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Barbara Bain is an American film and television actress, appearing in Space 1999 as Doctor Helena Russell.

History[]

Born Mildred ("Millie") Fogel, in a car en route to the maternity hospital in Chicago. She is 1.7 m (5'7") tall, blonde, with green eyes.

Bain gained a B.S. at the University Of Illinois in 1950, majoring in Sociology and minoring in Philosophy. She moved from Chicago to New York to study dance under Martha Graham, but found the art insular and ill paid. She took a part time job modelling with the Frances Gill Agency. She found considerable success, though she disliked it. A friend suggested she go to Curt Conway's drama classes, where she met Martin Landau in a class after a modelling assignment in 1955. After their marriage in 1957 her first acting role was a small part in the play Middle Of The Night when it went on tour, after which they settled in Beverly Hills.

Accompanying her husband to film locations and raising their two daughters, Susan Meredith (born 1960) and Juliet Rose (born 1965), left her little time to pursue her own acting career in the 1960s, but she did some stage and television work, some to critical acclaim. Her television debut was as a guest in Richard Diamond Private Detective (1959), and she also appeared in episodes of Perry Mason (1960 and 1964), Wagon Train (1963), The Dick Van Dyke Show (1963), Ben Casey (1964) and Get Smart (1965).

From 1965 to 1968 Bain played Cinnamon Carter in Mission: Impossible alongside Landau, winning the Emmy best actress award three years in succession. She also appeared with Landau in the Steven Spielberg directed pilot Savage (1973). She appeared in the 1973 TV movie A Summer Without Boys, before moving to London for Space 1999.

Landau and Bain rented a five storey Georgian house in Chester Square, Belgravia, with a housekeeper-cook. Their children, Susie and Juliet attended the American school in London (ASL). For Christmas 1973 Landau and Bain bought their daughters a lhasa apso dog from Harrods that they named Pippin.

After Space: 1999 Bain guested with Landau in TV movie The Harlem Globetrotters On Gilligan's Island (1981). She earned critical acclaim and awards for her theatre work, notably Long Day's Journey Into Night (1984) and Wings (1985). Bain appeared in the films Trust Me (1989), Skinheads (1989) and Spirit Of 76 (1990, produced by her daughter, Susan Landau), Gideon (1999), Panic (2000), Silver Skies (2016) and had an important supporting role in American Gun (2002) with James Coburn. Other work includes a recurring role in My So Called Life tv series (1994), and guest roles in The New Mike Hammer (1984), Moonlighting (1985), Murder She Wrote (1988 and 1991), The Visitor (1997), Walker Texas Ranger (1997), Millennium (1999). She reprised her role as Cinnamon Carter in an episode Diagnosis Murder (1997), starring her long time friend Dick Van Dyke. When she appeared in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2006) the story includes a suspect who dons many guises, in a similar way to characters in Mission: Impossible.

On 27 April 2016 Bain was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame[2], which is situated close to the Stella Adler Theater, where she has directed plays. Most stars are paid for by Studios, for example, when they are promoting a film or TV show. In contrast, Barbara Bain's fans raised the fee and successfully applied to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for her to be awarded a star.

She continues to work with the Actors Studio in Los Angeles, taking classes and directing plays. She has also appeared in a number of short films.

Perception[]

Fred Freiberger on Bain: "When I had spoken on the phone to Barbara, whom I had never met, she was charming and delightful. I said, "Barbara, why don't you do that in the series?" Her training at the Actor's Studio in New York told her: Be economical, which was all wrong for this type of show. I tried to give her more to do. I tried to give her some sense of humor because she's a natural in social situations. She's sharp. She knows story and character very well."

Some directors of Space: 1999 have indicated that Bain was a difficult actress with very fixed views. Val Guest described her as "a real pain. She was always late, and took everything much too seriously." Ray Austin stated she was "very Hollywood" and said "Barbara did a journeyman's job all the time. A lot of the other artists never liked playing scenes with Barbara at all; they'd rather play with anyone else than Barbara. They always said to me, 'I'm not getting anything back from her at all.' "

However, many of the cast and crew have commented that she was very friendly and supportive. According to Bob Kellett, Bain suggested the story for the episode The Last Enemy. She was a guest at the 1986, 1992, 1999 and 2012 conventions in the U.S.A. She appeared in The Space: 1999 Documentary (1996).[3]

References[]

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