Barbara Read

Known for ActingBorn 1917-12-29Died 1963-12-11Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada

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)Read more

Movies & web series

The Crime of Doctor Hallet

Ginger

Santabear's First Christmas

Make Way for Tomorrow

The Mighty Treve

Merry Go Round of 1938

Sorority House

Curtain Call

The Man Who Cried Wolf

The Road Back

Three Smart Girls

The Spellbinder

Coroner Creek

The Shadow Returns

Midnight Intruder

Too Many Women

Death Valley

Married and in Love

Behind the Mask

Rubber Racketeers

The Missing Lady

Key Witness