Born in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada, Barbara Read was the daughter of a contractor. Under contract to Columbia, she was paid but never used for a single picture. She quit in disgust. She was later signed by Universal and was cast as one of the Craig sisters inThree Smart Girls (1936) along with Deanna Durbin and Nan Grey. This was Barbara's first and best remembered film. Her career was over by the time she married actor William Talman, of "Perry Mason" fame, in 1953. The couple had two children: Barbara ("Barbie") and William III ("Bobo"). The marriage was turbulent as both she and Talman suffered from alcohol problems. They divorced in 1960 with Barbara gaining custody of the children. Talman took over custody a year later when Barbara's alcoholism and mental/emotional problems became overbearing. Committed suicide at her Laguna Beach, California home when she turned on the gas jets of her stove and sealed the doors and windows. She left a suicide note blaming "ill health". Barbara Read bore a powerful likeness to Deanna Durbin, whose sister she was portraying in "Three Smart Girls".
Born in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada, Barbara Read was the daughter of a contractor. Under contract to Columbia, she was paid but never used for a single picture. She quit in disgust. She was later signed by Universal and was cast as one of the Craig sisters inThree Smart Girls (1936) along with Deanna Durbin and Nan Grey. This was Barbara's first and best remembered film. Her career was over by the time she married actor William Talman, of "Perry Mason" fame, in 1953. The couple had two children: Barbara ("Barbie") and William III ("Bobo"). The marriage was turbulent as both she and Talman suffered from alcohol problems. They divorced in 1960 with Barbara gaining custody of the children. Talman took over custody a year later when Barbara's alcoholism and mental/emotional problems became overbearing. Committed suicide at her Laguna Beach, California home when she turned on the gas jets of her stove and sealed the doors and windows. She left a suicide note blaming "ill health". Barbara Read bore a powerful likeness to Deanna Durbin, whose sister she was portraying in "Three Smart Girls".
Date of Death: 11 December 1963, Laguna Beach, California (suicide)
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0713799
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4859243
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Filmography (Movies)
Coroner Creek
Character:Abbie Miles (as Barbara Reed)
Release Date:01/07/1948
Key Witness
Character:Martha Higby (as Barbara Reed)
Release Date:09/10/1947
Ginger
Character:Peggy Sullivan (as Barbara Reed)
Release Date:04/01/1947
The Missing Lady
Character:Margo Lane
Release Date:17/08/1946
Death Valley
Character:Mitzi
Release Date:15/08/1946
Behind the Mask
Character:Margo Lane
Release Date:25/05/1946
The Shadow Returns
Character:Margo Lane
Release Date:16/02/1946
Rubber Racketeers
Character:Mary Dale
Release Date:26/06/1942
Too Many Women
Character:Linda Pearson
Release Date:27/02/1942
Curtain Call
Character:Helen Middleton
Release Date:18/04/1940
Married and in Love
Character:Helen Yates
Release Date:19/01/1940
The Spellbinder
Character:Janet Marlowe
Release Date:28/07/1939
Sorority House
Character:Dotty Spencer
Release Date:05/05/1939
The Crime of Doctor Hallet
Character:Claire Saunders
Release Date:12/03/1938
Midnight Intruder
Character:Patricia Hammond
Release Date:06/02/1938
Merry Go Round of 1938
Character:Clarice Stockbridge
Release Date:14/11/1937
The Man Who Cried Wolf
Character:Nan
Release Date:29/08/1937
The Road Back
Character:Lucy
Release Date:01/06/1937
Make Way for Tomorrow
Character:Rhoda Cooper
Release Date:09/05/1937
The Mighty Treve
Character:Aileen Fenno
Release Date:17/01/1937
Three Smart Girls
Character:Kay Craig
Release Date:20/12/1936
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