Who is Barbara Bain?
Barbara was born as Mildred Fogel in Chicago, Illinois USA on 13 Septem,ber 1931 – her zodiac sign’s Virgo, and she holds American nationality. She’s an actress with close to 100 credits, while she’s probably still known best for her portrayal of Cinnamon Carter in the action crime adventure “Mission: Impossible”, created by Bruce Geller, and in which she starred alongside Peter Graves and Greg Morris. The series follows an elite covert operations unit which takes on only the most sensitive missions, it aired from 1966 to 1973 and won 29 awards, including 10 Primetime Emmys, while it was nominated for 39 other awards.
Some of Barbara’s fans are wondering if she’s retired and what she’s doing today; the actress is still active in the film industry, and it’s recently been announced that she’s to appear in the upcoming western movie “Something Happened: The Untold Story of Mice and Men”.
Early life and education
Barbara was raised in Chicago by Russian-Jewish immigrant parents; they came to the US not long before she was born, but nothing else is known about them, because Barbara respects their privacy. It’s widely believed that she’s an only child, not having spoken of any siblings.
Barbara became interested in both dancing and acting while attending a local high school, and was also into sports, while it’s believed that she was a cheerleader during her teenage years.
She matriculated in 1949 and enrolled at the University of Illinois, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1953; Barbara then moved to New York City and studied dancing, with the late American choreographer and modern dancer Martha Graham.
Feeling dissatisfied with dancing, Barbara turned to modeling, and appeared on the cover page of both “Harper’s” and “Vogue”, as well as several less popular magazines, but eventually felt unhappy with modelling too, and began studying acting at the Theater Studio, then at the Actors Studio, at which she was coached by the late Polish-born American actor and acting coach Lee Strasberg.
Roles in TV series
Barbara made her debut TV series appearance in the 1958 episode “The Captain’s Gun” of the adventure drama “Harbormaster”, and the following years saw her appear in an episode or two of many series, including the drama “State Trooper”, the mystery crime drama “Philip Marlowe”, and the thriller comedy “Mr. Lucky”.
What marked the ‘60s for her, besides her role in “Mission: Impossible”, was her portrayal of Elayna Scott in the critically acclaimed mystery crime drama “Perry Mason”, created by Erle Stanley Gardner, and which starred Raymond Burr, William Hopper and Barbara Hale. It follows the life of a criminal defense lawyer, the series aired from 1957 to 1966 (Barbara Bain was a member of the cast from 1960 to 1964) and won nine awards, including three Primetime Emmys, while it was nominated for six other awards.
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Between 1975 and 1977, she starred as Dr. Helena Russell, alongside Martin Landau and Nick Tate, in the science fiction adventure drama “Space: 1999”. It follows the crew of Moonbase Alpha, now that the Moon has been thrown out of orbit by a giant explosion; the series was nominated for an Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Award for Best DVD/Blu-Ray Television Release.
Barbara had only guest roles in the ‘90s, appearing in an episode of the mystery crime drama “The New Mike Hammer”, the mystery comedy drama “Moonlighting”, and the romantic adventure comedy “Scarecrow and Mrs. King”.
She’s since had roles in less than 10 TV series, with some of her most recent having been in the 2008 episode “What Are Little Girls Made Of” of the animated action adventure “Ben 10: Alien Fore” (voice role), the 2016 episode “Exodus” of the drama “Code Black”, and the 2020 episode “Ripple Effect” of the adventure science fiction “Space Command”.
Roles in movies
Barbara made her debut film appearance in the 1971 mystery thriller drama “Murder Once Removed”, while a couple of her following roles were in the 1972 mystery crime comedy “Goodnight, My Love”, the thriller drama “Savage”, and the romantic war drama “A Summer Without Boys” both in 1973.
Her first notable performance was perhaps in the 1990 science fiction comedy “The Spirit of ‘76”, written and directed by Lucas Reiner, and which starred Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald Casale and Carl Reiner. Set in 2176, the movie follows a magnetic storm which has erased all recorded history, while now three time travelers have to go back in time to 4 July 1776, to retrieve the US Constitution, although they’ve been sent to 1976 by mistake.
A couple of her following roles were in the 1998 romantic fantasy “Animals with the Tollkeeper”, the 1998 drama “Icebergs: The Secret Life of a Refrigerator” and the 2002 drama “American Gun”.
Barbara played Sister Dolores in the 2009 romantic horror thriller “Forget Me Not”, written and directed by Tyler Oliver, and which starred Carly Schroeder, Cody Linley and Brie Gabrielle. It follows the vengeful spirit of a girl who was bullied at school, and who’s now preying on those who’ve matriculated from the high school which she attended.
Three of Barbara’s most recent roles have been in 2018 in the short comedy “The Matchmaker”, and the short drama “Take My Hand”, and the popular 2020 romantic comedy drama “On the Rocks”.
Other credits
Barbara sang three songs in the 1969 episode “Illusion” of the series “Mission: Impossible”.
She received special thanks for both the 2003 movie “Wake”, and the 2012 short film “Sleeping with the Bear”.
Barbara’s been featured in a couple of documentaries, most recently in the 2014 series “Pioneers of Television”, the 2019 short video “Mission to Moonbase Alpha: An Interview with Actress Barbara Bain”, and the 2021 movie “The Dick Van Dyke Show – Celebrating the 60th Anniversary”.
She’s made a guest appearance in a couple of talk-shows, including “Light the Fuse”, “Meet the Biz” and “The Hollywood Moment”.
Awards and nominations
Barbara’s won nine awards, including three Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series in 1967, ‘68 and ‘69, all for “Mission: Impossible”.
She’s also been nominated for four awards, including a 1968 Golden Globe for Best TV Star – Female, also for “Mission: Impossible”.
Barbara received her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 28 April 2016.
I feel so honored. Thank you to all the fans who made this happen.
Best,
BB pic.twitter.com/p1sSQOTYJL— Barbara Bain (@TheBarbaraBain) April 26, 2016
Husband and divorce
Barbara’s a rather secretive woman, and has shared only a couple of details about her love life with her fans. She married American actor and producer Martin Landau on 31 January 1957, in a large ceremony attended by their family members and wide circle of friends; Martin appeared in close to 180 movies and TV series, and won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in the 1994 biographical comedy movie “Ed Wood”.
Barbara gave birth to their first daughter Susan Meredith Landau, on 13 August 1960, and their second daughter Juliet Rose Landau followed on 30 March 1965; Susan’s today a film writer, producer and director, while Juliet’s an actress, producer and ballerina.
Barbara and Martin divorced in 1993, and he passed away on 15 July 2017, aged 89.
She hasn’t mentioned any men whom she’s perhaps been with since her divorce from Martin, and as of September 2022, Barbara seems to be unattached, was once married to Martin Landau, and has two daughters with him. She’s since revealed that the more than 30 years which she spent married to Martin were more than enough, and that she probably won’t be marrying again.
Hobbies and interesting facts
Barbara suffers from claustrophobia – the fear of small spaces; the writers of the series “Mission: Impossible” used this, and made her character claustrophobic as well.
She’s revealed that she hasn’t seen a single “Mission: Impossible” movie that stars Tom Cruise, as she believes that these films are nothing similar to the eponymous series in which she starred.
She isn’t related to the late Canadian-American actor and comedian Conrad Bain.
Barbara’s travelled all around the world since the launch of her career, but nowadays prefers staying at home over travelling.
She has her own favorite actor and actress, Tom Hanks and Kate Winslet, mostly because her favorite movie genre is romantic comedy; a couple of her favorite films are “Sleepless in Seattle”, “You’ve Got Mail” and “The Terminal”.
Age, height and net worth
Barbara’s age’s 90. Her hair’s blonde and eyes are blue, her height’s 5ft 9ins (1.76m) and she weighs around 145lbs (66kgs).
Her net worth’s been estimated at over $1 million as of September 2022.
