Acting

22

Woman

29 Dec 1917

Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada

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)

Make Way for Tomorrow

9 May 1937

Coroner Creek

1 July 1948

Three Smart Girls

20 December 1936

Key Witness

9 October 1947

The Missing Lady

17 August 1946

The Shadow Returns

16 February 1946

Behind the Mask

25 May 1946

Sorority House

5 May 1939

Midnight Intruder

6 February 1938

Too Many Women

27 February 1942