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Barbara Read

1917-12-29

The 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)

Barbara Read in

Movies

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Make Way for Tomorrow

7.6 average rating
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Coroner Creek

6 average rating
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Rubber Racketeers

4.3 average rating
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Midnight Intruder

5.2 average rating
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The Missing Lady

4.7 average rating
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Behind the Mask

4.6 average rating
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The Spellbinder

6 average rating
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The Crime of Doctor Hallet

0 average rating
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The Shadow Returns

5.3 average rating
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Three Smart Girls

6.4 average rating
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The Man Who Cried Wolf

5.5 average rating
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The Road Back

7.7 average rating
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Death Valley

5 average rating
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Sorority House

6.8 average rating
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Curtain Call

7.3 average rating
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Married and in Love

5.3 average rating
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Key Witness

4.6 average rating
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The Mighty Treve

6 average rating
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Merry Go Round of 1938

5 average rating
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Too Many Women

4.8 average rating