Barbara Read
Biography: 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)
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: December 29, 1917
Deathday: December 11, 1963
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Known For
Make Way for Tomorrow
1937-05-09
Make Way for Tomorrow
Overview: At a family reunion, the Cooper clan find that their parents' home is being foreclosed. "Temporarily," Ma moves in with son George's family, Pa with daughter Cora. But the parents are like sand in the gears of their middle-aged children's well regulated households. Can the old folks take matters into their own hands?
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-05-09
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Coroner Creek
1948-07-01
Coroner Creek
Overview: A man is bent on taking revenge on those responsible for his fiancée's death.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-07-01
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Three Smart Girls
1936-12-20
Three Smart Girls
Overview: The three Craig sisters – Penny, Kay, and Joan – go to New York to stop their divorced father from marrying gold digger Donna Lyons and re-unite him with their mother.
Genres: Comedy Romance Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-12-20
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Key Witness
1947-10-09
Key Witness
Overview: A man takes over the identity of a dead man while on the lam from a crime he didn't commit.
Genres: Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1947-10-09
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Behind the Mask
1946-05-25
Behind the Mask
Overview: Falsely accused of murdering a crooked newspaper reporter, suave detective Lamont Cranston -- aka the Shadow -- vows to track down the real killer.
Genres: Mystery Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-05-25
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The Missing Lady
1946-08-17
The Missing Lady
Overview: While investigating the theft of a valuable jade statue known as "The Missing Lady" -- and the subsequent murder of an art dealer -- imperceptible sleuth Lamont Cranston aka the Shadow (Kane Richmond) finds himself being blamed for the crime. It doesn't help the Shadow's claims of innocence when more bodies begin piling up. Good thing he knows exactly who's guilty among an increasingly smaller group of suspects.
Genres: Science Fiction Crime Drama Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-08-17
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The Shadow Returns
1946-02-16
The Shadow Returns
Overview: The Shadow (Kane Richmond) cracks a case of missing jewels, murder and plastics.
Genres: Mystery Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-02-16
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Curtain Call
1940-04-18
Curtain Call
Overview: Two theatrical producers plan to get even with a demanding actress by tricking her into starring in the worst play they can find.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-04-18
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Married and in Love
1940-01-19
Married and in Love
Overview: Two married couples become engulfed in a storm of emotional fury when Doctor Leslie Yates runs into writer Doris Wilding, his old college flame, whom he has not seen in ten years. After reminiscing about their past, Doris and Leslie make a dinner date with their respective spouses. On the eve of the Yates's dinner party, Leslie's wife Helen brings home a magazine article written by Doris, which sparks Leslie's memory of his separation from her.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-01-19
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Sorority House
1939-05-05
Sorority House
Overview: A young girl begins to wonder if she really fits into the upper-class sorority she's trying to join.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-05-05
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The Man Who Cried Wolf
1937-08-29
The Man Who Cried Wolf
Overview: An actor plots "the perfect crime" by confessing to murders he didn't commit.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-08-29
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Midnight Intruder
1938-02-06
Midnight Intruder
Overview: A former actor poses as the son of a wealthy man and gets involved in a murder in which the real son is the suspect.
Genres: Crime Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-02-06
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The Crime of Doctor Hallet
1938-03-12
The Crime of Doctor Hallet
Overview: Doctor in jungle works on cure for fever.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-03-12
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The Spellbinder
1939-07-28
The Spellbinder
Overview: Jed Marlowe is a brilliant, scheming, unscrupulous criminal lawyer whose specialty is defending criminal he knows is guilty but gets them off through loop-holes or bribery. Then his daughter, misled by her father’s courtroom performance, but unaware of his back-room tactics, marries the killer her father has just unjustly save from the electric chair. What’s a poor father to do?
Genres: Crime Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-07-28
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Too Many Women
1942-02-27
Too Many Women
Overview: Thanks to a fib intended to ward off an annoying real estate developer, a young bachelor finds himself engaged to three different women and pursued by a fourth, a gangster's sister.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-02-27
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Death Valley
1946-08-15
Death Valley
Overview: A dance hall girl is murdered and her body robbed of a quantity of gold obtained illegally. The killer flees into Death Valley and encounters the rightful owner of the gold and her sweetheart.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-08-15
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Rubber Racketeers
1942-06-26
Rubber Racketeers
Overview: Racketeer Gillin is paroled from prison and immediately goes to work trying to make an illegal buck from America's war effort. With rationing in effect the black market tire business is booming. Gillen's mob sets up car lots around town where they peddle stolen tires and "new" tires milled in the gangster's factories from cheap faulty materials. People begin to die in crashes as the defective tires fail. Bill Barry leads his fellow defense plant workers on a crusade to uncover the source of the black market rubber and bring the guilty to justice. Although clearly intended to warn the public about black market tire smuggling, Rubber Racketeers holds it own as a saga of mobsters versus an irate public.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-06-26
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The Mighty Treve
1937-01-17
The Mighty Treve
Overview: Story of a dog that is fanatically devoted to its master.
Genres: Action Adventure Drama Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-01-17
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Ginger
1947-01-04
Ginger
Overview: The adventures of a boy and his dog in a small town.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1947-01-04
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Merry Go Round of 1938
1937-11-14
Merry Go Round of 1938
Overview: Two screwy characters travel to Hollywood and cause mischief.
Genres: Comedy Romance Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-11-14
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The Road Back
1937-06-01
The Road Back
Overview: After the First World War a group of German soldiers try to readjust to civilian life. A sequel to 'All Quiet on the Western Front'.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-06-01
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