Barbara Eden is an American actress, singer, and producer best known for her starring role as Jeannie in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie (1965-1970).
Other notable roles include Roslyn Pierce opposite Elvis Presley in Flaming Star (1960), Lieutenant (JG) Cathy Connors in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) and a single widowed mother, Stella Johnson, in the film Harper Valley PTA (1978).
Due to the success of the film, Eden reprised her role as Stella Johnson in a two-season television series, Harper Valley PTA.
In March 2006, Hagman and Eden again reunited, this time onstage in New York for Love Letters at the College of Staten Island, and at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.
In May 2013, Eden appeared with former US President Bill Clinton, Elton John, and Fergie at the opening ceremony of the 21st Life Ball in Vienna, where Eden wore her famous Jeannie harem costume. In late 2013, Eden was cast in the movie One Song, filmed in Excelsior, Minnesota.
Barbara Eden Children: Meet Matthew Ansara
In 1958, Ansara married Barbara Eden, who co-starred with him in Irwin Allen’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. The couple had a son, Matthew Ansara.
The former couple — who wed in 1958 — became the parents of their beloved child on August 29, 1965. “We called him our lucky-charm baby,” Barbara wrote in her 2011 autobiography Jeannie Out of the Bottle. “Our joy was boundless. We had a child at last, and we loved him more than words could say.”
Tragically, Matthew struggled with addiction for many years of his life, and on June 26, 2001, he died at age 35 from a drug overdose.
“Our joy was boundless, and our hopes that he would live a healthy and happy life were unlimited,” Barbara wrote. “Matthew meant everything to both of us, and always would.”
“It’s a killer. I have his pictures around. He was such a beautiful young man,” the actress exclusively told Closer in August 2021. “The only way I can honour him is to talk about him. Don’t pretend like he never was. Because he was he was [a] super, superhuman being.”