![Barbara Lawrence-Eddie Albert in Oklahoma!](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Barbara_Lawrence-Eddie_Albert_in_Oklahoma%21.jpg)
Barbara Jo Lawrence (February 24, 1930 – November 13, 2013) was an American model, actress, and real estate agent.
Early years
Born to Morris and Bernice ( Eaton) Lawrence in
Carnegie, Oklahoma
Carnegie is a town in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,723 at the 2010 census, a 1.7 percent decline from the figure of 1,752 in 2000.
History and culture
Carnegie was named after the famous Scottish American philant ...
,
Barbara Jo moved with her mother to
Kansas City, Missouri as an adolescent. She won a Tiny Tot beauty contest when she was three years old.
Career
Lawrence's career began as a child photographer's model. She appeared in her first film,
Billy Rose's ''
Diamond Horseshoe'' (1945), as a night-club patron. A year later, she made a strong impression in her second film at
20th Century-Fox, ''
Margie
Margie is a feminine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Margaret, Marjorie or Margarita.
Margie may refer to:
People
* Margie Ackles (born 1939), American retired figure skater
* Marjorie Margie Alexander (1948–2013), American ...
'', in which she played outgoing flapper Maryville. She was featured in the swashbuckler ''
Captain from Castile
''Captain from Castile'' is a historical adventure film released by 20th Century-Fox in 1947. Directed by Henry King, the Technicolor film stars Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, and Cesar Romero. Shot on location in Michoacán, Mexico, the film include ...
'' (1947) with
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...
. While finishing her studies at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
, she attracted the attention of talent scouts, and Lawrence was soon featured in a number of additional 20th Century-Fox movies, including ''
You Were Meant for Me'', ''
Give My Regards to Broadway
"Give My Regards to Broadway" is a song written by George M. Cohan for his musical play ''Little Johnny Jones'' which debuted in 1904 in New York.
Cohan, playing the title character, sings this song as his friend is about to sail to Americ ...
'', ''
A Letter to Three Wives
''A Letter to Three Wives'' is a 1949 American romantic comedy-drama which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left town with the husband of one of them, but not saying which one. It stars Jeanne Cr ...
'', ''
The Street with No Name
''The Street with No Name'' is a 1948 film noir directed by William Keighley. A follow-up to ''The House on 92nd Street'' (1945), it tells the story of an undercover FBI agent, Gene Cordell ( Mark Stevens), who infiltrates a deadly crime gang. Cor ...
'', and ''
Thieves' Highway
''Thieves' Highway'' is a 1949 film noir directed by Jules Dassin. The screenplay was written by A. I. Bezzerides, based on his novel ''Thieves' Market''. The film was released on DVD as part of the Criterion Collection in 2005.
Plot
A war-ve ...
''. At
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a ...
in the early 1950s were ''
Peggy'' and ''
Here Come the Nelsons''. She also a star in
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
' romantic comedy ''
Paris Model
''Paris Model'' is a 1953 American comedy drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Marilyn Maxwell, Paulette Goddard, Eva Gabor and Barbara Lawrence.Wojcik p.235 It is an anthology featuring four separate parts, each focused on on ...
'' (1953).
Upon moving to
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
, Lawrence appeared with
Gig Young
Gig Young (born Byron Elsworth Barr; November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in ''Come Fill the Cup'' (1952) and '' Teacher's Pet'' ...
in the 3D movie ''
Arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
'' (1953) and in ''
Her Twelve Men
''Her Twelve Men'' is a 1954 American comedy drama film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It stars Oscar-winning Greer Garson, and was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, and written by William Roberts and Laura Z. Hobson. It was based on the best-sellin ...
'' (with
Greer Garson
Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...
). She played the role of Gertie Cummings in the film version of ''
Oklahoma!
''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tell ...
'', in which she gets into a knockdown catfight with
Gloria Grahame
Gloria Grahame Hallward (November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an Academy Award-winning American actress and singer. She began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 made her first film for MGM.
Despite a featured role in ''It's a Wond ...
("Ado Annie"). She starred in ''
Man with the Gun
''Man with the Gun'' is a 1955 American black and white Western film starring Robert Mitchum. The film was released in the United Kingdom as ''The Trouble Shooter'' and is also sometimes entitled ''Deadly Peacemaker''. The supporting cast inclu ...
'' (1955) that year. In 1956, she appeared as Lola McQuilan in the western TV series ''
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...
'' in the episode titled "The Last Train West." In 1957, she starred in ''
Kronos'' (with
Jeff Morrow
Leslie Irving Morrow, known as Jeff Morrow (January 13, 1907 – December 26, 1993), was an American actor educated at Pratt Institute in his native New York City. Morrow was a commercial artist prior to turning to acting. Early in his caree ...
). Although the science-fiction film was not praised by critics at the time, it eventually attracted a cult following for its imaginative storyline and special effects.
Between 1958 and 1962, Lawrence made four guest appearances on the CBS-TV series ''
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...
''. In 1958 she played Ellen Waring in "The Half-Wakened Wife", and Gloria Barton in "The Case of the Jilted Jockey." In 1961 she played murderess Lori Stoner in "The Case of the Envious Editor", and in 1962 she played Agnes Theilman in "The Case of the Shapely Shadow". In 1958 she guest-starred in ''
Cimarron City (TV series)
''Cimarron City'' is an American one-hour Western television series, starring George Montgomery as Matt Rockford and John Smith as Lane Temple, airing for 26 episodes on NBC from 1958 to 1959 before being canceled. Cimarron City is a boomto ...
'', in the second episode "Terror Town". In 1960, she guest starred as Della Thompson in the ''
Bonanza'' episode "The Abduction".
Personal life
In 1947, Lawrence married actor
Jeffrey Stone. This was kept secret until June 28, 1947, when Lawrence's mother threw her daughter a church wedding in
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
,
[ but the marriage ended with a divorce granted on September 28, 1949.
On July 29, 1951, she wed John Murphy; the couple had two children before divorcing in 1957. After marrying Lester R. Nelson in 1961, she had two more children. She made several more television appearances in 1962, then retired from acting altogether. She and Nelson divorced in 1976.
]
Death
Lawrence died of kidney failure on November 13, 2013, aged 83, in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, but her death was not reported until January 3, 2014.
She was cremated
Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...
and her ashes reportedly scattered in North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
, where she owned a vacation home.
Legacy
Lawrence has a star at 1735 Vine Street in the Television section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
''New York Times'' obituary for Barbara Lawrence
January 3, 2014; accessed January 4, 2014.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Barbara
1930 births
2013 deaths
American women writers
American film actresses
American television actresses
Actresses from Oklahoma
Actresses from Kansas City, Missouri
People from Carnegie, Oklahoma
Writers from Missouri
Writers from Oklahoma
Deaths from kidney failure
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American women