Barbara Lawrence

For the biologist, see Barbara Lawrence (zoologist).

Barbara Lawrence
Born	Barbara Jo Lawrence (1930-02-24)February 24, 1930 Carnegie, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	November 13, 2013(2013-11-13) (aged 83) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1945–1962
Spouse(s)	Jeffrey Stone ​ ​ (m. 1947; div. 1949)​ John Murphy ​ ​ (m. 1951; div. 1957)​ Lester R. Nelson ​ ​ (m. 1961; div. 1976)​
Children	4

Barbara Lawrence and Eddie Albert in Oklahoma! (1955)

Barbara Jo Lawrence (February 24, 1930 – November 13, 2013) was an American model, actress, and real estate agent.

Early years

Born to Morris Lawrence and Bernice (née Eaton) Lawrence in Carnegie, Oklahoma, Barbara Jo moved with her mother to Kansas City, Missouri as an adolescent. She won a Tiny Tot beauty contest when she was three years old.

Career

Lawrence's career began as a child photographer's model. She appeared in her first film, Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe (1945), as a night-club patron. A year later, she made a strong impression in her second film at 20th Century-Fox, Margie, in which she played outgoing flapper Maryville. She was featured in the swashbuckler Captain from Castile (1947) with Tyrone Power. While finishing her studies at UCLA, she attracted the attention of talent scouts, and Lawrence was soon featured in a number of additional 20th Century-Fox movies, 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 was one of the stars of Columbia Pictures' romantic comedy, Paris Model, in 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"). In 1956 Lawrence 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 storyline and special effects. Between 1958 and 1962, Lawrence made four guest appearances on 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 a murderess in "The Case of the Envious Editor", and in 1962, she played Agnes Theilman in "The Case of the Shapely Shadow". In 1958 she guest-starred in Cimarron City (TV series), in the second episode "Terror Town". In 1960, she guest starred as Della Thompson in the Bonanza episode "The Abduction".

Personal life

In 1947, Lawrence married John Forrest Fontaine, an actor known professionally as Jeffrey Stone. This was kept secret until June 28, 1947, when Lawrence's mother threw her daughter a church wedding in Beverly Hills, but the marriage ended with a divorce granted on September 28, 1949.

On July 29, 1951, she wed John Murphy; the couple had two children before divorcing in 1957. After marrying Lester R. Nelson in 1961, she had two more children. She made several more television appearances in 1962, then retired from acting altogether. She and Nelson divorced in 1976.

Barbara Lawrence died of kidney failure on November 13, 2013, aged 83, in Los Angeles, California, but her death was not reported until January 3, 2014. She was cremated and her ashes scattered in North Carolina where she had a vacation home.

Legacy

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.

Filmography

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
1948	Give My Regards to Broadway	June Norwick
1948	The Street with No Name	Judy Stiles
1948	Unfaithfully Yours	Barbara Henshler
1949	A Letter to Three Wives	Babe Finney
1949	Mother Is a Freshman	Louise Sharpe
1949	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
1952	The Star	Barbara Lawrence
1953	Arena	Sylvia Lorgan
1953	Paris Model	Marta Jensen
1954	Jesse James vs. the Daltons	Kate Manning
1954	Her Twelve Men	Barbara Dunning
1955	Oklahoma!	Gertie Cummings
1955	Man with the Gun	Ann Wakefield
1957	Kronos	Vera Hunter
1957	Joe Dakota	Myrna Weaver
1957	Man in the Shadow	Helen Sadler

External links

• Barbara Lawrence at IMDb
• Barbara Lawrence at AllMovie
• New York Times obituary for Barbara Lawrence, January 3, 2014; accessed January 4, 2014.