| Barbara Lawrence | |
| Birth Name: | Barbara Jo Lawrence |
| Birth Date: | 24 February 1930 |
| Birth Place: | Carnegie, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Known For: | Oklahoma! Margie A Letter to Three Wives |
| Years Active: | 1945–1962 |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 4 |
Barbara Jo Lawrence (February 24, 1930 – November 13, 2013) was an American model, actress, and real estate agent.
Born to Morris and Bernice (nee Eaton) Lawrence in Carnegie, Oklahoma,[1] She won a Tiny Tot beauty contest when she was three years old.[2]
Lawrence's career began as a child photographer's model. She appeared in Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe (1945), her first film, as a night-club patron. A year later, she made a strong impression in Margie, in which she played outgoing flapper Marybelle. She was featured in the swashbuckler Captain from Castile (1947) with Tyrone Power. While finishing her studies at UCLA,[3] she attracted the attention of talent scouts, and Lawrence soon was featured in a number of movies at 20th Century-Fox, including You Were Meant for Me, Give My Regards to Broadway, A Letter to Three Wives, The Street with No Name, and Thieves' Highway. At Universal in the early 1950s were Peggy and Here Come the Nelsons. She also starred in Columbia Pictures' romantic comedy Paris Model (1953).
Upon moving to MGM, Lawrence appeared with Gig Young in the 3D movie Arena (1953) and in Her Twelve Men (with Greer Garson). She played the role of Gertie Cummings in the film version of Oklahoma!, in which she gets into a knockdown catfight with Gloria Grahame (Ado Annie). She starred in Man with the Gun (1955) that year. In 1956, she appeared as Lola McQuilan in the western TV series Cheyenne in the episode titled "The Last Train West." In 1957, she starred in Kronos (with Jeff Morrow). Although the science-fiction film was not praised by critics at the time, it eventually attracted a cult following for its imaginative story and special effects.
From 1958 to 1962, Lawrence made four guest appearances on the CBS-TV series Perry Mason. In 1958, she played Ellen Waring in "The Half-Wakened Wife" and Gloria Barton in "The Case of the Jilted Jockey." In 1961, she played Lori Stoner in "The Case of the Envious Editor", and in 1962, she played Agnes Theilman in "The Case of the Shapely Shadow".[4] In 1958, she guest-starred in Cimarron City in the second episode "Terror Town". In 1960, she guest-starred as Della Thompson in the Bonanza episode "The Abduction".
In 1947, aged 17, Lawrence married actor Jeffrey Stone. The marriage was kept secret until June 28, 1947, when Lawrence's mother threw her daughter a church wedding in Beverly Hills, California,[1] but the marriage ended with a divorce granted on September 28, 1949.[5]
Lawrence died of kidney failure on November 13, 2013, aged 83,[6] in Los Angeles, California, but her death was not published until January 3, 2014.[7]
Lawrence has a star at 1735 Vine Street in the television section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.[8]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Diamond Horseshoe | Blonde in Nightclub | uncredited |
| 1946 | Margie | Marybelle Tenor | |
| 1947 | Captain from Castile | Luisa De Carvajal | |
| 1948 | You Were Meant for Me | Louise Crane | |
| Give My Regards to Broadway | June Norwick | ||
| The Street with No Name | Judy Stiles | ||
| Unfaithfully Yours | Barbara Henshler | ||
| 1949 | A Letter to Three Wives | Babe Finney | |
| Mother Is a Freshman | Louise Sharpe | ||
| Thieves' Highway | Polly Faber | ||
| 1950 | Peggy | Susan Brookfield | |
| 1951 | You Were Meant for Me | S.F. (Foxy) Rogers | |
| 1952 | Here Come the Nelsons | Barbara Schutzendorf | |
| The Star | Herself | ||
| 1953 | Arena | Sylvia Lorgan | |
| Paris Model | Marta Jensen | ||
| 1954 | Jesse James vs. the Daltons | Kate Manning | |
| Her Twelve Men | Barbara Dunning | ||
| 1955 | Oklahoma! | Gertie Cummings | |
| Man with the Gun | Ann Wakefield | ||
| 1956 | Four Star Playhouse | Eva Kenyon | Episode: "Rites of Spring" |
| 1957 | Kronos | Vera Hunter | |
| Joe Dakota | Myrna Weaver | ||
| Man in the Shadow | Helen Sadler |