The 86-year-old film and stage actress, Barbara Eden, is most famously known for her role as a mystical genie in the 1960’s sitcom, I Dream Of Jeannie.
Nearly five decades after the popular show was canceled, Eden is still spotted at events celebrating Jeannie’s legacy.
As reported by Fox News, Eden is retired for the most part but returns to the small screen ever so often. She celebrated her 86th birthday on August 23, 2017, and still grabs the attention of her fans wherever she goes.
Eden recently told Closer Weekly that portraying the role of a 2,000-year-old genie wasn’t always as easy as one would assume. On one occasion, she broke a tooth.
While rehearsing, she had to jump onto a sofa and land perfectly next to co-star Larry Hagman with her hand under her chin, her signature move.
She perfected the jump during rehearsals, but things took a turn south when it was time to film the scene. She somehow landed on Hagman’s knee and broke a tooth.
She said that it was painful, of course, and there was blood all over the place. Eden joked that they never tried a stunt like that again.
Eden and Hagman, who was cast in the role of Major Anthony Nelson, made the ideal team. They had perfect screen chemistry, and viewers adored them. However, their first meeting got off to a rocky start when Eden’s spontaneity frightened Hagman.
She recalls that when she was first introduced to Hagman, she threw her arms around his neck and shouted, «Oh, Master!» He later told reporters that she scared him.
In her role as the spiritual creature, the lovable genie thought that Major Anthony Nelson was her ‘master’ after he found her lamp on a desert Island.
He took her home to Florida, where Jeannie’s mystical powers regularly got the pair into trouble in one way or another.
According to Eden, they worked so well together because they were on the same wavelength. They were always honest with each other. Sadly, Hagman passed away in 2012 at the age of 81.
When I Dream of Jeannie was canceled, Eden went on to star in several major productions, as well as made-for-TV films and shows.
In 1971, one year after I Dream of Jeannie’s cancellation, Eden teamed up with Hagman for A Howling in the Woods. She is also known for her 21 appearances on the Bob Hope Show, The Carol Burnett Show, and Donny and Marie.
Eden’s career spans six decades, and she has 90 film credits to her name. Her last on-screen appearance was as Mary Anderson in the 2009 TV movie, Always and Forever.
