June 17, 2025 • 38 mins
Hollywood icon and beloved TV star, Barbara Eden is sitting down with Jennie for a conversation about her legacy and choosing your own path …on and off screen!
From breaking into the industry in a male-dominated era, to handling fame with grace, to acting with Elvis Presley on a movie set. Barbara shares stories and wisdom from her extraordinary life and career … including when she and Jennie worked together!
Plus, you’ll never believe the words that come out of Barbara’s mouth when she recounts what a Hollywood exec said to her early in her career!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Garland. Welcome
back to I Choose Me, where we dive into the
choices that shape our lives. Today's guest is someone I've
admired for decades and someone I had the chance to
(00:22):
work with very early in my own journey here in Hollywood.
In nineteen eighty nine, I starred alongside her in A
Brand New Life, one of my very first TV shows,
and it was an experience I will never forget. Barbara
Eden is a Hollywood icon. She starred opposite Elvis Presley,
(00:43):
made memorable appearances on I Love Lucy, The Johnny Carson Show,
Perry Mason, and Gun Smoke, just to name a few.
I loved her work in How to Marry a Millionaire,
the TV series It's so good you should watch it,
And of course she became a cultural touch stone as
Genie An I Dream of Genie. But behind the fame
(01:04):
and Sparkle is a woman who's made powerful, quiet choices
throughout her life. Choice is about identity, love, resilience, and
self respect in an industry that hasn't always made those easy.
She's also a New York Times bestselling author and most
recently released a beautiful children's book called Barbara and the Gin. Today,
(01:28):
we're going behind the curtain talking about what it really
takes to build a life on your own terms and
what Barbara's learned from a career and a life that
has been anything but ordinary. Please welcome Barbara Eden to
the podcast. Barbara, Barbara, Barbara, you have no idea how
(01:48):
excited I am that you are sitting in front of
me right now.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I'm so happy to see you.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, been a minute, my daughter mom, Oh my gosh.
We did Brand New Life together in nineteen eighty nine.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, and with Don Murray.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
With Don Murray, and I remember thinking, oh my god,
I'm playing Barbara Eaton's daughter. And I also remember thinking,
oh my god, I'm like two degrees away from Marilyn
Monroe because of Don and bus stop. Oh yeah, you know,
I was just like in all every day at work.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, you know, Marilyn and I had the same stand
in you did because we were under contract of Fox
and Jee's character. That is cool, It is fun.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
You just have no idea how you were the foundation
of my career because I had just moved to la
and I think this was my first acting job. Really, yes,
playing your daughter, My goodness, you were wonderful. Oh thanks,
But I watched everything you did. I don't know if
you noticed me stalking you at all times, but I
(02:55):
was just glued to you, and I wanted to see
how you did everything. And you I always credit you
as being the one who taught me how to have
set etiquette. Like you were the gold star in my mind,
and I always tried to live up to just being
like Barbara on set.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Because there's so feel so good.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, you were so warm and welcoming and professional, and
I just I really look back on that time, so
finally I remember watching you.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I remember watching in the makeup trailer.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Not to be creepy, but I remember just watching you
get your makeup done and watching the whole process. And
I remember you used to get makeup on your hands.
And at the time I was sixteen, Yeah, I thought,
why are they putting makeup on her hands?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
And now that I'm fifty three, I know why. Yeah,
I get the hand makeup now. Well, I've always had
to do that even younger. Really, because my veins are
very blue. My mother, you're fair. I used to say, why, mommy,
Why did she say you're a blue blood.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Okay, that's an answer, But I don't like them. I
know it's so true. They are very blue mine too. Yeah, yeah,
Well nobody knows because we always have our hand makeup on.
I know that when you were younger, you've had this
incredible career that has spanned decades. I know that when
(04:24):
you were younger, before Hollywood, you wanted to be a singer,
and you studied singing and acting.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
When you study acting, you do everything. You know, a
little bit of this, a little bit of that. I've
seen you dance, So you've got it. Well, thank you,
I have done it, but you've done it. But I
had very little training. It was really acting. Yeah, theater.
How did you know? How did you know you wanted
(04:51):
to be a performer? Well, it wasn't It wasn't something
I thought about a lot. We had a lot of
music in our house. My grandfather had been with the
opera company in San Francisco at the turn of the century,
and he always had well classical music in the house.
(05:15):
My mother sang a lot, and we'd sing together doing
the dishes, and it just sort of evolved. I was
in the choir church and one of my mother's friends
said she should study. And we didn't have a lot
of money at that time, but she gave me one
hundred dollars billow and said go. At that time that
(05:39):
was a lot of money. Yeah, And that started me.
And then I got a job and I could pay
for my own lessons at the Conservatory of Music and
San Francisco wonderful. And one day I was singing at
home and my mom came in and said, Barbara, you're
(06:00):
singing every note perfectly, but you don't mean a word
just singing. I think you should study acting. Oh that's
so I was. I think I was fourteen or fifteen
at that time. So I did, and it was so helpful,
(06:20):
so helpful for the singing and for the everything. You know,
theft I'm sure you have you studied. I have studied. Yes,
I studied dance and acting. Ever singing, yeah, see me,
never dancing. What was it that you broke through? Like,
what was it you said, I want to be in
the business. How did that happen? How did you come
(06:42):
to be? Oh? I just wanted to make a living. Okay,
good reason it was, this is what I was going
to do to make my living right away? I mean,
that's there was no question about it. My tea shirt.
Miss Holloway in San Francisco, after I'd been with her
for about oh, I don't know, through high school and
(07:02):
and one year of college, and she's in fact, she
was the one that said stop, you don't need college.
She said she she gave credit anyway, you know, and
said stop, come full time and study because I was
in there at night after school. So I did. I
(07:26):
did that for a couple of years, and then again
she had me in her office in Barbara. You have
to get out of the nest. I said, oh really,
She said yes, she said, you're you're too safe. You're
you're At that time, I was singing with dance bands
(07:47):
around the Bay Area, and I was a member of
Actors Equity. I had done a lot of theater and
she said, I either go to New York or LA
but there's nothing more for you here. And I didn't
know anyone in New York. I had an aunt and
uncle in San Marino, right down the hill from you,
(08:09):
and that's where I went. So I went from one
nest to another. Yes, but you got a taste of
that independence, and I did. When another friend or new
person I met here said, you have to move to
(08:30):
the Studio Club. San Marino isn't going to get you anywhere.
Where was the studio Club. The Studio Club was in Hollywood.
Haven't you heard about it? No? Oh, it was wonderful.
It was wonderful. It was. It had been started by
oh God, I can't think of her name now, an
(08:51):
actor in the thirties, actress, and she said, young women
need a place to stay were It isn't expensive and
they can get started. Anyone in the industry, Writers, secretaries,
actresses could live in this place. But it was pretty
(09:14):
tough to get in. It was difficult. No men were
allowed above the first floor, which is a big change
for today. Yeah, but you were with your contemporaries. You're
with people who were in the field. And I know
when there was an audition, we all raced out an
audition for it.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
What was that like living in a home with women
that were young actresses, all wanting the same thing.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
It was wonderful, it was. It was wonderful. Yeah. In fact,
my roommate Barbara Wilson, and I would go on the
She'd get an audition and I'd go with her. I'd
get one she'd go with me, the two of us,
and at one time that she was a brunette, beautiful,
(10:05):
beautiful young lady. We went on the interview and they said, well,
of course these are very small parts. I'm talking about,
not talking about starring in the room. And the director
who was interviewing us said, well, I guess I just
have to take both of you. You know that hat off. Yeah,
two of us. We had a good time. It was wonderful.
(10:29):
You always knew what was going on. You see, you
were at the hub.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You were right in the middle of them. Oh yeah,
that sounds so fun.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Well it was. It was. Also they also gave you
breakfast and dinner. I rarely ate there because I was
out in the street looking for work, but yeah, it was.
It was a wonderful place. I'm so sorry it's the
building is still but I guess no one wanted. Well
(11:05):
everything's changes, doesn't it. Yeah. Yeah, everyone wants their own
little apartment. I would rather have all the women around.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
And yeah, that sounds really fun. I can imagine how
fun that must have been. You came up in a
time when women in Hollywood were often cast as symbols.
They were beautiful or they were charming, but they were
rarely taken seriously as equals.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Did you feel that? No, no, I didn't. When I
first came down and I was still staying with my
aunt and uncle, there's a man at Warner Brothers I
was sent to meet. He was head of casting and
I talked to him. He talked to me. He knew
(11:58):
my background. I told her everything. You know, where I studied,
what I did, how many plays I'd done, and I
was a member of actor's equity. Okay. And he looked
at me and he said, you're just not Hollywood. I said,
you know, I'm a very young girl, holding my gloves
(12:18):
and I just listened, and he said, this is what
they want. He showed me a picture of his daughter,
big tits. Well, I want to tell you right now,
that doesn't seem like much. But then I mean my father,
my uncle's never said that word. No, I never heard
(12:41):
that word in my life. But he said, but you're
just not pretty enough. You're just not what they want.
So I went out to the car my uncle had
driven me. I didn't know how to drive when I
came down here either, and holding back the tears, and
told my uncle what was said he was ready to
go back in have words. Yeah, but uh. Interestingly enough,
(13:08):
like eight months later, I was going to the coach
at Warner Brothers. He had seen me somewhere and said
work with me, and I said okay, and so I
would go on the lot. And one day I was
walking to where I was going to study and I
heard hey, hey, you hey, And I couldn't pay attention
(13:32):
because first of all, I was an under contract there,
and I thought he's gonna throw me. Somebody's gonna throw
me out, you know. He said, you with the yellow pants,
I had yellow pants. That was you. And I turned
around and it was that man. You should be nameless.
I know his name. It's somebody forever. Yeah. He said,
(13:53):
are you going up to so and so's room, you know,
for the class? I said, yes, I am. He said,
we're going to test you. The same man that told
me I wasn't pretty enough, I didn't have big tits.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
You know what blows me away about that story is
not that he said big tits.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
It's that he showed you a picture of his daughter. Yeah.
Well that just there's no way I can't wrap my
head around that. Yeah yeah, yeah, well wow and look
at you. So now he's ready to test you. Yeah,
just the same person. It's uh interesting.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
I mean, yes, you were so young and so fresh
to the biz, the Hollywood biz.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I mean that must have been pretty devastating. It must
have gotten in your head.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Oh it did. I went back to my aunt uncle's
home and then I cried. Yeah, and then I thought,
not everyone looks alike. You need different characters for every play.
What is going on here? I don't care. I'll be
a character actress. I don't care if I'm not pretty enough.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is just crazy that. I've heard
some stories, but I think that one tops it.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
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Listen each week as our hosts make it their goal
to find you the next true love of your life.
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Kelly Ben Simone, Amy Robot, and TJ. Holmes are dedicated
(15:38):
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Speaker 1 (15:43):
Listen to I do part two on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Okay, So,
how did you choose to hold onto your identity when
in the face of that story and when everybody was
trying to define you by your looks.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I don't think I noticed it, you know. I began
to get small roles, and then the real breakthrough for
me was the Laguna Theater. I did a play there
with John Drury. I don't know if you remember John Drury.
He was very popular and it's a two person play.
(16:29):
So if they came to see John, they came to
see me. And by the way, I found out about
it through the Hollywood Studio Club because several of the
girls said, you know, John's looking for someone to do
this with him, and nobody wants. No one wanted to
do a play. Well, you know, I was raised on
(16:50):
them and that was equity, and so I said, I'll
do it, I'll do it. And because I did that,
they found me a twentieth century Fox. Because I was shocked.
I was so surprised. I got really good reviews, which
is lovely. I don't think I've had any of that
(17:11):
good sense. But yeah, they brought me in and tested
me and put me under contract, under contract, And I've
always said it was my finishing school, you know, for acting.
It was taught me the camera taught me lights things
i'd never think about. How old were you? Oh god,
(17:35):
I don't remember now. Were you in your teen twenty? No? No, no,
I was but young form my age, very wet behind
my ears. You know, we all start there, we all
start there. What are some of the hard.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Lessons that you have faced when you look back and
you were trying to find your way in Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Well, first of all, you don't pay any attention to
anything anyone says, because you will get so much criticism, negativity,
or too much you know, a puff thing. So just
be true to yourself. Block all that out. You must
be true to your in life. You have to be
(18:22):
true to yourself. But when you're if you recognize the
fact that you're being judged, get rid of it. Leave
it in the wings. Don't be judged. How do you
do that? How do you leave it in the wings?
I don't know. You just do you just do this?
(18:43):
Do it's gone, That's all right. But because I've had
too many experiences where they've been proven wrong. You know.
I love that you've proved them wrong all these years.
That's so good. Well, thank you. Yes, you are such
a knockout. Can I say that you're a babe? You're
(19:06):
a hottie? Hey, you think so? You are gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
But when Hollywood was new and shiny, like we talked about,
did you find it difficult in the face of what
that man told you? Did you find it difficult to
be taken seriously in the Hollywood world?
Speaker 2 (19:27):
That No, The most difficult thing for me was getting
an SAG card. And because I would go on an
interview for small parts, you know things, and they'd asked
me if I belonged to the Union, I belonged to Actors' Equity,
not screen actors killed, you know, And I wouldn't say.
I wouldn't tell them that I did belong to actors Equity,
(19:50):
and they didn't tell me either. If you know the
union thing, because if you belong to equity, you automatically
could be an SAG At that time, I didn't know.
It took me a while before I had a part
in a film where they were willing to do all
(20:11):
the paperwork to get me my sag card. That was
the most difficult thing for me, dealing with the negativity
or the I didn't have a problem with that really.
I know people have talked a lot about the casting couch. Yeah,
(20:33):
but I didn't. You never had that problem? No, Oh,
I love that. Ever, did you know?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
And I feel as if we are a very narrow
category of women that didn't have to deal with that.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
I guess so I just never did unless they chose
to do that. I knew a lot of girls that
got jobs because of it, but they didn't get the
important work, you know, they didn't they get the one
line or the two lines or whatever.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
It really sounds like you had your eye on the
prize and you were very focused about what you wanted
and like you said, just continue to be true to yourself.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah, that's that's all you're here for. Yeah. I mean,
we're all individuals and different individuals, and like I should
have told that man at Warner Brothers. You know, there
are a lot of different kinds of people and they
and they have to be in a movie or whatever
(21:39):
you're doing and play the part. Yeah, they were looking
for something very specific at that time. It sounds like
I had another time. This is after I did have
my SAH card and I finally had an agent. And
the reason I had an agent is because the studio club,
(22:02):
I heard about an actor who wanted who is being interviewed,
but he needed a girl to do a scene with him,
and none, none of the girls at the club wanted
to do it. And I said, okay, I'll do it.
You know, I do anything at that point, and because
I worked with him. As I was walking out, the
(22:23):
agent came over to me and said you're pretty good,
and I said thank you, and he said who's your agent.
I said I don't have one, and he said, oh
you do. Now that's how I got an agent.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Wow, And that's how it happens. Yeah, the right place,
at the right time.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That's true. And he at one time. Then I started
acting in small parts and things and there was an
interview at CBS and they wanted a blonde, sexy blonde
you know. Yeah. So I had one dress that was sexy,
one dreading the spaghetti straps and he said wear the
(23:04):
dress on the interview. I said okay. So I went
to CBS. By then I could drive. I didn't drive
a car. I did it and it was cold, and
I had a white fluffy coat, and I went up
and got up into the room. Oh well, outside it
was cold. Inside it was colder. CBS went in and
(23:28):
had an interview with the director. Told him, you know
what i'd done where I'd studied, blah blah blah. You know.
He said, thank you very much. I went back and oh,
I didn't take the coat off. You kept the coat off.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I kept.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
I will tell you. Yeah, I was cold. And when
I got back to the studio club, my agent called
and said what happened. I said, well, I didn't get it.
I know I didn't get it. He said, they told
me you didn't get it. Tell me what you did.
And I said, well, I think part of the reason
maybe I didn't take my coat off. So but in
(24:07):
a couple of weeks they this was the Johnny Carson Show.
He was not the nighttime show. He had a daytime thing.
And he said, Barbara, they want to see you again.
Take off your coat. Oh boy, So I said, okay,
I did. I was freezing cold, and lake can be cold,
(24:28):
you know. I took the coat off in my car
and walked in had the interview with the same director.
You know, and I know again I could tell, you
can tell, you can tell. And I was walking down
the hallway and there were some men at the water
(24:49):
stand and as I walked by, they made lesser remarks,
you know, kept walking, and then one of them detached
himself and took my arm. Said you don't mine, do you?
And I said, no, I don't mind. What's to mind.
You know, we're here in a hallway and I'm going
to the elevator, that's okay. And we were talking back
(25:14):
and forth, joking, and I got into the elevator and
he stopped it and he said, were you in saying
seeing the director? I can't remember the director's name at
this time, I said. He said, did you get the job?
I said I don't think so, and he said like that,
and that's how I got started in the elevator. Well
(25:39):
that's how really I did fourteen or fifteen of those shows,
I think mainly because I was used to live audiences,
you know, and I've done a lot of theater. But yeah,
and he apologized to me, the director, he said, I'm
(26:01):
I'm so sorry. He said, I fell into that habit
that directors are casting people do, of thinking that they're
not actors, but they can't be something else other than
what they are. I wanted a dumb blonde who could
sing off key. You studied at conservatory. You were extremely intelligent.
(26:25):
Little did he know at the level, but you could.
But he said, I just realize you were an actor.
You could act and do those things be stupid.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Yeah, that's that's the best story ever.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Isn't it interesting?
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I mean, and if you hadn't been open to that
gentleman in the hallway, I wouldn't have had the job.
And weren't you know, so easy going and delightful to
just on a human level, you wouldn't have gotten it.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Yeah. Who was this guy at the water cooler? You
know something? Later years he was one of the producers
on he was the producer. Okay, but he was one
of my films. I've forgotten his name. I'm sorry. That's okay,
so long ago. Well that he was the producer, that's enough. Yeah,
I love that story. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
I think as women, there's that line between being admired
and being respected. I feel like I'm gonna I know
what you're going to say to this. We're often misunderstood,
such as that story did you find yourself having to
push back to prove yourself in that regard that you
(27:51):
deserved respect. No, no, I just expected it. No, I
don't think there was ever.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
There might have been in said Francisco when I was
very young, when I was a teenager, but not not
in Hollywood at I didn't have that. I think I
was very lucky. You might have had an angel on
my shoulder, but maybe you had a genie or perhaps
I didn't. I didn't accept it. I don't know. I
(28:23):
didn't pay a lot of attention to what a lot
of people were talking about. I'd been to that guy
at Warner Brothers, and I had CBS, so I just
didn't allow that negativity to come near me. I think
that's I think that's what it is. You're making me think. Now,
(28:44):
hold on home, me give you some time just because
you think you're my daughter.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Why is that though, Because this business can breed insecurity,
and as a I definitely battled with a lot of
things regarding that. But you sound like you came in
with a true knowledge of who you were and what
you were worth. Do you think that was instilled in
(29:14):
you by your family, by your mom, by your dad?
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Oh, definitely, definitely, And I was raised more by women.
My dad was there, but my grandmother was there. My aunt,
the one who lived in San Marino, would always come
through San Francisco, and my mother, my mother's sister. Oh definitely. Yeah.
(29:37):
But I think we all have insecurities. We all have
a little spot in our psyche that oh my god, George,
look all right? Am I doing this all right?
Speaker 1 (29:50):
And absolutely that little voice, yeah, yeah, it's always there.
What advice would you give women today who are feeling
box in by expectations or stereotypes. Are you talking about
actors or just generally speaking.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
I think just women, just as a woman. Yeah, well,
I would say get out of the box. You know,
you can't let other people affect you or it just
can't be done, you can't do it. I don't know
(30:28):
what else to say. First of all, I think you
have to do your job well. Whether it's a wife
or a mother, or an actor or a scientist, a teacher,
whatever you're doing, do it well or be interested enough
(30:52):
to do it, and then you'll feel good about yourself
and also recognize that we're all connected. I believe this.
I think all humans on earth are all connected by one.
(31:18):
I don't want to get into religions and things, but
I do feel that it is we're all a manifestation
of a greater power. And realize that when you're working.
For instance, since I'm an actor, that's my job, but
(31:38):
when you're working with someone who might be a little different,
I think you have to just keep recognizing what connects
the two of you. Just know it, and when you
know it, it makes it so much better, makes everything
(31:59):
work out well. Then you feel better about yourself.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
And when you feel good about yourself, you're unstoppable.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Yeah, you're productive. You're productive. Yes, this year, you're not
in the box. You're not in the box because there
is no box, there is none. That's great. No, don't
recognize it.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
You're so strong, Barbara sometime. Okay, let's go to nineteen sixty.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Okay, you're ready. That was a very good year for you.
By the way.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
You were working all the time, all the time in
nineteen sixty. I mean you were doing two, three four
films a year, pretty much every year. But I noticed
in nineteen sixty you had a lot of credits. You
were doing a movie opposite Elvis Presley, Yes's Flaming Star yeah,
so good.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
What was it like working with someone on that global
level of stardom? It was just like working with any
other actor. And he was lovely, just the sweetest, really wonderful.
You know. When I would come on the set, he'd
(33:18):
run and get me a chair. Actors don't do that. Well,
no they don't. It's a gentleman. No, they're all we're
all working in our little thing. But he was. He
was a gentleman. Was his Mama brought him up right,
and he was fun to talk to. We would talk
(33:41):
for a long time when the lights are being set up,
because you know, it takes wow. And he told me
about his mother. And then he asked me because at
the time I was married to Michael and Sarah, who
was very well known at that time. I don't think
(34:01):
anyone knows him now, but at that time he was.
And Elvis was a huge fan of Mike's and he
asked me, how how can you be married and still
be in the light like you are? And what I
told you, it's a job. The two of us work.
(34:26):
He works, I work, but but it's not you know,
it's not. It's just like any other job. It's like
going to the office for us really, so nothing gets
in the way. And he said, well, he said, you know,
I've met somebody I really like a lot, but I
(34:48):
don't know how I can bring her into this. Well,
what is this? This is nothing. This is how we work,
This is how we make our living. And I said, no,
you know, I told her this. Actually, are we talking
about Priscilla. Priscilla, Yes, lovely, lovely woman, just a sweetheart. Yeah,
(35:11):
and I I said, just know that it's your work,
of course, you know, I think his work was a
little different than with the camera that you know, I've
done my stint in Las Vegas, and yeah, it's a
different that is a different world. But in my ignorance,
(35:36):
I said, it's just a job. Yeah. I mean, when
you look at that career and the pain that Elvis
seemed to go through because of his personal life, do
you ever think that there can be just too much
fame for one person. No, I don't think it's the fame,
(35:56):
I really don't. I think it's being a steer in
the wrong direction by people around you. You know, as
I said, true to yourself.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
He was.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
It broke my heart to hear about him, And actually
I followed him on it because as I was doing Genie,
I was also working in Vegas singing. I don't know
if you knew that at the same time. Yeah, wow,
well in between, you know. In fact, I think I
did a movie a year, and then I'd do three
(36:34):
weeks in Vegas doing my act. And I was in
Reno and singing there and I got a cold, like
kind of I have right now, and they took me
to a doctor in Reno and gave me a shot.
(36:57):
I don't know what it was, but they did, and
it cleared up the congestion and everything. It was a miracle.
And the man who took me to the doctor said,
I don't want you to ever see this doctor again.
And I said why, he just don't do it. He
said he's Elvis's doctor, and he said he travels with him.
(37:24):
But he said, I have seen Elvis's bottom, you know,
And he said it's like a pincushion. So it's very destructive.
He loved to sing, he loved to perform, but I
think I think the people around him expected too much
(37:48):
out of him, too much, and he was willing to
do it because he loved it so much. Beautiful, beautiful
human being. It's just so sad.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Yeah, yeah, Okay, Barbara, I have so many more things
I want to talk to you about.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
I just can't stop. I think we're going to have
to make this a two
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Parter, so everybody keep an eye out for the second
part of this incredible conversation with Barbara Eden.
You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Garland. Welcome
back to I Choose Me, where we dive into the
choices that shape our lives. Today's guest is someone I've
admired for decades and someone I had the chance to
(00:22):
work with very early in my own journey here in Hollywood.
In nineteen eighty nine, I starred alongside her in A
Brand New Life, one of my very first TV shows,
and it was an experience I will never forget. Barbara
Eden is a Hollywood icon. She starred opposite Elvis Presley,
(00:43):
made memorable appearances on I Love Lucy, The Johnny Carson Show,
Perry Mason, and Gun Smoke, just to name a few.
I loved her work in How to Marry a Millionaire,
the TV series It's so good you should watch it,
And of course she became a cultural touch stone as
Genie An I Dream of Genie. But behind the fame
(01:04):
and Sparkle is a woman who's made powerful, quiet choices
throughout her life. Choice is about identity, love, resilience, and
self respect in an industry that hasn't always made those easy.
She's also a New York Times bestselling author and most
recently released a beautiful children's book called Barbara and the Gin. Today,
(01:28):
we're going behind the curtain talking about what it really
takes to build a life on your own terms and
what Barbara's learned from a career and a life that
has been anything but ordinary. Please welcome Barbara Eden to
the podcast. Barbara, Barbara, Barbara, you have no idea how
(01:48):
excited I am that you are sitting in front of
me right now.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I'm so happy to see you.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, been a minute, my daughter mom, Oh my gosh.
We did Brand New Life together in nineteen eighty nine.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, and with Don Murray.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
With Don Murray, and I remember thinking, oh my god,
I'm playing Barbara Eaton's daughter. And I also remember thinking,
oh my god, I'm like two degrees away from Marilyn
Monroe because of Don and bus stop. Oh yeah, you know,
I was just like in all every day at work.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, you know, Marilyn and I had the same stand
in you did because we were under contract of Fox
and Jee's character. That is cool, It is fun.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
You just have no idea how you were the foundation
of my career because I had just moved to la
and I think this was my first acting job. Really, yes,
playing your daughter, My goodness, you were wonderful. Oh thanks,
But I watched everything you did. I don't know if
you noticed me stalking you at all times, but I
(02:55):
was just glued to you, and I wanted to see
how you did everything. And you I always credit you
as being the one who taught me how to have
set etiquette. Like you were the gold star in my mind,
and I always tried to live up to just being
like Barbara on set.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Because there's so feel so good.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, you were so warm and welcoming and professional, and
I just I really look back on that time, so
finally I remember watching you.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I remember watching in the makeup trailer.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Not to be creepy, but I remember just watching you
get your makeup done and watching the whole process. And
I remember you used to get makeup on your hands.
And at the time I was sixteen, Yeah, I thought,
why are they putting makeup on her hands?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
And now that I'm fifty three, I know why. Yeah,
I get the hand makeup now. Well, I've always had
to do that even younger. Really, because my veins are
very blue. My mother, you're fair. I used to say, why, mommy,
Why did she say you're a blue blood.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Okay, that's an answer, But I don't like them. I
know it's so true. They are very blue mine too. Yeah, yeah,
Well nobody knows because we always have our hand makeup on.
I know that when you were younger, you've had this
incredible career that has spanned decades. I know that when
(04:24):
you were younger, before Hollywood, you wanted to be a singer,
and you studied singing and acting.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
When you study acting, you do everything. You know, a
little bit of this, a little bit of that. I've
seen you dance, So you've got it. Well, thank you,
I have done it, but you've done it. But I
had very little training. It was really acting. Yeah, theater.
How did you know? How did you know you wanted
(04:51):
to be a performer? Well, it wasn't It wasn't something
I thought about a lot. We had a lot of
music in our house. My grandfather had been with the
opera company in San Francisco at the turn of the century,
and he always had well classical music in the house.
(05:15):
My mother sang a lot, and we'd sing together doing
the dishes, and it just sort of evolved. I was
in the choir church and one of my mother's friends
said she should study. And we didn't have a lot
of money at that time, but she gave me one
hundred dollars billow and said go. At that time that
(05:39):
was a lot of money. Yeah, And that started me.
And then I got a job and I could pay
for my own lessons at the Conservatory of Music and
San Francisco wonderful. And one day I was singing at
home and my mom came in and said, Barbara, you're
(06:00):
singing every note perfectly, but you don't mean a word
just singing. I think you should study acting. Oh that's
so I was. I think I was fourteen or fifteen
at that time. So I did, and it was so helpful,
(06:20):
so helpful for the singing and for the everything. You know,
theft I'm sure you have you studied. I have studied. Yes,
I studied dance and acting. Ever singing, yeah, see me,
never dancing. What was it that you broke through? Like,
what was it you said, I want to be in
the business. How did that happen? How did you come
(06:42):
to be? Oh? I just wanted to make a living. Okay,
good reason it was, this is what I was going
to do to make my living right away? I mean,
that's there was no question about it. My tea shirt.
Miss Holloway in San Francisco, after I'd been with her
for about oh, I don't know, through high school and
(07:02):
and one year of college, and she's in fact, she
was the one that said stop, you don't need college.
She said she she gave credit anyway, you know, and
said stop, come full time and study because I was
in there at night after school. So I did. I
(07:26):
did that for a couple of years, and then again
she had me in her office in Barbara. You have
to get out of the nest. I said, oh really,
She said yes, she said, you're you're too safe. You're
you're At that time, I was singing with dance bands
(07:47):
around the Bay Area, and I was a member of
Actors Equity. I had done a lot of theater and
she said, I either go to New York or LA
but there's nothing more for you here. And I didn't
know anyone in New York. I had an aunt and
uncle in San Marino, right down the hill from you,
(08:09):
and that's where I went. So I went from one
nest to another. Yes, but you got a taste of
that independence, and I did. When another friend or new
person I met here said, you have to move to
(08:30):
the Studio Club. San Marino isn't going to get you anywhere.
Where was the studio Club. The Studio Club was in Hollywood.
Haven't you heard about it? No? Oh, it was wonderful.
It was wonderful. It was. It had been started by
oh God, I can't think of her name now, an
(08:51):
actor in the thirties, actress, and she said, young women
need a place to stay were It isn't expensive and
they can get started. Anyone in the industry, Writers, secretaries,
actresses could live in this place. But it was pretty
(09:14):
tough to get in. It was difficult. No men were
allowed above the first floor, which is a big change
for today. Yeah, but you were with your contemporaries. You're
with people who were in the field. And I know
when there was an audition, we all raced out an
audition for it.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
What was that like living in a home with women
that were young actresses, all wanting the same thing.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
It was wonderful, it was. It was wonderful. Yeah. In fact,
my roommate Barbara Wilson, and I would go on the
She'd get an audition and I'd go with her. I'd
get one she'd go with me, the two of us,
and at one time that she was a brunette, beautiful,
(10:05):
beautiful young lady. We went on the interview and they said, well,
of course these are very small parts. I'm talking about,
not talking about starring in the room. And the director
who was interviewing us said, well, I guess I just
have to take both of you. You know that hat off. Yeah,
two of us. We had a good time. It was wonderful.
(10:29):
You always knew what was going on. You see, you
were at the hub.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You were right in the middle of them. Oh yeah,
that sounds so fun.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Well it was. It was. Also they also gave you
breakfast and dinner. I rarely ate there because I was
out in the street looking for work, but yeah, it was.
It was a wonderful place. I'm so sorry it's the
building is still but I guess no one wanted. Well
(11:05):
everything's changes, doesn't it. Yeah. Yeah, everyone wants their own
little apartment. I would rather have all the women around.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
And yeah, that sounds really fun. I can imagine how
fun that must have been. You came up in a
time when women in Hollywood were often cast as symbols.
They were beautiful or they were charming, but they were
rarely taken seriously as equals.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Did you feel that? No, no, I didn't. When I
first came down and I was still staying with my
aunt and uncle, there's a man at Warner Brothers I
was sent to meet. He was head of casting and
I talked to him. He talked to me. He knew
(11:58):
my background. I told her everything. You know, where I studied,
what I did, how many plays I'd done, and I
was a member of actor's equity. Okay. And he looked
at me and he said, you're just not Hollywood. I said,
you know, I'm a very young girl, holding my gloves
(12:18):
and I just listened, and he said, this is what
they want. He showed me a picture of his daughter,
big tits. Well, I want to tell you right now,
that doesn't seem like much. But then I mean my father,
my uncle's never said that word. No, I never heard
(12:41):
that word in my life. But he said, but you're
just not pretty enough. You're just not what they want.
So I went out to the car my uncle had
driven me. I didn't know how to drive when I
came down here either, and holding back the tears, and
told my uncle what was said he was ready to
go back in have words. Yeah, but uh. Interestingly enough,
(13:08):
like eight months later, I was going to the coach
at Warner Brothers. He had seen me somewhere and said
work with me, and I said okay, and so I
would go on the lot. And one day I was
walking to where I was going to study and I
heard hey, hey, you hey, And I couldn't pay attention
(13:32):
because first of all, I was an under contract there,
and I thought he's gonna throw me. Somebody's gonna throw
me out, you know. He said, you with the yellow pants,
I had yellow pants. That was you. And I turned
around and it was that man. You should be nameless.
I know his name. It's somebody forever. Yeah. He said,
(13:53):
are you going up to so and so's room, you know,
for the class? I said, yes, I am. He said,
we're going to test you. The same man that told
me I wasn't pretty enough, I didn't have big tits.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
You know what blows me away about that story is
not that he said big tits.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
It's that he showed you a picture of his daughter. Yeah.
Well that just there's no way I can't wrap my
head around that. Yeah yeah, yeah, well wow and look
at you. So now he's ready to test you. Yeah,
just the same person. It's uh interesting.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
I mean, yes, you were so young and so fresh
to the biz, the Hollywood biz.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I mean that must have been pretty devastating. It must
have gotten in your head.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Oh it did. I went back to my aunt uncle's
home and then I cried. Yeah, and then I thought,
not everyone looks alike. You need different characters for every play.
What is going on here? I don't care. I'll be
a character actress. I don't care if I'm not pretty enough.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is just crazy that. I've heard
some stories, but I think that one tops it.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Summer is this season of love. Sum are loveing. Here
we come. If you're old enough to remember Summer Loven,
you're old enough to find and I do Part two.
Listen each week as our hosts make it their goal
to find you the next true love of your life.
Jenny Garth, Jana Kramer, Alexia Napola, Cheryl Burke, Jen Fessler,
Kelly Ben Simone, Amy Robot, and TJ. Holmes are dedicated
(15:38):
to helping you fall in love again. It's time to
make it hot, hot hot this summer.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Listen to I do part two on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Okay, So,
how did you choose to hold onto your identity when
in the face of that story and when everybody was
trying to define you by your looks.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I don't think I noticed it, you know. I began
to get small roles, and then the real breakthrough for
me was the Laguna Theater. I did a play there
with John Drury. I don't know if you remember John Drury.
He was very popular and it's a two person play.
(16:29):
So if they came to see John, they came to
see me. And by the way, I found out about
it through the Hollywood Studio Club because several of the
girls said, you know, John's looking for someone to do
this with him, and nobody wants. No one wanted to
do a play. Well, you know, I was raised on
(16:50):
them and that was equity, and so I said, I'll
do it, I'll do it. And because I did that,
they found me a twentieth century Fox. Because I was shocked.
I was so surprised. I got really good reviews, which
is lovely. I don't think I've had any of that
(17:11):
good sense. But yeah, they brought me in and tested
me and put me under contract, under contract, And I've
always said it was my finishing school, you know, for acting.
It was taught me the camera taught me lights things
i'd never think about. How old were you? Oh god,
(17:35):
I don't remember now. Were you in your teen twenty? No? No, no,
I was but young form my age, very wet behind
my ears. You know, we all start there, we all
start there. What are some of the hard.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Lessons that you have faced when you look back and
you were trying to find your way in Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Well, first of all, you don't pay any attention to
anything anyone says, because you will get so much criticism, negativity,
or too much you know, a puff thing. So just
be true to yourself. Block all that out. You must
be true to your in life. You have to be
(18:22):
true to yourself. But when you're if you recognize the
fact that you're being judged, get rid of it. Leave
it in the wings. Don't be judged. How do you
do that? How do you leave it in the wings?
I don't know. You just do you just do this?
(18:43):
Do it's gone, That's all right. But because I've had
too many experiences where they've been proven wrong. You know.
I love that you've proved them wrong all these years.
That's so good. Well, thank you. Yes, you are such
a knockout. Can I say that you're a babe? You're
(19:06):
a hottie? Hey, you think so? You are gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
But when Hollywood was new and shiny, like we talked about,
did you find it difficult in the face of what
that man told you? Did you find it difficult to
be taken seriously in the Hollywood world?
Speaker 2 (19:27):
That No, The most difficult thing for me was getting
an SAG card. And because I would go on an
interview for small parts, you know things, and they'd asked
me if I belonged to the Union, I belonged to Actors' Equity,
not screen actors killed, you know, And I wouldn't say.
I wouldn't tell them that I did belong to actors Equity,
(19:50):
and they didn't tell me either. If you know the
union thing, because if you belong to equity, you automatically
could be an SAG At that time, I didn't know.
It took me a while before I had a part
in a film where they were willing to do all
(20:11):
the paperwork to get me my sag card. That was
the most difficult thing for me, dealing with the negativity
or the I didn't have a problem with that really.
I know people have talked a lot about the casting couch. Yeah,
(20:33):
but I didn't. You never had that problem? No, Oh,
I love that. Ever, did you know?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
And I feel as if we are a very narrow
category of women that didn't have to deal with that.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
I guess so I just never did unless they chose
to do that. I knew a lot of girls that
got jobs because of it, but they didn't get the
important work, you know, they didn't they get the one
line or the two lines or whatever.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
It really sounds like you had your eye on the
prize and you were very focused about what you wanted
and like you said, just continue to be true to yourself.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah, that's that's all you're here for. Yeah. I mean,
we're all individuals and different individuals, and like I should
have told that man at Warner Brothers. You know, there
are a lot of different kinds of people and they
and they have to be in a movie or whatever
(21:39):
you're doing and play the part. Yeah, they were looking
for something very specific at that time. It sounds like
I had another time. This is after I did have
my SAH card and I finally had an agent. And
the reason I had an agent is because the studio club,
(22:02):
I heard about an actor who wanted who is being interviewed,
but he needed a girl to do a scene with him,
and none, none of the girls at the club wanted
to do it. And I said, okay, I'll do it.
You know, I do anything at that point, and because
I worked with him. As I was walking out, the
(22:23):
agent came over to me and said you're pretty good,
and I said thank you, and he said who's your agent.
I said I don't have one, and he said, oh
you do. Now that's how I got an agent.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Wow, And that's how it happens. Yeah, the right place,
at the right time.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That's true. And he at one time. Then I started
acting in small parts and things and there was an
interview at CBS and they wanted a blonde, sexy blonde
you know. Yeah. So I had one dress that was sexy,
one dreading the spaghetti straps and he said wear the
(23:04):
dress on the interview. I said okay. So I went
to CBS. By then I could drive. I didn't drive
a car. I did it and it was cold, and
I had a white fluffy coat, and I went up
and got up into the room. Oh well, outside it
was cold. Inside it was colder. CBS went in and
(23:28):
had an interview with the director. Told him, you know
what i'd done where I'd studied, blah blah blah. You know.
He said, thank you very much. I went back and oh,
I didn't take the coat off. You kept the coat off.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I kept.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
I will tell you. Yeah, I was cold. And when
I got back to the studio club, my agent called
and said what happened. I said, well, I didn't get it.
I know I didn't get it. He said, they told
me you didn't get it. Tell me what you did.
And I said, well, I think part of the reason
maybe I didn't take my coat off. So but in
(24:07):
a couple of weeks they this was the Johnny Carson Show.
He was not the nighttime show. He had a daytime thing.
And he said, Barbara, they want to see you again.
Take off your coat. Oh boy, So I said, okay,
I did. I was freezing cold, and lake can be cold,
(24:28):
you know. I took the coat off in my car
and walked in had the interview with the same director.
You know, and I know again I could tell, you
can tell, you can tell. And I was walking down
the hallway and there were some men at the water
(24:49):
stand and as I walked by, they made lesser remarks,
you know, kept walking, and then one of them detached
himself and took my arm. Said you don't mine, do you?
And I said, no, I don't mind. What's to mind.
You know, we're here in a hallway and I'm going
to the elevator, that's okay. And we were talking back
(25:14):
and forth, joking, and I got into the elevator and
he stopped it and he said, were you in saying
seeing the director? I can't remember the director's name at
this time, I said. He said, did you get the job?
I said I don't think so, and he said like that,
and that's how I got started in the elevator. Well
(25:39):
that's how really I did fourteen or fifteen of those shows,
I think mainly because I was used to live audiences,
you know, and I've done a lot of theater. But yeah,
and he apologized to me, the director, he said, I'm
(26:01):
I'm so sorry. He said, I fell into that habit
that directors are casting people do, of thinking that they're
not actors, but they can't be something else other than
what they are. I wanted a dumb blonde who could
sing off key. You studied at conservatory. You were extremely intelligent.
(26:25):
Little did he know at the level, but you could.
But he said, I just realize you were an actor.
You could act and do those things be stupid.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Yeah, that's that's the best story ever.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Isn't it interesting?
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I mean, and if you hadn't been open to that
gentleman in the hallway, I wouldn't have had the job.
And weren't you know, so easy going and delightful to
just on a human level, you wouldn't have gotten it.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Yeah. Who was this guy at the water cooler? You
know something? Later years he was one of the producers
on he was the producer. Okay, but he was one
of my films. I've forgotten his name. I'm sorry. That's okay,
so long ago. Well that he was the producer, that's enough. Yeah,
I love that story. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
I think as women, there's that line between being admired
and being respected. I feel like I'm gonna I know
what you're going to say to this. We're often misunderstood,
such as that story did you find yourself having to
push back to prove yourself in that regard that you
(27:51):
deserved respect. No, no, I just expected it. No, I
don't think there was ever.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
There might have been in said Francisco when I was
very young, when I was a teenager, but not not
in Hollywood at I didn't have that. I think I
was very lucky. You might have had an angel on
my shoulder, but maybe you had a genie or perhaps
I didn't. I didn't accept it. I don't know. I
(28:23):
didn't pay a lot of attention to what a lot
of people were talking about. I'd been to that guy
at Warner Brothers, and I had CBS, so I just
didn't allow that negativity to come near me. I think
that's I think that's what it is. You're making me think. Now,
(28:44):
hold on home, me give you some time just because
you think you're my daughter.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Why is that though, Because this business can breed insecurity,
and as a I definitely battled with a lot of
things regarding that. But you sound like you came in
with a true knowledge of who you were and what
you were worth. Do you think that was instilled in
(29:14):
you by your family, by your mom, by your dad?
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Oh, definitely, definitely, And I was raised more by women.
My dad was there, but my grandmother was there. My aunt,
the one who lived in San Marino, would always come
through San Francisco, and my mother, my mother's sister. Oh definitely. Yeah.
(29:37):
But I think we all have insecurities. We all have
a little spot in our psyche that oh my god, George,
look all right? Am I doing this all right?
Speaker 1 (29:50):
And absolutely that little voice, yeah, yeah, it's always there.
What advice would you give women today who are feeling
box in by expectations or stereotypes. Are you talking about
actors or just generally speaking.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
I think just women, just as a woman. Yeah, well,
I would say get out of the box. You know,
you can't let other people affect you or it just
can't be done, you can't do it. I don't know
(30:28):
what else to say. First of all, I think you
have to do your job well. Whether it's a wife
or a mother, or an actor or a scientist, a teacher,
whatever you're doing, do it well or be interested enough
(30:52):
to do it, and then you'll feel good about yourself
and also recognize that we're all connected. I believe this.
I think all humans on earth are all connected by one.
(31:18):
I don't want to get into religions and things, but
I do feel that it is we're all a manifestation
of a greater power. And realize that when you're working.
For instance, since I'm an actor, that's my job, but
(31:38):
when you're working with someone who might be a little different,
I think you have to just keep recognizing what connects
the two of you. Just know it, and when you
know it, it makes it so much better, makes everything
(31:59):
work out well. Then you feel better about yourself.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
And when you feel good about yourself, you're unstoppable.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Yeah, you're productive. You're productive. Yes, this year, you're not
in the box. You're not in the box because there
is no box, there is none. That's great. No, don't
recognize it.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
You're so strong, Barbara sometime. Okay, let's go to nineteen sixty.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Okay, you're ready. That was a very good year for you.
By the way.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
You were working all the time, all the time in
nineteen sixty. I mean you were doing two, three four
films a year, pretty much every year. But I noticed
in nineteen sixty you had a lot of credits. You
were doing a movie opposite Elvis Presley, Yes's Flaming Star yeah,
so good.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
What was it like working with someone on that global
level of stardom? It was just like working with any
other actor. And he was lovely, just the sweetest, really wonderful.
You know. When I would come on the set, he'd
(33:18):
run and get me a chair. Actors don't do that. Well,
no they don't. It's a gentleman. No, they're all we're
all working in our little thing. But he was. He
was a gentleman. Was his Mama brought him up right,
and he was fun to talk to. We would talk
(33:41):
for a long time when the lights are being set up,
because you know, it takes wow. And he told me
about his mother. And then he asked me because at
the time I was married to Michael and Sarah, who
was very well known at that time. I don't think
(34:01):
anyone knows him now, but at that time he was.
And Elvis was a huge fan of Mike's and he
asked me, how how can you be married and still
be in the light like you are? And what I
told you, it's a job. The two of us work.
(34:26):
He works, I work, but but it's not you know,
it's not. It's just like any other job. It's like
going to the office for us really, so nothing gets
in the way. And he said, well, he said, you know,
I've met somebody I really like a lot, but I
(34:48):
don't know how I can bring her into this. Well,
what is this? This is nothing. This is how we work,
This is how we make our living. And I said, no,
you know, I told her this. Actually, are we talking
about Priscilla. Priscilla, Yes, lovely, lovely woman, just a sweetheart. Yeah,
(35:11):
and I I said, just know that it's your work,
of course, you know, I think his work was a
little different than with the camera that you know, I've
done my stint in Las Vegas, and yeah, it's a
different that is a different world. But in my ignorance,
(35:36):
I said, it's just a job. Yeah. I mean, when
you look at that career and the pain that Elvis
seemed to go through because of his personal life, do
you ever think that there can be just too much
fame for one person. No, I don't think it's the fame,
(35:56):
I really don't. I think it's being a steer in
the wrong direction by people around you. You know, as
I said, true to yourself.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
He was.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
It broke my heart to hear about him, And actually
I followed him on it because as I was doing Genie,
I was also working in Vegas singing. I don't know
if you knew that at the same time. Yeah, wow,
well in between, you know. In fact, I think I
did a movie a year, and then I'd do three
(36:34):
weeks in Vegas doing my act. And I was in
Reno and singing there and I got a cold, like
kind of I have right now, and they took me
to a doctor in Reno and gave me a shot.
(36:57):
I don't know what it was, but they did, and
it cleared up the congestion and everything. It was a miracle.
And the man who took me to the doctor said,
I don't want you to ever see this doctor again.
And I said why, he just don't do it. He
said he's Elvis's doctor, and he said he travels with him.
(37:24):
But he said, I have seen Elvis's bottom, you know,
And he said it's like a pincushion. So it's very destructive.
He loved to sing, he loved to perform, but I
think I think the people around him expected too much
(37:48):
out of him, too much, and he was willing to
do it because he loved it so much. Beautiful, beautiful
human being. It's just so sad.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Yeah, yeah, Okay, Barbara, I have so many more things
I want to talk to you about.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
I just can't stop. I think we're going to have
to make this a two
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Parter, so everybody keep an eye out for the second
part of this incredible conversation with Barbara Eden.
Host
Jennie Garth
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