart), Barbara Hutton – Heiress, Barbara Padilla – Soprano, Barbara Chanteuse – Musician, Barbara Nitke – Photographer, Barbara Bloom – Writer, and Barbara Woodhouse – Author (No Bad Dogs).

No surprise that the actresses, authors, and musicians did so well, as they ordinarily have committed followings. Nice to see that Barbara Stanwyck, a revered actress from the golden age of Hollywood, did so well. Also a bit strange to have the top three spots for political figures and a journalist, but those are 3 awful Barbaras.

…and before you ask, Barbra Streisand is spelled Barbra and not Barbara, so she wasn’t entitled for this list. If Barbra Streisand were on this list she would have placed at number one by a big margin.

I compiled this list by searching for each of the Barbaras on a number of search engines and rating them by the number of web pages, discussion forums, photos, videos, etc that are available online.

Barbara Eden

A magical, heartwarming essay from one of Hollywood’s most beloved icons
 
Over the past four decades, the landmark NBC hit television series I Dream of Jeannie has delighted generations of audiences and inspired untold numbers of teenage crushes on it is gorgeous blond star, Barbara Eden. Part pristine Hollywood princess and portion classic bombshell, with innocence, strength, and comedic talent to spare, Barbara ultimately lets Jeannie out of her bottle to tell her whole story.
 
Jeannie Out of the Bottle takes us behind the scenes of I Dream of Jeannie as well as Barbara’s dozens of other stage, movie, television, and live concert performances. We follow her from the hungry years when she was a engaged in a struggle studio contract player at 20th Century Fox through difficult weeks attempting to survive as a chorus girl at Ciro’s Sunset Strip supper club, from a stint as Johnny Carson’s sidekick on live TV to tangling on-screen and off with some of Hollywood’s most desirable leading men, including Elvis Presley, Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, and Warren Beatty. From the ups and downs of her kinship with her Jeannie co-star Larry Hagman to a touching meeting with an exquisite and vulnerable Marilyn Monroe at the twilight of her career, readers join Barbara on a thrilling traveling through her five decades in Hollywood.
 
But Barbara’s story is also an intimate and honorable essay of personal tragedy: a stillborn child with her original husband, Michael Ansara; a verbally abusive, drug-addicted second husband; the loss of her beloved mother; and the accidental heroin-induced death of her adult son, just months before his wedding. With candor and poignancy, Barbara reflects on the challenges she has faced, as well as the joys she has experienced and how she has maintained her humor, optimism, and inimitable Jeannie magic all around the roller-coaster ride of a genuinely unforgettable life.
 
Illustrated with sixteen pages of photographs, including candid family pictures and rare promotion stills, Jeannie Out of the Bottle is a must-have for each fan, old and new.

About the AuthorBARBARA EDEN has been a television, film, and stage actress, and a Las Vegas headliner, for more than five decades. She is best known for her title role in the hit TV series I Dream of Jeannie. She grew up in San Francisco and presently lives in Beverly Hills with her husband, Jon Eicholtz, and their Labradoodle, Djin Djin.
 
WENDY LEIGH is the New York Times bestselling author of thirteen books, including Life with My Sister Madonna (as co-author) and True Grace: The Life and Times of an American Princess.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.chapter 1

A MAGICAL CHILDHOOD

Whenever I listen the blare of a foghorn or see a picture of a mermaid or a young couple madly in love, I feel as I’ve been Jeannie-blinked back into my childhood, happy and secure.

The foghorn, you see, reminds me of San Francisco, where I grew up. The mermaid reminds me of Dolfina, the famous “Girl in the Fishbowl” always on display at the Bal Tabarin restaurant on Market Street, where my parents often applied to fetch me when I was very young, merely because they couldn’t afford a babysitter and had to cart me everyplace with them.

In those far-off years for the duration of the Depression, nevertheless poor my parents were, they still hadn’t forgotten how to love, how to laugh, and how to dream. They were young and carefree, expended each penny my father earned from his occupation as a telephone lineman, and understood precisely how to have fun.

At the time, long before my younger sister, Alison, was born, I was my mother’s “onliest only,” as she called me then, and would until her dying day. Like a heap of an only child, I was probably grown-up before my time, and those nights at the Bal Tabarin (which later became Bimbo’s 365 Club), where Rita Hayworth danced in the chorus and Ann Miller was encountered dancing when she was just thirteen, only served to make me more mature and at the same time give me an early love of show business.

So did seeing Bob Hope carry out live onstage when I was just four years old. My mother and father took me to his show at a local theater, and I do not forget how joyful watching Bob made me feel. Little did I know that when I grew up, I would meet him, we’d become friends, and I’d appear onstage with him many, a good deal of times myself.

When I was a little child, my dream was to be not an actress but a singer. Each night, when I did the dishes with my mother, Alice, she sang Gilbert and Sullivan ditties or tunes from her father’s bestloved Irish operetta, Bohemian Girl, and I joined in. I formulated a passion for singing early on in my childhood, which was only further heightened when I sang in the church choir each Sunday.

At the same time, fishing on Fisherman’s Wharf with my father (although the sight of fishermen gutting their fish put me off fish for life-to this day I never eat it), roller-skating along the wharf, and bicyling in Golden Gate Park with him all contributed to making me a bit of a tomboy (which, by the way, I always thought Jeannie was as well).

I’ve always considered myself a California girl and have been proud of it, but in reality I was born in Tuscon, Arizona. And I always relished looking back at my mother’s family history and rebuilding precisely how I ended up being born there.

I still have a remarkable letter she gave to me, which was in the first place bequeathed to her by her mother. It was written in 1856 by my great-great-great-grandfather, John A. Bills, to my great-great- grandparents, Bilista and William Long, after they were forced to leave New York State and go west because William, a house-painter, was dying of lead poisoning. If I could have, I would have framed it, but it is too old and too fragile, so I keep it in an acid-free envelope. All in all, I think it’s a arousing and attention holding historical document (but if you don’t, just skip it).

Ramsey, Illinois 28 Nov. 1856

Dear Daughter,

We rec’d your letter a few days ago and hasten to answer. We were sorry to listen that William was so feeble altho it was not all together unexpected. He has been so long sick that we on occasion closely believed that thought he might at last recover-but we feel that even this letter may find you a widow and the children orphans-I occasionally feel as though you would be doubly afflicted located as you are a stranger closely in a far off country-but it seem you are not discouraged or cast down entirely. We actually hope a way will be provided for you and the little ones. Do you still feel that you had rather stay there or would you like to come back and live amidst your old acquaintances and friends once more.

We have sold out all our things in Troy and moved to the west. We are on a farm in a town called Ramsey it is on the Illinois South Central Railroad. As far south closely as St. Louis. We have a very nice farm of 1110 acres and so far like it much. Gardner and George are here with us and John in Vandalia 13 miles south of us to work at his trade (dentist). Uncle Loren is out in the northern percentage of this state with all of his family and they seem and write that they like firstborn rate. Uncle Alanson is still in New York. Alonzo has gone to sea again this time to Calcutta. I suppose he is bound to be a sailor. Iarne and Abner are in stores. Claryou is at home. Samuel and Sarah live in Williamsburg opposite New York. Daniel is a carman, Uncle Luis and Nathan are in — on their old places all well. Allen and Ester lived in Albany when we came away-have not heard from them since.

I had a letter from Mrs. Harlow sometime since they live in Oroville and she seems to think that they are getting rich again- I hope they may. I suppose Mrs. Alfred Smith is out there as she has sold all her furniture and was calculating to go in a few days when we left Troy the introductory of July-is she there and what are they about. I wish we could run in and see you and aid you in your time of need-but we are a outstanding way apart and it is not likely that I shall ever go to California again-if we had Mary & Willie home we could give them a good prospect for school and bread and milk-We have two good cows and make a great deal of butter and have a large total of cream and milk to eat and use-I suppose they are great children now and hope they are and always will be good children and do all they may to support their mother through life.

Now Bilista I must like to know how you are located to get a living- may you earn sufficient to make yourself and children comfortable-do you intend to stay there and work and do all you may to make a living or do you now and then wish you was back again-I wish you would write me as to how you feel regarding it-We think this is a good and healthful country- My health and your mother’s is much better than it was in Troy and so far we are not sorry we moved-Please write soon and many times and we will write many times now that we are settled down once more-Give our respects to Mr. & Mrs. Smith if she is there-and ultimately give our respects to all our old acquaintances if you see any of them.

Goodbye and may the Lord give you strength to endure whatsoever you may be called to go through.

Direct your letter “John A Bills, Ramsey-Fayette Co Illinois.”

Your Father John A Bills

Mrs. Bilista A Long San Francisco Cal

The Mary noted in the letter was my great-grandmother, Mary Dorothea Long, who came west in the covered wagon with her parents, Bilista and William Long, when she was only four years old. After her parents’ untimely deaths, she was raised by nuns in San Francisco.

My great-grandfather, Richard O’Leary, was born in County Cork, Ireland. When he was a child for the duration of the potato famine, his parents, hoping to save his life, put him on a ship bound for the New World. That ship turned out to be one of the “coffin boats,” so named because so a great deal of children who sailed on them passed from physical life of starvation or impairment of normal physiological function for the duration of the harsh and unforgiving Atlantic crossing.

Richard O’Leary was one of the lucky ones; he survived. At fifteen years old, still unable to read and write, he took a occupation building the transcontinental railroad and ended up in Marysville, California, where he met a priest and confided to him that he wanted a wife.

The priest relayed that info to my great-grandmother, Mary, who thought regarding it for a bit, then informed the priest, “I’ll walk out with him.” So that’s what she did, for just one week, at the end of which she declared to the priest, “I’ll marry him,” and did.

She went on to instruct my great-grandfather to read and write, and had nine children along the way as well, one of whom was my maternal grandmother, Frances Elvira O’Leary, who was born in Nevada and went to school there.

Meanwhile, back east in Pennsylvania, my maternal grandfather-to-be, Charles Benjamin Franklin (a distant relative of the outstanding man himself), the son of an Englishwoman, was orphaned at nine after his parents were killed in a carriage accident.

On discovering that young Charles had been left alone in the world, his two maternal aunts sailed from England to America, determined to fetch him back home to the old country with them. The aunts realized Charles was happy in his new home and permitted my grandfather to stay. However, later, he ran away from home, apprenticed himself to a ship’s carpenter, and sailed the seven seas.

By the time Charles arrived back in America, he had married, divorced, and along the way become an accomplished carpenter, adept at all subsections of the trade, including cabinetry. Finally he turned up in Nevada, where he booked into a little boardinghouse. There, one morning, a pretty young girl-Frances Elvira O’Leary-served him breakfast.

Although he was entranced by her charms, he nevertheless couldn’t help noticing that she kept rubbing her cheek. Without any preamble, he demanded to know why she hadn’t seen a dentist. She blushed scarlet and shook her head, whereupon he grabbed her arm and declared, “Whether you like it or not, I’m taking you to one.”

He did, and within months, my grandmother, Frances Elvira O’Leary, married Charles Benjamin Franklin in San Francisco. My mother, Alice, the youngest of four children, was born in El Paso. My grandfather became a house builder and would stay so for the rest of his days, building homes in Los Angeles, El Paso, and Tuscon, Arizona, which is where I came in.

During the original two or three years of my life, because cash was rather scarce, we lived in Tucson and then El Paso with my grandparents. My earliest memory is of sleeping in one bed with my mother, in the morning looking at her get dressed for work, and being overwhelmed by her youth and beauty.

In the early thirties, my mother attended busine…

Most helpful client reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful.
I Dream of Barbara
By RDC
Who doesn’t love Barbara Eden? She’s one of the classiest stars in show business and her biography is a breezy, fun read. There’s no nastiness here, but Barbara still includes lots of stories from “I Dream of Jeannie” and beyond. Barbara has been inspirational in galore ways; her dignity in personal tragedy, her dedication to her “Jeannie” fans, and her willingness to hug her pop-icon image. She likewise shares some candid and deep sensations here and it’s all very touching. Her autobiography is sweet and to the point. I couldn’t put the book down. We all dreamed of Jeannie, but you’ll love Barbara.

29 of 32 persons found the following review helpful.
An engaging essay by the beloved sitcom star
By DavidT
Baby boomers with fond memories of the deliciously escapist 1960s sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie” will exhaustively take pleasure in this charming essay by it is star, Barbara Eden. Looking back on a career spanning more than 50 years, the classy and unassuming star has numerous outstanding stories to share. As an up-and-coming young actress, she met a number of Hollywood notables, and her recollections regarding Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Groucho Marx, and Lucille Ball are fascinating. Before earning her own sitcom stardom, she played little roles in respective general shows of the 1950s, and the comparison she draws among Lucy and Ann Sothern, who reacted to the finelooking newcomer in rather dissimilar ways, makes for interesting reading. Though she’s never vindictive or insulting, there’s a bit of spice to Eden’s stories in regards to life with the “Jeannie” company, notably the volatile and queer conduct of co-star Larry Hagman. Fans will likewise receive pleasure from her reminiscences in regards to other members of the “Jeannie” cast including Hayden Rorke and Emmaline Henry. Naturally, no one’s real life could be as sunny and unblemished as a “Jeannie” episode, and Eden writes candidly and movingly when it comes to some of her unhappiest times, notably her son’s drug addiction and death at a young age. Those who take pleasure in her work as a performer will welcome the probability to know her better through this lovable and childlike and agreeably diverting autobiography.

20 of 23 persons found the following review helpful.
A Very Entertaining Memoir
By Jan Comsky
I actually like Barbara Edens’ writing style. This book is a very agreeably diverting read. One follows Barbara Eden from her days at 20th Century Fox, to her “gig” at Ciro’s, and at last “I Dream of Jeannie” ( the TV show I grew up with!). The stories/anecdotes of Larry Hagman and I Dream of Jeannie is not to be missed. Anyone who grew up with this show, and/or just loves books on celebrity biographies, ought to get a copy of this book. Enjoy!

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