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I Choose…Legendary Hollywood Lessons with Barbara Eden · I Choose Me with Jennie Garth

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Garland. Welcome
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: back to I Choose Me, where we dive into the
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: choices that shape our lives. Today's guest is someone I've
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: admired for decades and someone I had the chance to
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: work with very early in my own journey here in Hollywood.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty nine, I starred alongside her in A
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Brand New Life, one of my very first TV shows,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: and it was an experience I will never forget. Barbara
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Eden is a Hollywood icon. She starred opposite Elvis Presley,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: made memorable appearances on I Love Lucy, The Johnny Carson Show,
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  Speaker 1: Perry Mason, and Gun Smoke, just to name a few.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: I loved her work in How to Marry a Millionaire,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: the TV series It's so good you should watch it,
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  Speaker 1: And of course she became a cultural touch stone as
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Genie An I Dream of Genie. But behind the fame
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: and Sparkle is a woman who's made powerful, quiet choices
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: throughout her life. Choice is about identity, love, resilience, and
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: self respect in an industry that hasn't always made those easy.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: She's also a New York Times bestselling author and most
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: recently released a beautiful children's book called Barbara and the Gin. Today,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: we're going behind the curtain talking about what it really
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: takes to build a life on your own terms and
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: what Barbara's learned from a career and a life that
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: has been anything but ordinary. Please welcome Barbara Eden to
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: the podcast. Barbara, Barbara, Barbara, you have no idea how
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: excited I am that you are sitting in front of
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: me right now.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: I'm so happy to see you.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, been a minute, my daughter mom, Oh my gosh.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: We did Brand New Life together in nineteen eighty nine.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and with Don Murray.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: With Don Murray, and I remember thinking, oh my god,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: I'm playing Barbara Eaton's daughter. And I also remember thinking,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: oh my god, I'm like two degrees away from Marilyn
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Monroe because of Don and bus stop. Oh yeah, you know,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: I was just like in all every day at work.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Marilyn and I had the same stand
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: in you did because we were under contract of Fox
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: and Jee's character. That is cool, It is fun.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: You just have no idea how you were the foundation
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: of my career because I had just moved to la
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: and I think this was my first acting job. Really, yes,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: playing your daughter, My goodness, you were wonderful. Oh thanks,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: But I watched everything you did. I don't know if
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: you noticed me stalking you at all times, but I
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: was just glued to you, and I wanted to see
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: how you did everything. And you I always credit you
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: as being the one who taught me how to have
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: set etiquette. Like you were the gold star in my mind,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: and I always tried to live up to just being
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: like Barbara on set.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Because there's so feel so good.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you were so warm and welcoming and professional, and
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: I just I really look back on that time, so
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: finally I remember watching you.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: I remember watching in the makeup trailer.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Not to be creepy, but I remember just watching you
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: get your makeup done and watching the whole process. And
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: I remember you used to get makeup on your hands.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: And at the time I was sixteen, Yeah, I thought,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: why are they putting makeup on her hands?
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: And now that I'm fifty three, I know why. Yeah,
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: I get the hand makeup now. Well, I've always had
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: to do that even younger. Really, because my veins are
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: very blue. My mother, you're fair. I used to say, why, mommy,
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Why did she say you're a blue blood.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Okay, that's an answer, But I don't like them. I
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: know it's so true. They are very blue mine too. Yeah, yeah,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Well nobody knows because we always have our hand makeup on.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: I know that when you were younger, you've had this
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: incredible career that has spanned decades. I know that when
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: you were younger, before Hollywood, you wanted to be a singer,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: and you studied singing and acting.
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  Speaker 2: When you study acting, you do everything. You know, a
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: little bit of this, a little bit of that. I've
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: seen you dance, So you've got it. Well, thank you,
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: I have done it, but you've done it. But I
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: had very little training. It was really acting. Yeah, theater.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: How did you know? How did you know you wanted
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  Speaker 2: to be a performer? Well, it wasn't It wasn't something
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  Speaker 2: I thought about a lot. We had a lot of
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: music in our house. My grandfather had been with the
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: opera company in San Francisco at the turn of the century,
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: and he always had well classical music in the house.
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  Speaker 2: My mother sang a lot, and we'd sing together doing
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: the dishes, and it just sort of evolved. I was
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: in the choir church and one of my mother's friends
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: said she should study. And we didn't have a lot
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: of money at that time, but she gave me one
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: hundred dollars billow and said go. At that time that
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: was a lot of money. Yeah, And that started me.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: And then I got a job and I could pay
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: for my own lessons at the Conservatory of Music and
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: San Francisco wonderful. And one day I was singing at
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: home and my mom came in and said, Barbara, you're
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: singing every note perfectly, but you don't mean a word
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  Speaker 2: just singing. I think you should study acting. Oh that's
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: so I was. I think I was fourteen or fifteen
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  Speaker 2: at that time. So I did, and it was so helpful,
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  Speaker 2: so helpful for the singing and for the everything. You know,
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  Speaker 2: theft I'm sure you have you studied. I have studied. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: I studied dance and acting. Ever singing, yeah, see me,
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: never dancing. What was it that you broke through? Like,
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  Speaker 2: what was it you said, I want to be in
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  Speaker 2: the business. How did that happen? How did you come
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  Speaker 2: to be? Oh? I just wanted to make a living. Okay,
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  Speaker 2: good reason it was, this is what I was going
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  Speaker 2: to do to make my living right away? I mean,
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  Speaker 2: that's there was no question about it. My tea shirt.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Miss Holloway in San Francisco, after I'd been with her
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  Speaker 2: for about oh, I don't know, through high school and
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: and one year of college, and she's in fact, she
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: was the one that said stop, you don't need college.
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  Speaker 2: She said she she gave credit anyway, you know, and
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: said stop, come full time and study because I was
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: in there at night after school. So I did. I
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: did that for a couple of years, and then again
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: she had me in her office in Barbara. You have
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: to get out of the nest. I said, oh really,
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: She said yes, she said, you're you're too safe. You're
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: you're At that time, I was singing with dance bands
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  Speaker 2: around the Bay Area, and I was a member of
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Actors Equity. I had done a lot of theater and
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: she said, I either go to New York or LA
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  Speaker 2: but there's nothing more for you here. And I didn't
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: know anyone in New York. I had an aunt and
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: uncle in San Marino, right down the hill from you,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: and that's where I went. So I went from one
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  Speaker 2: nest to another. Yes, but you got a taste of
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: that independence, and I did. When another friend or new
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: person I met here said, you have to move to
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: the Studio Club. San Marino isn't going to get you anywhere.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Where was the studio Club. The Studio Club was in Hollywood.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: Haven't you heard about it? No? Oh, it was wonderful.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: It was wonderful. It was. It had been started by
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: oh God, I can't think of her name now, an
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  Speaker 2: actor in the thirties, actress, and she said, young women
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: need a place to stay were It isn't expensive and
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: they can get started. Anyone in the industry, Writers, secretaries,
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  Speaker 2: actresses could live in this place. But it was pretty
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: tough to get in. It was difficult. No men were
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  Speaker 2: allowed above the first floor, which is a big change
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: for today. Yeah, but you were with your contemporaries. You're
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: with people who were in the field. And I know
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  Speaker 2: when there was an audition, we all raced out an
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  Speaker 2: audition for it.
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  Speaker 1: What was that like living in a home with women
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  Speaker 1: that were young actresses, all wanting the same thing.
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  Speaker 2: It was wonderful, it was. It was wonderful. Yeah. In fact,
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  Speaker 2: my roommate Barbara Wilson, and I would go on the
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  Speaker 2: She'd get an audition and I'd go with her. I'd
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  Speaker 2: get one she'd go with me, the two of us,
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  Speaker 2: and at one time that she was a brunette, beautiful,
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: beautiful young lady. We went on the interview and they said, well,
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  Speaker 2: of course these are very small parts. I'm talking about,
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  Speaker 2: not talking about starring in the room. And the director
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  Speaker 2: who was interviewing us said, well, I guess I just
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: have to take both of you. You know that hat off. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: two of us. We had a good time. It was wonderful.
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  Speaker 2: You always knew what was going on. You see, you
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  Speaker 2: were at the hub.
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  Speaker 1: You were right in the middle of them. Oh yeah,
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  Speaker 1: that sounds so fun.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: Well it was. It was. Also they also gave you
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: breakfast and dinner. I rarely ate there because I was
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: out in the street looking for work, but yeah, it was.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: It was a wonderful place. I'm so sorry it's the
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: building is still but I guess no one wanted. Well
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: everything's changes, doesn't it. Yeah. Yeah, everyone wants their own
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: little apartment. I would rather have all the women around.
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  Speaker 1: And yeah, that sounds really fun. I can imagine how
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: fun that must have been. You came up in a
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  Speaker 1: time when women in Hollywood were often cast as symbols.
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  Speaker 1: They were beautiful or they were charming, but they were
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: rarely taken seriously as equals.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: Did you feel that? No, no, I didn't. When I
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: first came down and I was still staying with my
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: aunt and uncle, there's a man at Warner Brothers I
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: was sent to meet. He was head of casting and
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: I talked to him. He talked to me. He knew
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: my background. I told her everything. You know, where I studied,
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: what I did, how many plays I'd done, and I
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: was a member of actor's equity. Okay. And he looked
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: at me and he said, you're just not Hollywood. I said,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: you know, I'm a very young girl, holding my gloves
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: and I just listened, and he said, this is what
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: they want. He showed me a picture of his daughter,
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: big tits. Well, I want to tell you right now,
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: that doesn't seem like much. But then I mean my father,
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: my uncle's never said that word. No, I never heard
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: that word in my life. But he said, but you're
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: just not pretty enough. You're just not what they want.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: So I went out to the car my uncle had
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: driven me. I didn't know how to drive when I
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: came down here either, and holding back the tears, and
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: told my uncle what was said he was ready to
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: go back in have words. Yeah, but uh. Interestingly enough,
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: like eight months later, I was going to the coach
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: at Warner Brothers. He had seen me somewhere and said
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: work with me, and I said okay, and so I
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: would go on the lot. And one day I was
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: walking to where I was going to study and I
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: heard hey, hey, you hey, And I couldn't pay attention
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: because first of all, I was an under contract there,
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: and I thought he's gonna throw me. Somebody's gonna throw
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: me out, you know. He said, you with the yellow pants,
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: I had yellow pants. That was you. And I turned
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: around and it was that man. You should be nameless.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: I know his name. It's somebody forever. Yeah. He said,
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: are you going up to so and so's room, you know,
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: for the class? I said, yes, I am. He said,
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: we're going to test you. The same man that told
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: me I wasn't pretty enough, I didn't have big tits.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: You know what blows me away about that story is
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: not that he said big tits.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: It's that he showed you a picture of his daughter. Yeah.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: Well that just there's no way I can't wrap my
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: head around that. Yeah yeah, yeah, well wow and look
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: at you. So now he's ready to test you. Yeah,
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: just the same person. It's uh interesting.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, yes, you were so young and so fresh
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: to the biz, the Hollywood biz.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: I mean that must have been pretty devastating. It must
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: have gotten in your head.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Oh it did. I went back to my aunt uncle's
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: home and then I cried. Yeah, and then I thought,
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: not everyone looks alike. You need different characters for every play.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: What is going on here? I don't care. I'll be
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: a character actress. I don't care if I'm not pretty enough.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is just crazy that. I've heard
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: some stories, but I think that one tops it.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: Summer is this season of love. Sum are loveing. Here
• 15:18
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• 15:20
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  Speaker 1: Listen to I do part two on the iHeartRadio app,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Okay, So,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: how did you choose to hold onto your identity when
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: in the face of that story and when everybody was
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: trying to define you by your looks.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: I don't think I noticed it, you know. I began
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: to get small roles, and then the real breakthrough for
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: me was the Laguna Theater. I did a play there
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: with John Drury. I don't know if you remember John Drury.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: He was very popular and it's a two person play.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: So if they came to see John, they came to
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: see me. And by the way, I found out about
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: it through the Hollywood Studio Club because several of the
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: girls said, you know, John's looking for someone to do
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: this with him, and nobody wants. No one wanted to
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: do a play. Well, you know, I was raised on
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: them and that was equity, and so I said, I'll
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: do it, I'll do it. And because I did that,
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: they found me a twentieth century Fox. Because I was shocked.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: I was so surprised. I got really good reviews, which
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: is lovely. I don't think I've had any of that
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: good sense. But yeah, they brought me in and tested
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: me and put me under contract, under contract, And I've
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: always said it was my finishing school, you know, for acting.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: It was taught me the camera taught me lights things
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: i'd never think about. How old were you? Oh god,
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: I don't remember now. Were you in your teen twenty? No? No, no,
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: I was but young form my age, very wet behind
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: my ears. You know, we all start there, we all
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: start there. What are some of the hard.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Lessons that you have faced when you look back and
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: you were trying to find your way in Hollywood.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: Well, first of all, you don't pay any attention to
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: anything anyone says, because you will get so much criticism, negativity,
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: or too much you know, a puff thing. So just
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: be true to yourself. Block all that out. You must
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: be true to your in life. You have to be
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: true to yourself. But when you're if you recognize the
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: fact that you're being judged, get rid of it. Leave
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: it in the wings. Don't be judged. How do you
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: do that? How do you leave it in the wings?
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: I don't know. You just do you just do this?
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Do it's gone, That's all right. But because I've had
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: too many experiences where they've been proven wrong. You know.
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: I love that you've proved them wrong all these years.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: That's so good. Well, thank you. Yes, you are such
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: a knockout. Can I say that you're a babe? You're
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: a hottie? Hey, you think so? You are gorgeous.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: But when Hollywood was new and shiny, like we talked about,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: did you find it difficult in the face of what
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: that man told you? Did you find it difficult to
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: be taken seriously in the Hollywood world?
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: That No, The most difficult thing for me was getting
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: an SAG card. And because I would go on an
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: interview for small parts, you know things, and they'd asked
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: me if I belonged to the Union, I belonged to Actors' Equity,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: not screen actors killed, you know, And I wouldn't say.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't tell them that I did belong to actors Equity,
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: and they didn't tell me either. If you know the
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: union thing, because if you belong to equity, you automatically
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: could be an SAG At that time, I didn't know.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: It took me a while before I had a part
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: in a film where they were willing to do all
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: the paperwork to get me my sag card. That was
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: the most difficult thing for me, dealing with the negativity
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: or the I didn't have a problem with that really.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: I know people have talked a lot about the casting couch. Yeah,
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: but I didn't. You never had that problem? No, Oh,
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: I love that. Ever, did you know?
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: And I feel as if we are a very narrow
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: category of women that didn't have to deal with that.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: I guess so I just never did unless they chose
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: to do that. I knew a lot of girls that
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: got jobs because of it, but they didn't get the
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: important work, you know, they didn't they get the one
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: line or the two lines or whatever.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: It really sounds like you had your eye on the
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: prize and you were very focused about what you wanted
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: and like you said, just continue to be true to yourself.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's all you're here for. Yeah. I mean,
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: we're all individuals and different individuals, and like I should
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: have told that man at Warner Brothers. You know, there
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: are a lot of different kinds of people and they
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: and they have to be in a movie or whatever
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: you're doing and play the part. Yeah, they were looking
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: for something very specific at that time. It sounds like
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: I had another time. This is after I did have
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: my SAH card and I finally had an agent. And
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: the reason I had an agent is because the studio club,
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: I heard about an actor who wanted who is being interviewed,
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: but he needed a girl to do a scene with him,
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: and none, none of the girls at the club wanted
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: to do it. And I said, okay, I'll do it.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: You know, I do anything at that point, and because
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: I worked with him. As I was walking out, the
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: agent came over to me and said you're pretty good,
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: and I said thank you, and he said who's your agent.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: I said I don't have one, and he said, oh
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: you do. Now that's how I got an agent.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: Wow, And that's how it happens. Yeah, the right place,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: at the right time.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: That's true. And he at one time. Then I started
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: acting in small parts and things and there was an
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: interview at CBS and they wanted a blonde, sexy blonde
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: you know. Yeah. So I had one dress that was sexy,
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: one dreading the spaghetti straps and he said wear the
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: dress on the interview. I said okay. So I went
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: to CBS. By then I could drive. I didn't drive
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: a car. I did it and it was cold, and
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: I had a white fluffy coat, and I went up
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: and got up into the room. Oh well, outside it
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: was cold. Inside it was colder. CBS went in and
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: had an interview with the director. Told him, you know
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: what i'd done where I'd studied, blah blah blah. You know.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: He said, thank you very much. I went back and oh,
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: I didn't take the coat off. You kept the coat off.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: I kept.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: I will tell you. Yeah, I was cold. And when
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: I got back to the studio club, my agent called
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: and said what happened. I said, well, I didn't get it.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: I know I didn't get it. He said, they told
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: me you didn't get it. Tell me what you did.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: And I said, well, I think part of the reason
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: maybe I didn't take my coat off. So but in
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: a couple of weeks they this was the Johnny Carson Show.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: He was not the nighttime show. He had a daytime thing.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: And he said, Barbara, they want to see you again.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: Take off your coat. Oh boy, So I said, okay,
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: I did. I was freezing cold, and lake can be cold,
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: you know. I took the coat off in my car
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: and walked in had the interview with the same director.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: You know, and I know again I could tell, you
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: can tell, you can tell. And I was walking down
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: the hallway and there were some men at the water
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: stand and as I walked by, they made lesser remarks,
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: you know, kept walking, and then one of them detached
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: himself and took my arm. Said you don't mine, do you?
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: And I said, no, I don't mind. What's to mind.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: You know, we're here in a hallway and I'm going
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: to the elevator, that's okay. And we were talking back
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: and forth, joking, and I got into the elevator and
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: he stopped it and he said, were you in saying
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: seeing the director? I can't remember the director's name at
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: this time, I said. He said, did you get the job?
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: I said I don't think so, and he said like that,
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: and that's how I got started in the elevator. Well
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: that's how really I did fourteen or fifteen of those shows,
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: I think mainly because I was used to live audiences,
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: you know, and I've done a lot of theater. But yeah,
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: and he apologized to me, the director, he said, I'm
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: I'm so sorry. He said, I fell into that habit
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: that directors are casting people do, of thinking that they're
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: not actors, but they can't be something else other than
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: what they are. I wanted a dumb blonde who could
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: sing off key. You studied at conservatory. You were extremely intelligent.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: Little did he know at the level, but you could.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: But he said, I just realize you were an actor.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: You could act and do those things be stupid.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's the best story ever.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: Isn't it interesting?
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, and if you hadn't been open to that
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: gentleman in the hallway, I wouldn't have had the job.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: And weren't you know, so easy going and delightful to
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: just on a human level, you wouldn't have gotten it.
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Who was this guy at the water cooler? You
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: know something? Later years he was one of the producers
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: on he was the producer. Okay, but he was one
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: of my films. I've forgotten his name. I'm sorry. That's okay,
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: so long ago. Well that he was the producer, that's enough. Yeah,
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: I love that story. Oh my gosh.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: I think as women, there's that line between being admired
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: and being respected. I feel like I'm gonna I know
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: what you're going to say to this. We're often misunderstood,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: such as that story did you find yourself having to
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: push back to prove yourself in that regard that you
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: deserved respect. No, no, I just expected it. No, I
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: don't think there was ever.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: There might have been in said Francisco when I was
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: very young, when I was a teenager, but not not
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: in Hollywood at I didn't have that. I think I
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: was very lucky. You might have had an angel on
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: my shoulder, but maybe you had a genie or perhaps
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: I didn't. I didn't accept it. I don't know. I
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: didn't pay a lot of attention to what a lot
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: of people were talking about. I'd been to that guy
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: at Warner Brothers, and I had CBS, so I just
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: didn't allow that negativity to come near me. I think
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: that's I think that's what it is. You're making me think. Now,
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: hold on home, me give you some time just because
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: you think you're my daughter.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Why is that though, Because this business can breed insecurity,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: and as a I definitely battled with a lot of
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: things regarding that. But you sound like you came in
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: with a true knowledge of who you were and what
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: you were worth. Do you think that was instilled in
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: you by your family, by your mom, by your dad?
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: Oh, definitely, definitely, And I was raised more by women.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: My dad was there, but my grandmother was there. My aunt,
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: the one who lived in San Marino, would always come
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: through San Francisco, and my mother, my mother's sister. Oh definitely. Yeah.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: But I think we all have insecurities. We all have
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: a little spot in our psyche that oh my god, George,
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: look all right? Am I doing this all right?
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: And absolutely that little voice, yeah, yeah, it's always there.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: What advice would you give women today who are feeling
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: box in by expectations or stereotypes. Are you talking about
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: actors or just generally speaking.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: I think just women, just as a woman. Yeah, well,
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: I would say get out of the box. You know,
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: you can't let other people affect you or it just
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: can't be done, you can't do it. I don't know
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: what else to say. First of all, I think you
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: have to do your job well. Whether it's a wife
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: or a mother, or an actor or a scientist, a teacher,
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: whatever you're doing, do it well or be interested enough
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: to do it, and then you'll feel good about yourself
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: and also recognize that we're all connected. I believe this.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: I think all humans on earth are all connected by one.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: I don't want to get into religions and things, but
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: I do feel that it is we're all a manifestation
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: of a greater power. And realize that when you're working.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: For instance, since I'm an actor, that's my job, but
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: when you're working with someone who might be a little different,
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: I think you have to just keep recognizing what connects
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: the two of you. Just know it, and when you
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: know it, it makes it so much better, makes everything
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: work out well. Then you feel better about yourself.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: And when you feel good about yourself, you're unstoppable.
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're productive. You're productive. Yes, this year, you're not
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: in the box. You're not in the box because there
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: is no box, there is none. That's great. No, don't
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: recognize it.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: You're so strong, Barbara sometime. Okay, let's go to nineteen sixty.
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: Okay, you're ready. That was a very good year for you.
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: By the way.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: You were working all the time, all the time in
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: nineteen sixty. I mean you were doing two, three four
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: films a year, pretty much every year. But I noticed
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty you had a lot of credits. You
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: were doing a movie opposite Elvis Presley, Yes's Flaming Star yeah,
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: so good.
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: What was it like working with someone on that global
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: level of stardom? It was just like working with any
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: other actor. And he was lovely, just the sweetest, really wonderful.
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: You know. When I would come on the set, he'd
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: run and get me a chair. Actors don't do that. Well,
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: no they don't. It's a gentleman. No, they're all we're
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: all working in our little thing. But he was. He
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: was a gentleman. Was his Mama brought him up right,
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: and he was fun to talk to. We would talk
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: for a long time when the lights are being set up,
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: because you know, it takes wow. And he told me
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: about his mother. And then he asked me because at
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: the time I was married to Michael and Sarah, who
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: was very well known at that time. I don't think
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: anyone knows him now, but at that time he was.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: And Elvis was a huge fan of Mike's and he
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: asked me, how how can you be married and still
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: be in the light like you are? And what I
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: told you, it's a job. The two of us work.
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: He works, I work, but but it's not you know,
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: it's not. It's just like any other job. It's like
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: going to the office for us really, so nothing gets
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: in the way. And he said, well, he said, you know,
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: I've met somebody I really like a lot, but I
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: don't know how I can bring her into this. Well,
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: what is this? This is nothing. This is how we work,
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: This is how we make our living. And I said, no,
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: you know, I told her this. Actually, are we talking
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: about Priscilla. Priscilla, Yes, lovely, lovely woman, just a sweetheart. Yeah,
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: and I I said, just know that it's your work,
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: of course, you know, I think his work was a
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: little different than with the camera that you know, I've
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: done my stint in Las Vegas, and yeah, it's a
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: different that is a different world. But in my ignorance,
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: I said, it's just a job. Yeah. I mean, when
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: you look at that career and the pain that Elvis
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: seemed to go through because of his personal life, do
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: you ever think that there can be just too much
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: fame for one person. No, I don't think it's the fame,
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: I really don't. I think it's being a steer in
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: the wrong direction by people around you. You know, as
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: I said, true to yourself.
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: He was.
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: It broke my heart to hear about him, And actually
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: I followed him on it because as I was doing Genie,
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: I was also working in Vegas singing. I don't know
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: if you knew that at the same time. Yeah, wow,
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: well in between, you know. In fact, I think I
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: did a movie a year, and then I'd do three
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: weeks in Vegas doing my act. And I was in
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: Reno and singing there and I got a cold, like
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: kind of I have right now, and they took me
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: to a doctor in Reno and gave me a shot.
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: I don't know what it was, but they did, and
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: it cleared up the congestion and everything. It was a miracle.
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: And the man who took me to the doctor said,
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: I don't want you to ever see this doctor again.
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: And I said why, he just don't do it. He
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: said he's Elvis's doctor, and he said he travels with him.
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: But he said, I have seen Elvis's bottom, you know,
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: And he said it's like a pincushion. So it's very destructive.
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: He loved to sing, he loved to perform, but I
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: think I think the people around him expected too much
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: out of him, too much, and he was willing to
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: do it because he loved it so much. Beautiful, beautiful
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: human being. It's just so sad.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Okay, Barbara, I have so many more things
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: I want to talk to you about.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: I just can't stop. I think we're going to have
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: to make this a two
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: Parter, so everybody keep an eye out for the second
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: part of this incredible conversation with Barbara Eden.