1917-12-29 Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada
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)
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Coroner Creek | Abbie Miles (as Barbara Reed) | 1948-07-01 |
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Key Witness | Martha Higby (as Barbara Reed) | 1947-10-09 |
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Ginger | Peggy Sullivan (as Barbara Reed) | 1947-01-04 |
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Death Valley | Mitzi | 1946-08-15 |
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The Missing Lady | Margo Lane (as Barbara Reed) | 1946-08-17 |
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Behind the Mask | Margo Lane (as Barbara Reed) | 1946-05-25 |
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The Shadow Returns | Margo Lane (as Barbara Reed) | 1946-02-16 |
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Rubber Racketeers | Mary Dale | 1942-06-26 |
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Too Many Women | Linda Pearson | 1942-02-27 |
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Married and in Love | Helen Yates | 1940-01-19 |
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Curtain Call | Helen Middleton | 1940-04-18 |
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Sorority House | Dotty Spencer | 1939-05-05 |
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The Spellbinder | Janet Marlowe | 1939-07-28 |
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Midnight Intruder | Patricia Hammond | 1938-02-06 |
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The Crime of Doctor Hallet | Claire Saunders | 1938-03-12 |
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The Road Back | Lucy | 1937-06-01 |
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Merry Go Round of 1938 | Clarice Stockbridge | 1937-11-14 |
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The Man Who Cried Wolf | Nan | 1937-08-29 |
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The Mighty Treve | Aileen Fenno | 1937-01-17 |
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Make Way for Tomorrow | Rhoda Cooper | 1937-05-09 |
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Three Smart Girls | Kay Craig | 1936-12-20 |
