Barbara Eden got her first big break in 1955 on The Johnny Carson Show, and went on to star alongside Elvis five years later in Flaming Star.
However, it wasn’t until 1965 that she really rose to “icon” status with her role on I Dream of Jeannie.
The show was created as NBC’s answer to the success of Bewitched, starring Eden as the namesake character.
She starred as a genie who falls in love with an astronaut, played by Larry Hagman.
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The show ran for five seasons from 1965 to 1970 and earned Eden two Golden Globe nominations.
It was a perfectly wholesome show but, bizarrely, there was a controversy over Eden’s bellybutton. However, all was not as it seemed.
A journalist visiting the set of the show asked the actress to show him her bellybutton, to which she joked she’d have to charge him. As he kept asking, she kept raising the price.
The incident, and the resulting article, morphed into a widespread rumour that NBC had forbidden Eden’s bellybutton from being shown on screen.
“It became a thing. I’ve told people, I said, ‘Other people are known for very glamorous parts of their body. I’ve got a belly button’,” she tells ET in a new interview.
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“The standards and practices for films suddenly realised I had a belly button I had never shown before. It was silly.”
After I Dream of Jeannie ended, Eden went on to star in multiple TV shows and films, also starting her own production company MI-Bar Productions, which saw her produce several of her projects.
One of her most successful ventures was the TV show Harper Valley P.T.A., she also appeared in several episode of Dallas and Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, and was in two I Dream of Jeannie movies.
Over the years she’s also starred in several plays and musicals.
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Her most recent on-screen role was in a 2019 Christmas film.
In a 2021 interview with People to commemorate her 90th birthday, Eden said, “Sometimes one is forced to slow down, but I’ll do what I do until I can’t.”
Throughout the years, Eden was also married three times.
The actress was married to Michael Ansara from 1958 to 1974, then to Charles Fegert from 1977 to 1982.
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Her third marriage was to Jon Eicholtz in 1991, and they are still happily married today.
During her marriage with Michael Ansara, Eden welcomed her first child, Matthew, who died of an overdose in 2001.
In an interview with People, said she doesn’t think there is “anything worse than to lose your child”.
As a parent, I had a lot of guilt and anger, and following his death I was always on the edge of tears. Even though he was 35, he was still my baby,” she said.
At 92 years of age, Eden is still out an about appearing on red carpets – and of course regularly doing her iconic I Dream of Jeannie pose.
In an interview with the Baltimore Media Blog, she spoke about the lasting impact the show has had.
“It’s thrilling isn’t it? I love it! I just love it. When we were making it, I never dreamed of the legacy it’s left… I travel to China, Australia… all over the world,” she said.
“I’ll have grandpa, grandma, the parents, and the kids… all age groups come see me at autograph shows. It’s a wonderful, wonderful gift.”
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