Actresses -- most physically beautiful -- first name starts with B

Bar Paly was born in Nizhniy Tagil, USSR, before relocating to Tel Aviv, Israel with her family when she was seven. In her early twenties she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her passion for acting. Bar is best known for her recurring role as Special Agent Anna Kolcheck on NCIS: LA, and her hilarious turn as Sorina Luminita in Michael Bay's Pain & Gain. She became a U.S. citizen in 2016.

Barbara Baldavin was born on 18 October 1938 in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress and casting director, known for Star Trek (1966), Skeeter (1993) and Mannix (1967). She was married to Joseph D'Agosta. She died on 31 March 2024 in Manhattan Beach, California, USA.

Stunningly beautiful and charismatic blonde Barbara Bouchet was born Barbel Goutscherola on August 15th, 1943 in Liberec, Czechoslovakia, known as Reichenberg, during the German occupation. Her father, Fritz, was a war photographer.

Her family was forced to leave the country when Barbara was a little girl and her name was changed to Barbara Gutscher. They got separated, but ended up getting together again. They migrated in December 1956 and settled in San Francisco, California, where Barbara attended the prestigious Galileo High School, a polytechnic school with commercial and industrial branches. Bouchet speaks English, German and Italian with equal fluency. In an interview to Shock Cinema (Number 44), Barbara Bouchet says her name had been changed again to Bouchet at the start of her career, because it sounded like her German name.

Barbara was inspired to be a screen actress after seeing the work of German actress Christine Kaufmann in L'Ange silencieux (1954) ("The Silent Angel").

In 1959, her father submitted a photo of her to the "Miss Gidget" beauty contest, and she won. The contest was held by the local television station KPIX-TV, based on the character of what has been considered the first "beach party movie" in Hollywood history, Un amour de vacances (1959). The prize included a date with James Darren the famous star of that movie, and a screen test. The screen test never materialized.

Barbara was featured as a dancer on the teen-targeted rock'n'roll TV show, The KPIX Dance Party, from 1959 to 1962.

Bouchet began a career of teen model that led to her extensive magazine cover model (35 covers). In October 1983, at age 40, Bouchet did a nude pictorial for the Italian edition of "Penthouse" magazine.

Barbara acted in TV commercials. She made her film debut with an uncredited bit part in the comedy Madame croque-maris (1964). Bouchet soon became known for openly flaunting her spectacularly curvaceous figure in several pictures: clad in alluring silk harem robes in L'Encombrant Mr. John (1965), cavorting nude on the beaches of Pearl Harbor in the World War II epic Première victoire (1965), and wearing a bikini for the bulk of her screen time in Le mur des espions (1966). She also portrayed "Ursula" in Bob Fosse's outstanding musical Sweet Charity (1969), made for a nicely sultry "Miss Moneypenny" in the tongue-in-cheek 007 outing Casino Royale (1967), and had guest spots on such TV series as Le Virginien (1962), Star Trek (1966), Voyage au fond des mers (1964), and Des agents très spéciaux (1964).

In 1970, fed-up with being typecast as a mindless sexpot in Hollywood fare, she moved to Italy. She soon became one of Italy's top actresses, carving out a fruitful niche for herself in sex comedies, giallo murder mysteries and gritty crime thrillers. Among her most memorable roles in these Italian features are the brazen spoiled rich lady "Patrizia" in Lucio Fulci's disturbing La Longue Nuit de l'exorcisme (1972) ("Don't Torture A Duckling"), prostitute "Francine" in Maison de rendez-vous (1972) ("The French Sex Murders"), modeling agency choreographer "Kitty" in La dame rouge tua 7 fois (1972) ("Red Queen Kills 7 Times"), saucy love interest "Scilla" in the splendidly sleazy Ricco (1973), and enticing stripper "Anny" in L'ombre d'un tueur (1976) ("Death Rage"). Bouchet had an unforgettably steamy lesbian love scene with Rosalba Neri in À la recherche du plaisir (1972) ("Amuck"). Barbara Bouchet appeared alongside fellow Bond girls Barbara Bach and Claudine Auger in La tarentule au ventre noir (1971) ("The Black Belly of the Tarantula"). Barbara Bouchet continues to act in both films and TV shows, alike, made in Italy. Barbara popped up in a small role (as the wife of giallo star David Hemmings) in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002).

Barbara married producer Luigi Borghese in 1976. They had two sons: Alessandro Borgese (b. 1974), a chef hosting a show on the Italian cable TV; and Massimiliano Borghese (b. 1989), a bartender. During the shooting of Diamond Connection (1984) in Istanbul, there was mention of a separation in the Turkish language "New World Video & Magazine" of September 1984, but the divorce happened much later.

In 1985, Bouchet started her own production company, opened her own health club in Rome, and launched her own line of fitness books and videos.

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Radiant to a tee, well-coiffed and well-dressed Barbara Britton looked like she stepped out of a magazine when she entered into our homes daily as the 'Revlon Girl' on 50s and 60s TV. She sparkled with the best of them and managed to capture that "perfect wife/perfect mother" image with, well, perfect poise and perfect grace. Co-starring opposite some of Hollywood's most durable leading men, including Randolph Scott (multiple times), Joel McCrea, Gene Autry, Jeff Chandler and John Hodiak, it's rather a shame Barbara was rather obtusely used in Hollywood films, but thankfully her beauty and glamour, if not her obvious talent, would save the day and put the finishing touches on a well-rounded career.

It all began for sunny, hazel-eyed blonde Barbara Maureen Brantingham in equally sunny Long Beach, California on September 26, 1920 (1919 is incorrect, according to her son and several other sources). Attending Polytechnic High School, Barbara eventually taught Sunday school and majored in speech at Long Beach City College with designs of becoming a speech and drama teacher. Her interest in acting, however, quickly took hold and she decided, against the wishes of her ultra-conservative parents, to pursue the local stage. Barbara's own personal 'Hollywood' story unfolded when, as a Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade representative of Long Beach, she was seen on the front pages of the newspaper, scouted out and signed by Paramount movie agents.

The surname Britton was a cherished family name and Barbara picked it as her stage moniker when Paramount complained that Brantingham was "too long to fit on a marquee." She made her film debut with Secret of the Wastelands (1941), a Hopalong Cassidy western, and continued in bit parts for a time before finding modest but showier roles in such fare as Louisiana Purchase (1941), Les anges de miséricorde (1943) and Voyage sans retour (1944). She eventually earned higher visibility as a lead and second femme lead but was underserved for most of her film career, confined as a pretty, altruistic, genteel young thing in such durable but male-oriented films as Le grand John (1945), Le Traître du Far-West (1946), Le retour de Monte-Cristo (1946), La descente tragique (1948), and Champagne for Caesar (1950).

Barbara wisely turned to the stage and TV in the 1950s, making her TV debut on an episode of "Robert Montgomery Presents" in 1950 and her Broadway debut co-starring in the short-lived Peggy Wood comedy "Getting Married" the following year.

After co-starring a couple of seasons with Richard Denning on the TV program Mr. & Mrs. North (1952), Barbara earned major attention as Revlon's lovely pitchwoman and remained on view in that capacity for 12 years. She appeared in Revlon commercials live for a number of programs, including "The $64,000 Question," "The $64,000 Challenge," "Revlon's Big Party" and "The Ed Sullivan Show." In between Barbara graced several of the top dramatic shows of the day, and co-starred intermittently in such "B" films as La fille de Zorro (1950), L'heure de la vengeance (1952), Bwana le diable (1952), Dragonfly Squadron (1953) and Night Freight (1955) before ending her movie run with Les forbans (1955) opposite Jeff Chandler and Rory Calhoun.

Various Broadway shows included "Wake Up, Darling (1956), "How to Make a Man" (1961), and "Me and Thee" (1965). Other stage credits on the dinner theatre and summer stock circuits include "Last of the Red Hot Lovers", "Mary, Mary," "Barefoot in the Park" and "No, No, Nanette." As time passed, more and more would be devoted to raising her family. Only occasionally seen in the 1970, Barbara sometimes appeared with her two children in such regional shows as "Best of Friends," "Forty Carats" and "A Roomful of Roses".

Married in 1945 to Eugene Czukor, a naturopathic physician at the time, he later became a psychiatrist when the family moved to New York City (Manhattan) in 1957. The couple raised two children -- son Theodore (Ted or Theo) who appeared on the Canadian Shakespearean stage and later became a yoga instructor, and daughter Christina who grew up to become a model, actress, opera singer, music therapist and romance novelist. Both used the surname Britton in their respective performance careers. Sadly, two other children born to Barbara and husband Eugene, a girl and a boy, died at the hospital shortly after birth.

One of Barbara's last roles was as a regular on the daytime soap On ne vit qu'une fois (1968) in 1979. Her enjoyment on this show was short-lived as the vivacious actress was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer not long after. She died in January of 1980 at age 60.

Barbara Darrow was born on 18 November 1931 in Hollywood, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Queen of Outer Space (1958), La tête à l'envers (1960) and Adventure Showcase (1959). She was married to Thomas D. Tannenbaum. She died on 26 August 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Barbara Eden, born 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, Jeannie de mes rêves (1965) where Barbara Eden immediately gained international acclaim.

Although most remembered for her role as "Jeannie", Barbara Eden has starred in more than 20 theatrical feature films and made-for-television films for at least four different movie studios: 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia Studios, and Universal Studios, most notably in the film Les rôdeurs de la plaine (1960), when she acted as Elvis Presley's leading lady. Other films in which Barbara Eden had a leading role were Le sous-marin de l'apocalypse (1961), The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962), Cinq semaines en ballon (1962), Le cirque du docteur Lao (1964) and Le retour d'Aladin (1964). The Brass Bottle comedy movie led to Sidney Sheldon's creation of Jeannie de mes rêves (1965) comical TV series.

In television, Eden made her first featured appearance on 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 Manicurist (1962), featuring her in the character role, special guest-star, as well as her occupation being titled.

In 1965, Barbara Eden was cast the leading role in Sidney Sheldon's NBC sitcom, Jeannie de mes rêves (1965). It televised weekly, for five successful and humorous seasons with 139 episodes. After "Jeannie," Barbara Eden went on to star in many other comical and family productions including Harper Valley P.T.A. (1978) and Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984) among other numerous highly rated made-for-television movies well into the 1990s. She has also acted in multiple western series and thrillers.

Outside of her film and television works, Barbara Eden headlined major hotel resorts and casinos including Lake Tahoe, Atlantic City and Las Vegas. She also was the star attraction at the MGM Grand, Harrah's, Caesar's Palace and on concert stages and legitimate theaters across the country.

Utilizing her singing ability, Eden released an album titled "Miss Barbara Eden" in 1967, for record company, Dot Records. She has also been a musical guest star in a wide range of variety television shows. Eden's appearances included 21 Bob Hope special shows, along with The Carol Burnett Show (1967), The Jonathan Winters Show (1967), The Sonny and Cher Show (1976), The Jerry Lewis Show (1963), This Is Tom Jones (1969), Tony Orlando and Dawn (1974), and Donny and Marie (1975).

During the Persian Gulf War, she traveled with Bob Hope to the middle-east to perform for the combat troops and then continued on with Hope in a whirlwind eight-day, around-the-world USO tour entertaining servicemen during the Christmas season.

To celebrate the 2002 Yuletide season, she responded to an invitation from President George Bush; Barbara journeyed to Washington D.C. and sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" at the annual White House "Lighting of the National Christmas Tree" event where she also hosted the show and pageant with President and Mrs. Bush for an audience of 6,000 cheering fans on the Ellipse near the White House.

A multi-talent, Eden starred in the national touring musicals La Mélodie du bonheur (1965) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1998). In the latter production, she played Lorelei Lee, the character created on Broadway by Carol Channing and performed by Marilyn Monroe in the 20th Century Fox film version. Eden also toured vastly in various stage productions like Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972), La cage aux poules (1982), Annie Get Your Gun (1967), South Pacific (2009) and Nite Club Confidential (1996). In the play "Love Letters," Eden reunited with her Jeannie de mes rêves (1965) co-star, Larry Hagman. The duo toured metropolitan and major cities, across the United States. Eden starred in Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple: Female Version", and "Social Security" (1985). She has also been seen in TV series like, All Star Blitz (1985), Entertainment Tonight (1981) and Larry King Live (1985).

In 2011, Crown Archetype, a division of Random House, published Barbara's memoir, "Jeannie Out of the Bottle," which debuted at number 14 on the New York Times Best Seller List and on Australia's Best Seller List, published there by Harper-Collins, Inc. The autobiography chronicle's Eden's colorful life and remarkable Hollywood career that spans more than 50 years.

One of Hollywood's busiest actresses, Barbara filmed a starring role in Amour rime avec toujours (2009), a movie filmed by and for the Hallmark Channel. The move was televised numerous times during the year it was filmed and released. On the road, she hosted productions of Ballets with a Twist (1996), the new groundbreaking show that stars rotating celebrity emcees and dancers from Dancing with the Stars (2010). Barbara Eden has appeared recently in a recurring role on Lifetime's American wives (2007) series, guest-starred on ABC's Une famille du tonnerre (2002), and enacted a recurring role on Sabrina, l'apprentie sorcière (1996). During her long career, Barbara has starred in 25 feature films, five network TV series and 19 top-rated network made-for-television movies.

Barbara has been featured in TV commercials for Old Navy, AT&T, and she introduced the Lexus SUV, which was later named Car of the Year by Motor Trend Magazine.

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 at 7003 Hollywood Boulevard near the front of the world famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre. 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.

When there is time in her crowded schedule, Eden works actively on behalf of numerous charities including The Trail of Painted Ponies Breast Cancer Research, American Cancer Society, the Wellness Community, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the March of Dimes, the American Heart Association, Save the Children and Childhelp USA.

Barbara Eden resides with her architect/real estate developer husband Jon Eicholtz in the Benedict Canyon area of Beverly Hills.

Barbara Leigh was born on 16 November 1946 in Ringgold, Georgia, USA. She is an actress, known for Le dernier pénitencier (1973), L'incroyable Hulk (1977) and Si tu crois fillette (1971). She was previously married to Joe Lewis.

Barbara Ann Luna was born in Manhattan and virtually grew up on Broadway. Her Italian, Hungarian, Spanish, Portuguese and Filipino background has led her to portray a variety of roles. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II cast her in the Broadway hit musical "South Pacific", as Ngana, which was spoken entirely in French. When she outgrew her sarong, Luna, as she prefers to be called, was cast again by Rodgers and Hammerstein in "The King and I". When the show was closing after many years, Luna auditioned for the understudy role of Lotus Blossom in "Teahouse of the August Moon". Not only was she hired, but she was given the starring role--which was spoken entirely in Japanese--in the first national touring company for three years. While she was appearing with "Teahouse" in Los Angeles, she was seen by producer/director Mervyn LeRoy, who cast her as Camille, a blind girl who was the love interest for Frank Sinatra in Le diable à 4 heures (1961), also starring Spencer Tracy.

This led to other films, such as Les cinq hors-la-loi (1968) with James Stewart and Henry Fonda, La nef des fous (1965) with Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret and Oskar Werner, and the prison drama Quartier de femmes (1982) portraying Cat, the queen bee of the prison. Her exotic beauty and timeless look, along with her talent, has afforded her the opportunity to have a lengthy television career, as well. She is remembered by Star Trek (1966) fans for her portrayal of Lt. Marlena Moreau in the all-time classic episode "Mirror, Mirror" from the original series. She has guest-starred on nearly 500 television series. Some of her favorites are Aaron Spelling productions such as L'île fantastique (1977). Other favorites are Dallas (1978), The Bill Cosby Show (1969), Rick Hunter (1984), Mission impossible (1966) (and its 1988 reincarnation, Mission impossible, 20 ans après (1988)), Buck Rogers (1979), Au-delà du réel (1963) and many others.

Luna continued to keep one foot on Broadway; in between film commitments, she appeared in a revival of "West Side Story" as Anita, at Lincoln Center in New York City. This was followed by the role of Morales in "A Chorus Line", where she got to sing the beautiful Marvin Hamlisch tune, "What I Did For Love". This inspired the multi-talented Luna to meet with Oscar nominee link=nm0003299] to have him write a nightclub act for her, and that he did: "An Evening with BarBara Luna". A New York reviewer, after her first engagement, said, "Ms. Luna can take the cabaret scene by storm". This review was noticed by agent Lee Solomon of the William Morris Agency office. He called and booked Luna to open for Bill Cosby at the Concord Hotel in the Catskills and Caesars Palace in Atlantic City, New Jersey. While she was singing at Freddies in New York City, she was offered a role in a soap opera.

After a six-month stint as Anna Ryder (a role she created) on Search for Tomorrow (1951), she was then offered a two-year contract to play Maria Roberts on On ne vit qu'une fois (1968). This character very quickly became notorious and extremely popular as the "character everyone loved to hate". Spelling then hired Luna for her to play Sydney Jacobs, a jewelry fence, on Sunset Beach (1997). Luna loves to travel, so she co-hosted "The Alpen Tour", a television special for the Travel Channel sponsored by TWA airlines that was filmed throughout Europe. When she returned to Los Angeles, Luna performed her club act to sold-out crowds at Tom Rolla's Gardenia Cabaret and the Cine-grill at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Recently, Luna made her first trip to the Philippines to film a movie for Showtime, Noriega : L'Élu de Dieu (2000), starring Bob Hoskins. Luna is a member of "The Thalians", a charity foundation at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. She is an avid sports fan, loves playing golf, tennis and dancing on roller skates.

At the age of 26, the astoundingly beautiful Slovakian actress and model Barbara Nedeljakova achieved cult fame and a large following among male horror fans with the release of Hostel (2005). She studied acting in Prague in the Czech Republic, where she performed at several theaters and also worked regularly in the famed Czech marionette theater, often operating 3-4 roles per show. She also worked as professional model in Prague and appeared in several international commercials for company like T-Mobile, Hasbro, Samsung, Woolite and plenty others. Since she started her acting career, Barbara has lived the dream by working with the likes Quentin Tarantino and Billy Boyd. After causing a minor sensation with her topless scenes as the sexy Natalya in Hostel (2005), she was sought to appear in further horror movies such as The Hike (2011), Ashes (2010) and Strippers vs Werewolves (2012).

Barbara Parkins is best remembered as an icon of the Sixties who had starring roles in two of the era's more notorious productions, Peyton Place (1964) and La Vallée des poupées (1967). After arriving in Hollywood as a teenager, Parkins soon began appearing on episodic television programs such as La grande caravane (1957) and Perry Mason (1957). She also appeared with George Burns as a dancer in his nightclub act. She was soon offered the pivotal role of "Betty Anderson" in what would become television's first prime-time soap opera, Peyton Place (1964). The show was an immediate success and turned Parkins, along with costars Ryan O'Neal and Mia Farrow into household names. Parkins was nominated for an Emmy Award as Best Actress and stayed with the series for its entire 5 year run. Her popularity was further solidified when, in 1967, she starred in the motion picture La Vallée des poupées (1967), which became a huge box office hit. She became close friends with her "Dolls" costar, Sharon Tate and traveled to London to be her bridesmaid when Tate married director Roman Polanski in 1968. Parkins fell in love with England, UK. After Tate's murder in 1969, Parkins decided to leave Hollywood and took up residence in London. There, she appeared on the BBC and starred in such international productions as Narcotic Bureau (1971), Christina (1974) and Parole d'homme (1976). Her career, however, was no longer the prime focus of her life. She married in the late 1970's and lived in France for awhile. When her marriage ended, Parkins returned to the United States and gave Hollywood another try. She appeared in popular TV shows of the day, such as La croisière s'amuse (1977), L'île fantastique (1977), and Hôtel (1983). She also filmed Le Secret de la banquise (1979) with Donald Sutherland and Vanessa Redgrave and Breakfast in Paris (1982). Parkins joined other original cast members for a Peyton Place reunion movie, Peyton Place: The Next Generation (1985), in 1985. Her career, however, was once again put on hold when her daughter, Christina Parkins, was born. Parkins has made infrequent appearances since the late 1980's although she did return to weekly television for a brief stint in the CBS-TV series Scene of the Crime (1991) which was filmed in the city she was born, Vancouver. In 1997, Parkins was the guest of honor at a 30th anniversary screening of La Vallée des poupées (1967) in San Francisco. During a question-and-answer segment with columnist Ted Casablanca, she announced to the sold-out audience that she planned to retire. The following year, however, she appeared in Scandaleusement vôtre (1998), based on the life of Valley of the Dolls' controversial author. Whether Parkins will resume her career full- time or really retire is unknown at this time.

One of the saddest tales ever to come out of Hollywood has to be that of Barbara Payton. A blue-eyed, peroxide blonde sexpot who had a lot going for her, her life eventually disintegrated, mostly by her own doing. Things started out well enough for Barbara Lee Redfield, born on November 26, 1927, in Cloquet, Minnesota. From a modest, blue-collar background, she grew up to be a drop-dead gorgeous young woman and, following a quickie marriage at age 19, decided to leave home for good to try to capitalize on her good looks in Tinseltown. She headed for Hollywood in 1948 and, within a short time, was placed under contract by Universal, where she began the typical starlet route of bit parts. She reached her peak with routine but promising co-star work opposite James Cagney in Le fauve en liberté (1950), Gary Cooper in Dallas, ville frontière (1950) and Gregory Peck in Fort invincible (1951). Although her talent was overshadowed by her brassiness and looks, her slightly lurid appeal seemed to be enough to carry her through. Caught up in the glitz and glamour, however, her career started taking second place to a reckless life full of capricious romances involving a number of top stars and producers, many of them married. One of her more famous trysts ended up making headlines for her, and none of them favorable. She was juggling two boyfriends at the same time, classy "A" actor Franchot Tone and muscular "B" actor Tom Neal, and they fought almost to the death for Barbara's affections. On September 13, 1951, the men engaged in a deadly brawl and when it was over, Tone was in the hospital with broken bones and a brain concussion. Barbara ended up with both a black eye and a tarnished reputation. She married Tone after he recovered, but left him after only seven weeks and returned to the violence-prone Neal. That abusive relationship lasted four years, though they never married. During that time Barbara's career had plummeted to the point where she was making such dismal features as Bride of the Gorilla (1951). She went to England to try to rejuvenate her career, but no dice; it was over and her life was skidding out of control. Her once beautiful face now blotchy and her once spectacular figure now bloated, Barbara sank deeper into the bottle. From 1955 to 1963 there were various brushes with the law - among them passing bad checks, public drunkenness and, ultimately, prostitution. She was forced to sleep on bus benches, was beaten and bruised by her tricks, and lost teeth in the process. In 1967, after failed efforts to curb her drinking, she finally moved in with her parents in San Diego to try to dry out. It was too late. On May 8, 1967, the 39-year-old former starlet was found on the bathroom floor - dead of heart and liver failure. Somehow through all this misery she managed a tell-all book ironically entitled "I Am Not Ashamed" (1963).

Barbara Rhoades was born on 23 March 1946 in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for Harry et Tonto (1974), Adieu, je reste... (1977) and Busting Loose (1977). She has been married to Bernie Orenstein since 18 February 1979. They have one child.

A bundle of bright sunshine and unabashed energy, lovely musical actress Barbara Ruick delighted audiences for over two decades. The brown-eyed singer/actress who admittedly came up short in the dancing department nevertheless toyed with top musical stardom in mid-1950s films and almost nabbed it. A vivacious beauty whose sparkling, fresh-faced appeal reminded one instantly of a Mitzi Gaynor or Vera-Ellen, Barbara's untimely death at age 41 robbed Hollywood of a tried-and-true talent.

She was born on December 23, 1932 in sunny Pasadena, California, the daughter of show biz professionals. Father Mel Ruick was a well respected radio actor and announcer while mother Lurene Tuttle earned equal distinction as a radio player and (later) reliable TV and film performer playing a lovely assortment of fluttery matrons and mothering types. Deeply influenced by her parents' obvious success and fulfillment, the blonde and starry-eyed Barbara started acting on radio and TV as a Hollywood High School teenager. One of her first jobs was in the chorus of Chico Marx's TV show despite the fact she was a lackluster dancer.

Following other TV work, the just-turned-21 Barbara earned the attention of MGM and signed a long-term contract with the topnotch studio. She dutifully apprenticed in starlet parts with bit or not billed roles in both musical and dramatic outings including Invitation (1952), Scaramouche (1952) and L'intrépide (1952). Slightly better parts were handed to her in the films Toi pour moi (1952), Le grand secret (1952) and Apache War Smoke (1952). The last movie mentioned co-starred future husband Robert Horton, known for his rugged appearances in numerous westerns. The twosome married in Las Vegas in 1953.

The next couple of years were quite frustrating for Barbara at MGM. After finally earning a second female lead role in the film Casanova Junior (1953) alongside Bobby Van, Debbie Reynolds and Bob Fosse, MGM inexplicably reverted her right back to playing bit parts again in such offerings as Confidentially Connie (1953), Cupidon photographe (1953) and Tous en scène ! (1953). She finally retreated from both MGM and Hollywood and returned to New York to concentrate on TV. She earned a slew of assignments including a number of variety show appearances. On series TV she was a bright and breezy regular for such stalwarts as Ezio Pinza, Jerry Colonna and Johnny Carson. She also proved her dramatic mettle on such programs as The New Loretta Young Show (1962), Public Defender (1954) and The Lineup (1954).

Out of nowhere Barbara was ushered back to Hollywood for the most important film role of her career. In Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic Carousel (1956), it seemed that stardom was just within reach after winning the cute and flighty Carrie Piperidge role alongside Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. Ruick shined in the well-mounted 20th Century-Fox production while offering a lovely rendition of "When I Marry Mr. Snow". Instead of this success propelling Barbara into other films, it would be her last movie for nearly two decades. She also recorded for Columbia Records around this period but, other than a couple of novelty items, none of her songs ever made it to the top of the charts.

Divorced from actor Horton in 1956, Barbara married Academy Award-winning composer and Boston Pops conductor John Williams that same year. They had one daughter and two sons. The boys went on to have musical careers of their own; their daughter became a doctor. She continued to thrive on TV in the late 50s. In 1965 angular Barbara and plump Pat Carroll camped it up and nearly stole the proceedings as the evil stepsisters with their uproarious version of "The Stepsisters Lament" in Rodgers & Hammerstein's star-studded musical special Cinderella (1965) starring Lesley Ann Warren.

Barbara was little seen in the ensuing years but did pop up for a small role as a barmaid in the comedy film Les flambeurs (1974) showcasing the then-hot film stars Elliott Gould and George Segal. Barbara died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage on March 3, 1974 in Reno, Nevada. Although her musical gifts were shamefully underused by MGM in the early 1950s, her comeback role in Carousel (1956) will endure and remain a film treasure.

Brenda Benet, born Brenda Ann Nelson in Los Angeles, California, on August 14, 1945, was a classic example of the modern-day Hollywood tragedy. As a television actress with good dramatic scope, she managed to piece together a wide and impressive portfolio of guest shots in a career spanning just over 16 years before taking her life at the age of 36. She spent her childhood and early teenage years feeling awkward and self-conscious because her complexion was darker than those of her siblings. Because of this, she felt that she did not fit in with her family, and often fantasized about being adopted.

Brenda attended UCLA for a brief time, majoring in languages. In 1962 she entered show business; her breakthrough role came in 1964 when she was selected to play the part of Jill McComb in The Young Marrieds (1964). After that came stints on various comedy and drama series in the '60s and '70s, usually playing ethnic, exotic types. She was probably best known for her role as the kind-hearted prostitute in Justice sauvage (1973). During this time she married and divorced actor Paul Petersen. She began a relationship with Bill Bixby and moved in with him in 1969, and they married in 1971. By the late '70s, however, they were divorced.

Brenda retired from the business in the mid-'70s to raise a family, and in late 1974 she gave birth to a boy, Christopher Sean Bixby. Tragically, Christopher died in 1981 during a winter ski vacation in California. It was believed that this and her divorce from Bixby were the events which caused Brenda's life to spin out of control. On April 7, 1982, Brenda went into the bathroom of her West Los Angeles home, lit and arranged some candles in a circle on the floor and lay down. She then placed a Colt .38-cal. revolver into her mouth and pulled the trigger. She died instantly.

One of the saddest tales ever to come out of Hollywood has to be that of Barbara Payton. A blue-eyed, peroxide blonde sexpot who had a lot going for her, her life eventually disintegrated, mostly by her own doing. Things started out well enough for Barbara Lee Redfield, born on November 26, 1927, in Cloquet, Minnesota. From a modest, blue-collar background, she grew up to be a drop-dead gorgeous young woman and, following a quickie marriage at age 19, decided to leave home for good to try to capitalize on her good looks in Tinseltown. She headed for Hollywood in 1948 and, within a short time, was placed under contract by Universal, where she began the typical starlet route of bit parts. She reached her peak with routine but promising co-star work opposite James Cagney in Le fauve en liberté (1950), Gary Cooper in Dallas, ville frontière (1950) and Gregory Peck in Fort invincible (1951). Although her talent was overshadowed by her brassiness and looks, her slightly lurid appeal seemed to be enough to carry her through. Caught up in the glitz and glamour, however, her career started taking second place to a reckless life full of capricious romances involving a number of top stars and producers, many of them married. One of her more famous trysts ended up making headlines for her, and none of them favorable. She was juggling two boyfriends at the same time, classy "A" actor Franchot Tone and muscular "B" actor Tom Neal, and they fought almost to the death for Barbara's affections. On September 13, 1951, the men engaged in a deadly brawl and when it was over, Tone was in the hospital with broken bones and a brain concussion. Barbara ended up with both a black eye and a tarnished reputation. She married Tone after he recovered, but left him after only seven weeks and returned to the violence-prone Neal. That abusive relationship lasted four years, though they never married. During that time Barbara's career had plummeted to the point where she was making such dismal features as Bride of the Gorilla (1951). She went to England to try to rejuvenate her career, but no dice; it was over and her life was skidding out of control. Her once beautiful face now blotchy and her once spectacular figure now bloated, Barbara sank deeper into the bottle. From 1955 to 1963 there were various brushes with the law - among them passing bad checks, public drunkenness and, ultimately, prostitution. She was forced to sleep on bus benches, was beaten and bruised by her tricks, and lost teeth in the process. In 1967, after failed efforts to curb her drinking, she finally moved in with her parents in San Diego to try to dry out. It was too late. On May 8, 1967, the 39-year-old former starlet was found on the bathroom floor - dead of heart and liver failure. Somehow through all this misery she managed a tell-all book ironically entitled "I Am Not Ashamed" (1963).

The epitome of poise, charm, style and grace, beautiful brunette Barbara Rush was born in Denver, Colorado in 1927 and enrolled at the University of California before working with the University Players and taking acting classes at the Pasadena Playhouse. It didn't take long for talent scouts to spot her and, following a play performance, Paramount quickly signed her up in 1950, making her debut with Molly la meilleure des amies (1950).

Just prior to this, she had met fellow actor Jeffrey Hunter, a handsome newcomer who would later become a "beefcake" bobbysoxer idol over at Fox. The two fell in love and married in December 1950. Soon, they were on their way to becoming one of Hollywood's most beautiful and photogenic young couples. Their son Christopher was born in 1952.

While at Paramount, she was decorative in such assembly-line fare as Le choc des mondes (1951), Quebec (1951) and Les flèches brûlées (1952). She later co-starred opposite some of Hollywood's top leading males: James Mason, Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, Dean Martin, Paul Newman, Richard Burton and Kirk Douglas. In most cases, she played brittle wives, conniving "other women" or socialite girlfriend types.

Despite the "A" list movies Barbara was piling up, the one single role that could put her over the top never showed its face. By the early 1960s, her film career started to decline. She married publicist Warren Cowan in 1959 and bore a second child, Claudia Cowan, in 1964. TV became a viable source of income for her, appearing in scores of guest parts on the more popular shows of the time while co-starring in standard mini-movie dramas.

She even had a bit of fun playing a "guest villainess" on the Batman (1966) series as temptress "Nora Clavicle". The stage also became a strong focus for Barbara, earning the Sarah Siddons Award for her starring role in "Forty Carats". She made her Broadway debut in the one-woman showcase "A Woman of Independent Means", which also subsequently earned her the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award during its tour. Other showcases included "Private Lives", "Same Time, Next Year", "The Night of the Iguana" and "Steel Magnolias". Rush continued to occasionally appear onscreen, most recently in a recurring role on TV's 7 à la maison (1996). She died on March 31, 2024, aged 97.

The sexy Barbara Shelley was born Barbara Kowin on February 13, 1932 in London, England. With her beautiful looks and stature, she worked as a model during her salad days. Her film career began in Italy in the mid-1950s in such tempting fare as Luna nova (1955) and Les week-ends de Néron (1956), but when this seemed like she was going to remain in the minor ranks, she returned to England to attempt to better her career. After appearing in the minor sex farce La petite hutte (1957) with Stewart Granger, David Niven and Ava Gardner, Barbara caught notoriety in the title role of Cat Girl (1957), a low budget production in which she played a woman possessed by a family curse who develops psychic links with a leopard.

This paid off and she quickly evolved into a popular Gothic glamour woman at Hammer Studios. Starting things off with L'Île du camp sans retour (1958) and Le sang du vampire (1958), the lovely actress proceeded to stake out her own lucrative territory in the horror genres. Through the 1960s, she co-starred in the classic Le village des damnés (1960), along with Le spectre du chat (1961), La Gorgone (1964), Le secret de l'île sanglante (1965), Dracula - Prince des ténèbres (1966), Raspoutine, le moine fou (1966) and Les Monstres de l'espace (1967). However, Barbara's film career had fallen aside by the late 1960s and she turned to television.

In her retirement, she pursued interior decorating. Whether playing female monsters or their intended victims, Barbara played them straight and handled them all with requisite style and grace. For this, she was occasionally seen by motion picture fans at conventions as an integral figure of camp horror history.

Beatrice Rosen, (born November 29, 1977) also credited as Béatrice Rosen and Béatrice Rosenblatt, is an American-born French actress. Rosen was born in New York City in the United States, although she grew up in Paris where she started acting. Rosen played a role in the eighth season of the WB series Charmed as innocent Maya Holmes as Piper Halliwell's first new identity. She appeared in the fourth season of the WB series Smallville as Dawn Stiles, a girl who wanted desperately to be prom queen. She also portrayed Gabrielle la Claire, daughter of the French ambassador in the 2004 film Chasing Liberty, and Natascha in The Dark Knight. She appeared in Sharpe's Peril, of the Sharpe series in 2008.

Beba Loncar was born on 28 April 1943 in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia. She is an actress, known for Dieu pardonne, elles jamais! (1969), Ces messieurs dames (1966) and Ljubav i moda (1960). She is married to Stevan Marinkovic Knicanin. She was previously married to Josip Radeljak.

Begoña Palacios married the film director Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984) when he was filming Major Dundee (1965) in Mexico. A very young and beautiful actress and dancer became the second wife of this controversial movie maker. They had a daughter Maria Guadalupe Peckinpah Palacios (better known as Lupita Peckinpah). When Begoña died on March 1st 2000, she requested that her ashes were thrown to Malibu beach where Peckinpah's remains are.

Belinda Bauer was born Belinda Jane Taubman on June 13, 1950 in Australia. Her family managed Taubman Paints, the country's largest paint manufacturing company. She competed as Belinda Taubman in several beauty contests in Sydney, New South Wales. Starting her career as a ballet dancer and later worked as a model in New York, Bauer became popular in several American cult films of the 1980s, including Qui a tué le président? (1979), American Success (1979), Timerider, le cavalier du temps perdu (1982) and Flashdance (1983). Between television work, she also appeared in the comedy film Télé ringards (1989) and the action sequel RoboCop 2 (1990). Her main title roles were in the television films Le portrait de Dorian Gray (1983); as Delilah in Samson and Delilah (1984); as an alien woman living on Earth in L'étoile inconnue (1985); and as Christine Scavello in the supernatural thriller La secte du crépuscule (1991).

Bauer also appeared in the pilot of the television series Supercopter (1984) as Stringfellow Hawke's love interest Gabrielle Ademaur; her character was killed near the series' ending. Her last credited appearance was in the erotic thriller Fleur de poison 2: Lily (1996). Her portrayals of hard, vindictive women resulted in constant typecasting, which may have contributed to the fading away of her career.

Green-eyed blonde bombshell Belinda Lee was born in Devon, England to florist Stella Mary Graham and hotel owner Robert Esmond Lee on June 15, 1935. Nicknamed "Billie," she was an incredible beauty while still a teen attending the Rookesbury Park Prep School in Hampshire and St. Margaret's boarding school in Devon. Expressing an avid interest in acting, she focused on dramatics at the Tudor Arts Academy at Surrey (1947), then gained entry via a scholarship to London's RADA, at which she made her stage debut in "Point of Departure."

Sharp-faced Belinda was noticed by Rank Studio director Val Guest while performing at the Nottingham Playhouse. She was artificially groomed in starlet parts, the first being The Runaway Bus (1954), until Guest helped her obtain a movie contract with Rank and introduced her to one of Rank's prime still photographers, Cornel Lucas. That year she married the much-older Lucas, who helped promote her as a sex goddess with thousands of glamorous photographs.

Belinda was promoted as a docile young beauty, but her parts grew sexier. She worked intently in films but became frustrated with being stereotyped as a buxom peroxide blonde. Boxed in as a second-string Diana Dors, she played a sensuous foil to Benny Hill in Un détective très privé (1956) and was served up as sexy window-dressing opposite both John Gregson in Miracle in Soho (1957) and Louis Jourdan in Le prisonnier du temple (1957).

Now estranged from Lucas, Belinda headed off to Italy for a change of pace and atmosphere but only found more of the temptress roles she tried to avoid--Aphrodite, Messalina, and Lucrezia Borgia--in low-budget spectacles. She also became preoccupied with married men, one being Prince Filippo Orsini, whose position with the Vatican led to a major scandal. This particular turbulent romance and a dissipating relationship with the Rank Studio (her last picture for the studio was Rencontre au Kenya (1958) with Michael Craig) triggered a near-fatal suicide attempt with pills in January 1958. She later divorced Lucas and continued her torrid affair with Prince Orsini, then others.

It all ended much too soon for the 25-year-old when she decided to join her current love, the much-older Italian playboy/journalist/film producer Gualtiero Jacopetti, on a trip to Las Vegas, where he was working on a documentary (La femme à travers le monde (1963). While she, Jacopetti, and co-producer Paolo Cavara were auto passengers on their way to Los Angeles from Vegas, their driver lost control of their speeding car and flipped. The 25-year-old actress was thrown from the car and died of a fractured skull and broken neck. The other three escaped with fairly minor injuries. She was cremated in the States and her ashes were eventually returned to Rome and placed in the Campo Cestio Cemetery.

Bella Dayne attended the prestigious 'The Stella Adler School Of Acting' in New York City. After the conservatory and after acting in Off-Broadway plays in New York City, she quickly landed a wide range of roles in renowned films and TV shows (FX's American Horror Story, Showtime, AMC's Humans etc.), playing a variety of characters of an enormous variety of accents and backgrounds (such as French-Canadian, Spanish, British, characters from various regions of the US, French, Italian, German, Russian, Polish, Mid-Atlantic, for example). She is fluent in several languages. ​ Dayne can be seen in Humans which aired to great acclaim over several seasons in the US and the UK on AMC and Channel 4, written by Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley. The series was nominated for a BAFTA award and was the highest rated drama ever for Channel 4. Dayne plays the beloved character "Astrid", a free-spirited young woman that becomes the long-term love interest and guiding partner of the conscious AI Niska (played by Emily Berrington).

Shortly thereafter, Dayne played Elliette, a French-Canadian idealist from Québec and a member of a radical group in Showtime's GUERRILLA. The mini-series from Oscar winner John Ridley is set in the 1970s in the UK capital during the birth of the Black Power movement. The series also starred Idris Elba and Freida Pinto and aired on Showtime in the U.S. and Sky Atlantic in Europe.

Dayne starred as Helen of Troy in the BAFTA winning BBC and Netflix period drama mini series Troy: Fall of A City. Produced by BLACK MIRROR'S Barney Reisz, directed by Emmy winning director Owen Harris and written by The Night Manager's David Farr, the series also stars David Threlfall, Frances O'Connor, Chloe Pierre, Jonas Armstrong, David Gyasi and Jospeh Mawle among others. Bella Dayne played the lead role of Helen of Troy, an extremely tragic ancient figure who broke down barriers for women of her time. The series was based on Homer's Iliad.

As Guinevere, also known as The Red Spear, a fierce, unbridled and powerful warrior, she became a fan favorite in Frank Miller's (Sin City) modern adaptation of the Arthurian Legend. The Netflix show, called Cursed, premiered in 2020 and held the top spot for months worldwide. Guinevere is a fighter with an intense and torturous drive to avenge her father's wrongful death. She wields a spear as her favorite weapon - fighting like a viking and being a master of the battle field.

Dayne's other television credits include recurring roles in TRUST (FX) as Talitha Pol Getty , American Horror Story (FX), Man in the High Castle (Amazon), a series regular role in the UK Roman-set comedy Plebs (ITV/Hulu) as well as Person of Interest (CBS) and The Goldbergs (ABC).

Her first role in a German-language production caused a stir: Bella Dayne played the leading role in Berlin's "Tatort: ​​The girl who goes home alone" (2022), the wife of a Russian mafia boss who wants to put her husband behind bars and starts an affair with detective Nina Rubin (Meret Becker) . For this she was honored with an award for " Outstanding Performance As An Actress" at the TeleVisionale Baden-Baden. Most recently, Bella Dayne stood in front of the camera for the fourth season of the series "Das Boot" (Sky/HULU) and in the female lead role for Oskar Roehler's feature film 81/4, with Oliver Masucci in the male lead role. She also recently finished a comedy series for Amazon with Moritz Bleibtreu. In spring of 2024 she is set to star as the lead in a British-produced feature film, a drama that will be shot and set in Scotland.

Daughter to a professional athlete and a physician; she followed in her father's footsteps for 5 years at a young age and became a professional high diver, competing professionally. She also completed an extensive dance training in ballet, modern, flamenco, jazz and salsa over a course of 15 years.

Actress and singer Annabella Avery "Bella" Thorne, known for Shake It Up (2010), Duff: Le faire-valoir (2015), Famille recomposée (2014), and Midnight Sun (2018), was born in Pembroke Pines, Florida, to Tamara (Beckett) and Delancey Reinaldo "Rey" Thorne. She has three siblings, Remy Thorne, Dani Thorne and Kaili Thorne, all of whom have also acted. Her father was of Cuban and Italian descent. At six weeks old, Bella shot her first pictorial, for "Parents Magazine". She has continued to grace the covers of many national and international magazines and catalogs ever since.

Born Berinthia Berenson in New York in 1948, Berenson was a noted photographer and actress and was the sister of model-turned-actress Marisa Berenson (of "Barry Lyndon" fame). Berenson met her husband, actor and star of Alfred Hitchcock's original version of Psychose (1960), Anthony Perkins on the set of his film Play It As It Lays (1972) and married him in 1973. The couple raised 2 sons and remained married until Perkins' death of an AIDS-related illness in 1992. Listed on the flight manifest as Berinthia Perkins, Berenson was killed aboard the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, which was deliberately crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower on September 11, 2001 and was one of over 3,000 lives lost on this date. She was survived by her adult sons, musician Elvis Perkins and actor Osgood Perkins.