Barbara Read

Also Known As: Barbara French Read, Barbara Reed

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)

Department: Acting

Place of Birth: Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada

Adult: No

Birthday: December 29, 1917

Age: 107 years old

Gender: Female

Deathday: December 11, 1963

Popularity:

1.57%

Known For:

Make Way for Tomorrow
Coroner Creek
Three Smart Girls
Key Witness
The Missing Lady
The Shadow Returns
Behind the Mask
Curtain Call
Married and in Love
Sorority House
The Man Who Cried Wolf
Midnight Intruder
The Crime of Doctor Hallet
The Spellbinder
Too Many Women
Death Valley
Rubber Racketeers
The Mighty Treve
Ginger
Merry Go Round of 1938
The Road Back