Image of Barbara Read

Barbara Read

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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Born:
Dec 29, 1917 In Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada
Movie/TV Credits:
21
First Appeared:
In the movie Three Smart Girls 1936-12-20
Latest Project:
Movie Coroner Creek 1948-07-01
Known For
Poster of Death Valley
Poster of Too Many Women
Poster of Married and in Love
Poster of The Man Who Cried Wolf
Filmography
Movie Coroner Creek Abbie Miles (as Barbara Reed) 1948-07-01
Movie Ginger Peggy Sullivan (as Barbara Reed) 1947-01-04
Movie Key Witness Martha Higby (as Barbara Reed) 1947-10-09
Movie The Shadow Returns Margo Lane (as Barbara Reed) 1946-02-16
Movie Behind the Mask Margo Lane (as Barbara Reed) 1946-05-25
Movie Death Valley Mitzi 1946-08-15
Movie The Missing Lady Margo Lane (as Barbara Reed) 1946-08-17
Movie Too Many Women Linda Pearson 1942-02-27
Movie Rubber Racketeers Mary Dale 1942-06-26
Movie Married and in Love Helen Yates 1940-01-19
Movie Curtain Call Helen Middleton 1940-04-18
Movie Sorority House Dotty Spencer 1939-05-05
Movie The Spellbinder Janet Marlowe 1939-07-28
Movie Midnight Intruder Patricia Hammond 1938-02-06
Movie The Crime of Doctor Hallet Claire Saunders 1938-03-12
Movie The Mighty Treve Aileen Fenno 1937-01-17
Movie Make Way for Tomorrow Rhoda Cooper 1937-05-09
Movie Merry Go Round of 1938 Clarice Stockbridge 1937-11-14
Movie The Road Back Lucy 1937-06-01
Movie The Man Who Cried Wolf Nan 1937-08-29
Movie Three Smart Girls Kay Craig 1936-12-20