Entertainment TV Barbara Eden's Life in Pictures Barbara Eden is best known for starring on I Dream of Jeannie as well as various film, TV and theater roles. See the actress' incredible career in pictures By Kelsie Gibson Kelsie Gibson Twitter Kelsie Gibson is the SEO Editor of PEOPLE Digital. Since joining the brand in 2021, she has contributed to a number of different verticals, writing and editing SEO content ranging from relationship timelines to TV and movie explainers. Prior to joining PEOPLE, Kelsie worked at POPSUGAR as the Celebrity and Entertainment editor, where she wrote and edited content and conducted various interviews for online and video at press junkets, red carpets, and events such as Tribeca Film Festival. She was also formerly at Bustle, Tiger Beat, and Her Campus and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. People Editorial Guidelines Published on August 23, 2022 01:11 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos 01 of 13 Barbara Eden's Life Before Acting Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Barbara Eden was born Barbara Jean Morehead on Aug. 23, 1931, in Tucson, Arizona, to parents Alice Mary and Hubert Henry Morehead. Following her parents' divorce, Eden and her mother moved to San Francisco, where Mary eventually remarried. Eden first began singing in her church choir before performing with local bands when she was a teenager. Following her high school graduation in 1949, she studied theater for one year at City College of San Francisco. 02 of 13 Barbara Eden on The Andy Griffith Show Courtesy Everett Collection After doing a handful of pageants, including the Miss California pageant, Eden began booking TV roles in the mid-1950s. Her first TV role was on The Johnny Carson Show in 1955, but she also made a handful of appearances on I Love Lucy, Father Knows Best and The Andy Griffith Show (pictured), among many others. 03 of 13 Barbara Eden in Flaming Star with Elvis Presley Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images In 1960, Eden had a leading role in Flaming Star alongside Elvis Presley. The film was based on the 1958 book Flaming Lance by Clair Huffaker and the film is considered one of Presley's best acting performances. Throughout the early 1960s, Eden starred in a handful of other films, including The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, Five Weeks in a Balloon and Swingin' Along. After starring in The Yellow Canary in 1963, she left 20th Century Fox and took on more television roles. 04 of 13 Barbara Eden on I Dream of Jeannie Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images Following the success of ABC's Bewitched in 1964, NBC created its own fantasy sitcom, I Dream of Jeannie. After seeing Eden in The Brass Bottle, writer Sidney Sheldon approached the actress for the role of the titular character. The show, which centered on an astronaut (Larry Hagman) who falls in love with a genie (Eden), ran for five seasons from 1965 to 1970 and is regarded as Eden's most notable role. During the show's run, Eden received two Golden Globe nominations for best TV actress — comedy or musical and best TV star — female. 05 of 13 Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman's Friendship SGranitz/WireImage During I Dream of Jeannie, Eden developed a close friendship with her costar Larry Hagman, who played Anthony "Tony" Nelson. The two later reunited onscreen in 1971's A Howling in the Woods, in which they played a married couple. She also had a guest-starring role on Hagman's series Dallas in 1990. In March 2006, the two reunited on stage for a production of Love Letters in New York. The stars remained good friends until Hagman's death in November 2012. "I can honestly say that we've lost not just a great actor, not just a television icon, but an element of pure Americana," Eden said at the time of his death. "Goodbye Larry, there was no one like you before and there will never be anyone like you again." 06 of 13 Barbara Eden in Harper Valley PTA April Fools Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock In 1978, Eden starred in the feature film Harper Valley PTA, which was based on the country song of the same name by Tom T. Hall. The film was eventually picked up as a sitcom on NBC and ran from January 1981 to August 1982. 07 of 13 Barbara Eden's Theater Career Paul Natkin/Getty Images Shortly after starring on Harper Valley, Eden joined the national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical Woman of the Year. In the '90s, she performed in a handful of stage productions including Same Time, Next Year with Wayne Rogers in 1991 and the national tour of Last of the Red Hot Lovers with Don Knotts in 1993. She later starred in the national touring production of the play The Odd Couple: The Female Version from 2000 to 2004. 08 of 13 Barbara Eden and Michael Ansara's Marriage Max B. Miller/Fotos International/Getty Images Eden met actor Michael Ansara while he was filming his hit TV series Broken Arrow. The two were married from 1958 to 1974 and Ansara made several guest appearances on I Dream of Jeannie. The couple had one son together, Matthew Ansara, who tragically died of a heroin overdose on June 25, 2001. "I don't know if becoming a mom changed me, but it was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me," Eden recalled to PEOPLE in October 2021. "It's a miracle, having a baby, and having this little creation. I get goosebumps when I think about it. It's the loveliest thing that happened in my life." 09 of 13 Barbara Eden and Charles Fegert's Marriage Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images Following her divorce from Ansara, Eden married Chicago Sun-Times executive Charles Fegert in 1977. The couple was together for five years before they divorced in 1982. 10 of 13 Barbara Eden and Jon Eicholtz's Marriage Ron Galella, Ltd/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images In 1991, Eden married her third husband, real estate developer Jon Eicholtz. The couple has been together for 30 years and currently resides in Beverly Hills. "I'm really lucky," she told PEOPLE in October 2021. "I have dear friends. I have a wonderful family, a very supportive husband. Yes, I'm very happy." 11 of 13 Barbara Eden's Memoir Beck Starr/FilmMagic In April 2011, Eden released a memoir titled Jeannie Out of the Bottle. The book, which debuted at No. 14 on The New York Times Best Seller List, chronicled both her career and personal life, including her marriages to Michael Ansara, Charles Fegert and Jon Eicholtz, as well as the heartbreaking death of her son Matthew Ansara. 12 of 13 Barbara Eden's Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images On Nov. 17, 1988, Eden was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her work in television. 13 of 13 Barbara Eden in My Adventures with Santa Universal Studios Eden's most recent acting role was in the 2019 Christmas film My Adventures with Santa, in which she played Mrs. Claus alongside Denise Richards and Patrick Muldoon.