Barbara Eden was born Barbara Jean Morehead on August 23, 1934, in Tucson, Arizona. Her parents divorced when she was three years old and she moved with her mom to San Francisco. Eden won Miss San Francisco in 1951. Barbara also entered the Miss California pageant that year, but did not win. Eden married actor Michael Ansara in St Nicholas Church in Hollywood January 17, 1958. Her son Matthew Ansara was born Sunday, August 29, 1965. Ansara and Eden divorced in May 1974.  From September 1977 to 1983 Barbara was married to Donald Fogert, a newspaper executive. In 1991 she married her current husband, Jon Trusdale Eicholtz. Her son, Matthew Ansara, died on June 25, 2001, from a drug overdose.

Eden made many appearances on television shows before her big break.

Some shows she appeared on include The Johnny Carson Show, Highway Patrol, I Love Lucy,  Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, Father Knows Best, The Andy Griffith Show, and the series finale of Route 66. She also guest starred in four episodes of Burke’s Law, playing different roles each time.

Barbara Eden had her film debut in Back from Eternity.  In 1957, she starred in the television series How to Marry a Millionaire. She was performing in a play when film director Mark Robson saw her and wanted to sign Eden with 20th Century Fox studios.

In 1965, she become Jeannie, a genie in a bottle rescued by an astronaut in I Dream of Jeannie. Jeannie was the role that made Barbara Eden a star and an American icon. She played this role for five years and 139 episodes. Jeanie was set free by Captain (later Major) Anthony Nelson, played by Larry Hagman. Eden was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for her role. She later reprised her Jeannie role in two made-for-TV reunion movies, I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later in 1985 and I Still Dream of Jeannie in 1991.

After Jeanie, Eden did a number of pilots. Eden also began starring in and sometimes producing many successful made-for-TV movies. She made at least one a year and they all were top-rated. Eden wrote an autobiography, Barbara Eden: My Story, published in October 1989.

Then in 1990, Eden had a recurring role in five episodes of the final season of Dallas, playing the character Lee Ann De La Vega. From 1991 to 2006, she starred in the various stage productions and variety shows.

On November 17, 1988, she received the honor of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  In 1990, Eden received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University Of West Los Angeles School Of Law.

Eden’s most recent work was starring in the play Love Letters and a guest-starring role on the Lifetime series Army Wives. Barbara Eden continues to have quest appearances on many TV shows and movies.