Barbara Eden Tribute at the Castro Theatre - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Zoneboy · 07-14-2011, 10:04 PM

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Barbara Eden, star of the classic 60's comedy, “I Dream of Jeannie,” came out of the bottle, live in person along with some of San Francisco's finest performers and belly dancing superstars at the Castro Theatre on July 10. To stage right was a 19-foot high bejeweled genie’s bottle of gold that was created by Phillipe. This Miss San Francisco 1951 had a homecoming fit for a queen!

Producer of the magical evening, Marc Huestis, put together an amazing series of TV show clips featuring Eden back in the day: t here was a 1978 Bob Hope special with her singing “It’s a Miracle;” a USO special from 1988 singing “Come Back to Me;” 1976 clip with Telly Savalas when she sang “Let Me Be There;” Andy Williams 1966 special where she popped out of a bottle with pink smoke to sing “I’ve Got Your Number” and dance up a sexy storm; a 1970 USO hippy-trippy dance show with Eden doing Blood, Sweat, and Tears’ “Spinning Wheel;” a very funny, very hot 1968 USO with her sexy singing of “Hush Up, Don’t Tell Mama” with a fan dance; 1976 “Sonny and Cher Show” in a duet with Cher;” and more. She has had a remarkable career on the stage.

There were also classic clips from Eden’s 1965-70 television show “I Dream of Jeannie” with Jeannie in roles such as a nightclub singer, drummer, standup bass player, hippy chick, and more – blinking her way in and out of trouble. Also screened was her elaborate dance production number in the movie, Kismet, singing “Not Since Nineveh.”

Following all that was a show of dancing girls - specifically belly dancers from The Garden of Eden, whirling and twirling, clapping finger cymbals, and doing exotic serpentine moves with their bellies and hips. The last dancer had a gigantic papier maché head - over a third of her body - which when suddenly removed revealed a MAN underneath!

What could top all that? How about a clip of Eden in her Harper Valley P.T.A. movie where she “socked it to” the hypocrites that claimed she was an unfit mother, so she was there ‘to call a few kettles black’” – followed by drag queen Arturo Galster dressed as a country western Jeannie mash-up singing live the title song from that movie?! Then Galster hosted a Jeannie look-alike contest, boiling down to two finalists: one was a team of seven Jeannies doing synchronized dancing; and the other, the winner, was a dead-on Jeannie ringer lady lip-synching Eden’s “Bend It” song while doing intricate acrobatics, backbends, and ribbon twirling. Special mention goes to clever parodist/ gay porn star Tom Orr as the blue Djinn (a male genie) who quipped that he thought this was an “I Dream of Weenie” show.

The audience also got to view clips from Eden’s appearances on “I Love Lucy” as a temptress; “The Andy Griffith Show” as a ditzy, naïve blonde; Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea as a submarine sailor gal, From the Terrace opposite a young Paul Newman as an outrageous flirt; a cowgirl in Flaming Star, a 1960 western film starring Elvis Presley; and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao in 1964 as a voyeur watching a Pan creature play his flute. Then there were some more clips of her with Paul Lynde, Don Rickles, Sammy Davis Jr., Farrah Fawcett, Groucho Marx, and record producer/ songwriter Phil Spector.

At last it was time to meet the much anticipated guest herself, as gorgeous Eden glided down the aisle dressed in chic black translucent top with black leggings and looking utterly fabulous. Huestis had really done his homework when interviewing Eden. We learned a multitude of trivia and the not so trivial. Much of the information came from her New York Times best-seller tell-all book, Jeannie Out of a Bottle. She said she never watched rushes of her movies or shows she was starring in, “but this was kinda fun, because it was a while ago.” She is proud to be born and raised in San Francisco, living at 1207 Bush and Polk Streets, and going to Redding Grammar School, where she won a Halloween contest as Little Bo Peep in a red wig. She said a psychic predicted she would make her mark in television, which disappointed her, because she wanted to be a singer. The psychic insisted it would be as a TV star first, then a singer and a movie star. “I didn’t realize at the time how astute she was,” said Eden. The psychic also told her to move to Los Angeles, which she did.

One of her first jobs was working with actress Anne Sothern, who she said was the only actress she ever knew who was “really mean” to her. She worked with Lucille Ball two weeks after working with Sothern, who was a direct opposite in temperament, even going so far as to lovingly add sparkles to the costume she wore on “I Love Lucy.” Eden said she had been told to avoid eye contact with Desi Arnaz (Ricky Ricardo on TV), who was a real skirt chaser. “I just looked straight ahead and did my job,” she said. She loved acting with Andy Griffith who was “a terrific guy and wonderful to work with.” She met Marilyn Monroe who was on a set next to hers and “she couldn’t have been nicer and was so beautiful; she glowed; everything about her was sweetness.” Acting with Elvis, she found him “a very polite, well grownup man, a gentleman, and a sweet, sweet man, and a serious actor.” At the time, she was married to actor Michael Ansara, and Elvis was very interested in how a successful show business marriage worked. Later Elvis would marry the very young Priscilla. Speaking of Ansara, she said it was nerve-wracking working with her mate “because you care very much about how they do; it’s like having a child; but of course he did fine.”

She loved working on Dr. Lao, but when asked whether she really did actually get hot under the collar watching the sexy satyr dance, she said, “I’ll never tell!” and giggled. She said Tony Randall was fun to work with, and he constantly played pranks on his costars. When they played gin rummy in between scenes, she kept losing – until she realized he had her purposely seated in front of a mirror and could see all her hands quite handily. She enjoyed working with Peter Lorre, who told many a Hollywood tale to her on set. He gave her wise advice to always sign your own checks, because his best friend embezzled his entire fortune. She said she enjoyed working with Cher - who was “great and really down to earth” - and especially liked getting to wear those elegant Bob Macke gowns. Charo was “goochie goochie.” When Huestis asked, “What about working with all those gay dancing boys, she joked, “Were they gay? They sure made ME look good!” She said she adores watching TV’s talent reality show, “Dancing with the Stars,” but would NEVER be a dance contestant on it. “Nope,” she said two times. “I just like to watch them.”

She said she has had many different hairdos in her roles, but most of the pieces were light, with the exception of the Jeannie ponytail, which was really heavy.

She said working with Bob Hope on all those specials - especially entertaining the troupes overseas at USO shows - was always a treat. She said he was quite a talented man and great actor. She worried one time when she and Connie Stevens had to share a top bunk onboard ship with Hope on the bottom bunk, fearing they would come tumbling down onto the elderly man. She joked that the headlines might read, “Bob Hope killed by two blondes in the Persian Gulf.”

Landing her role as Jeannie was amazing to her, because they were only testing Mediterranean looking brunettes, but when her agent sent her a script and she tested well with Sidney Sheldon, she easily got the role. She said she never thought whether the pilot would be a hit, but costar Larry Hagman knew it would be. “It really was one of my favorite episodes,” she said. When asked about working with Hagman, she said he was always very nice to her, but with others “he had issues” and would occasionally “act out like a little kid.” For instance, when five nuns from “The Flying Nun” came on set, Hagman grabbed a fire ax, swore every four letter word imaginable, and tried to cut the coaxial cable. She said, “It was kind of interesting when you work a twelve-hour or more day.” Did he smoke pot on the set? Yes, because a therapist suggested it to “mellow him out.” She said she still sees members of the cast, and they got together two weeks ago in Australia.

She said it was fun doing scenes with giant cups of pencils and telephones, with the exception of the one time she was in a big safe that they shook and she was knocked out when she got hit with a giant lipstick inside. She spoke about the belly button controversy, and how NBC would not allow her navel to show. It was even rumored that Eden did not HAVE a navel, until George Schlatter unveiled it on “Laugh-In.”

She said both Hagman and she realized that when their characters got married, it would be the end of the series. “She couldn’t marry a human because she wasn’t a human,” Eden explained.

The evening ended appropriately with the current Miss San Francisco Crystal Lee presenting the former Miss San Francisco 1951 with a proclamation from Mayor Edwin Lee declaring it “Barbara Eden Day in San Francisco.” Eden bubbled over, “This makes me feel wonderful!”

CAJeannieFan57 · 07-15-2011, 11:17 AM

Nice article, but they got one piece of information wrong: Barbara was born in Tucson, AZ, before moving to San Francisco where she was raised.

Donna

Lisa_Eva · 05-28-2012, 06:48 PM

I was at the Castro and got to meet her last Summer! She signed my 2010 edition IDOJ Barbie. It was an awesome event.

07-14-2011, 10:04 PM	#1
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,386	Barbara Eden Tribute at the Castro Theatre Link Barbara Eden, star of the classic 60's comedy, “I Dream of Jeannie,” came out of the bottle, live in person along with some of San Francisco's finest performers and belly dancing superstars at the Castro Theatre on July 10. To stage right was a 19-foot high bejeweled genie’s bottle of gold that was created by Phillipe. This Miss San Francisco 1951 had a homecoming fit for a queen! Producer of the magical evening, Marc Huestis, put together an amazing series of TV show clips featuring Eden back in the day: t here was a 1978 Bob Hope special with her singing “It’s a Miracle;” a USO special from 1988 singing “Come Back to Me;” 1976 clip with Telly Savalas when she sang “Let Me Be There;” Andy Williams 1966 special where she popped out of a bottle with pink smoke to sing “I’ve Got Your Number” and dance up a sexy storm; a 1970 USO hippy-trippy dance show with Eden doing Blood, Sweat, and Tears’ “Spinning Wheel;” a very funny, very hot 1968 USO with her sexy singing of “Hush Up, Don’t Tell Mama” with a fan dance; 1976 “Sonny and Cher Show” in a duet with Cher;” and more. She has had a remarkable career on the stage. There were also classic clips from Eden’s 1965-70 television show “I Dream of Jeannie” with Jeannie in roles such as a nightclub singer, drummer, standup bass player, hippy chick, and more – blinking her way in and out of trouble. Also screened was her elaborate dance production number in the movie, Kismet, singing “Not Since Nineveh.” Following all that was a show of dancing girls - specifically belly dancers from The Garden of Eden, whirling and twirling, clapping finger cymbals, and doing exotic serpentine moves with their bellies and hips. The last dancer had a gigantic papier maché head - over a third of her body - which when suddenly removed revealed a MAN underneath! What could top all that? How about a clip of Eden in her Harper Valley P.T.A. movie where she “socked it to” the hypocrites that claimed she was an unfit mother, so she was there ‘to call a few kettles black’” – followed by drag queen Arturo Galster dressed as a country western Jeannie mash-up singing live the title song from that movie?! Then Galster hosted a Jeannie look-alike contest, boiling down to two finalists: one was a team of seven Jeannies doing synchronized dancing; and the other, the winner, was a dead-on Jeannie ringer lady lip-synching Eden’s “Bend It” song while doing intricate acrobatics, backbends, and ribbon twirling. Special mention goes to clever parodist/ gay porn star Tom Orr as the blue Djinn (a male genie) who quipped that he thought this was an “I Dream of Weenie” show. The audience also got to view clips from Eden’s appearances on “I Love Lucy” as a temptress; “The Andy Griffith Show” as a ditzy, naïve blonde; Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea as a submarine sailor gal, From the Terrace opposite a young Paul Newman as an outrageous flirt; a cowgirl in Flaming Star, a 1960 western film starring Elvis Presley; and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao in 1964 as a voyeur watching a Pan creature play his flute. Then there were some more clips of her with Paul Lynde, Don Rickles, Sammy Davis Jr., Farrah Fawcett, Groucho Marx, and record producer/ songwriter Phil Spector. At last it was time to meet the much anticipated guest herself, as gorgeous Eden glided down the aisle dressed in chic black translucent top with black leggings and looking utterly fabulous. Huestis had really done his homework when interviewing Eden. We learned a multitude of trivia and the not so trivial. Much of the information came from her New York Times best-seller tell-all book, Jeannie Out of a Bottle. She said she never watched rushes of her movies or shows she was starring in, “but this was kinda fun, because it was a while ago.” She is proud to be born and raised in San Francisco, living at 1207 Bush and Polk Streets, and going to Redding Grammar School, where she won a Halloween contest as Little Bo Peep in a red wig. She said a psychic predicted she would make her mark in television, which disappointed her, because she wanted to be a singer. The psychic insisted it would be as a TV star first, then a singer and a movie star. “I didn’t realize at the time how astute she was,” said Eden. The psychic also told her to move to Los Angeles, which she did. One of her first jobs was working with actress Anne Sothern, who she said was the only actress she ever knew who was “really mean” to her. She worked with Lucille Ball two weeks after working with Sothern, who was a direct opposite in temperament, even going so far as to lovingly add sparkles to the costume she wore on “I Love Lucy.” Eden said she had been told to avoid eye contact with Desi Arnaz (Ricky Ricardo on TV), who was a real skirt chaser. “I just looked straight ahead and did my job,” she said. She loved acting with Andy Griffith who was “a terrific guy and wonderful to work with.” She met Marilyn Monroe who was on a set next to hers and “she couldn’t have been nicer and was so beautiful; she glowed; everything about her was sweetness.” Acting with Elvis, she found him “a very polite, well grownup man, a gentleman, and a sweet, sweet man, and a serious actor.” At the time, she was married to actor Michael Ansara, and Elvis was very interested in how a successful show business marriage worked. Later Elvis would marry the very young Priscilla. Speaking of Ansara, she said it was nerve-wracking working with her mate “because you care very much about how they do; it’s like having a child; but of course he did fine.” She loved working on Dr. Lao, but when asked whether she really did actually get hot under the collar watching the sexy satyr dance, she said, “I’ll never tell!” and giggled. She said Tony Randall was fun to work with, and he constantly played pranks on his costars. When they played gin rummy in between scenes, she kept losing – until she realized he had her purposely seated in front of a mirror and could see all her hands quite handily. She enjoyed working with Peter Lorre, who told many a Hollywood tale to her on set. He gave her wise advice to always sign your own checks, because his best friend embezzled his entire fortune. She said she enjoyed working with Cher - who was “great and really down to earth” - and especially liked getting to wear those elegant Bob Macke gowns. Charo was “goochie goochie.” When Huestis asked, “What about working with all those gay dancing boys, she joked, “Were they gay? They sure made ME look good!” She said she adores watching TV’s talent reality show, “Dancing with the Stars,” but would NEVER be a dance contestant on it. “Nope,” she said two times. “I just like to watch them.” She said she has had many different hairdos in her roles, but most of the pieces were light, with the exception of the Jeannie ponytail, which was really heavy. She said working with Bob Hope on all those specials - especially entertaining the troupes overseas at USO shows - was always a treat. She said he was quite a talented man and great actor. She worried one time when she and Connie Stevens had to share a top bunk onboard ship with Hope on the bottom bunk, fearing they would come tumbling down onto the elderly man. She joked that the headlines might read, “Bob Hope killed by two blondes in the Persian Gulf.” Landing her role as Jeannie was amazing to her, because they were only testing Mediterranean looking brunettes, but when her agent sent her a script and she tested well with Sidney Sheldon, she easily got the role. She said she never thought whether the pilot would be a hit, but costar Larry Hagman knew it would be. “It really was one of my favorite episodes,” she said. When asked about working with Hagman, she said he was always very nice to her, but with others “he had issues” and would occasionally “act out like a little kid.” For instance, when five nuns from “The Flying Nun” came on set, Hagman grabbed a fire ax, swore every four letter word imaginable, and tried to cut the coaxial cable. She said, “It was kind of interesting when you work a twelve-hour or more day.” Did he smoke pot on the set? Yes, because a therapist suggested it to “mellow him out.” She said she still sees members of the cast, and they got together two weeks ago in Australia. She said it was fun doing scenes with giant cups of pencils and telephones, with the exception of the one time she was in a big safe that they shook and she was knocked out when she got hit with a giant lipstick inside. She spoke about the belly button controversy, and how NBC would not allow her navel to show. It was even rumored that Eden did not HAVE a navel, until George Schlatter unveiled it on “Laugh-In.” She said both Hagman and she realized that when their characters got married, it would be the end of the series. “She couldn’t marry a human because she wasn’t a human,” Eden explained. The evening ended appropriately with the current Miss San Francisco Crystal Lee presenting the former Miss San Francisco 1951 with a proclamation from Mayor Edwin Lee declaring it “Barbara Eden Day in San Francisco.” Eden bubbled over, “This makes me feel wonderful!”
	__________________ 'Twas The Night Before Christmas And All Through The Full House Not A Creature Was Stirring, Not Even Mighty Mouse. All My Children We're Nestled All Snug In Their Beds While Visions Of Sugarbakers Danced In Their Heads.

07-15-2011, 11:17 AM	#2
CAJeannieFan57 Member Forum Regular Join Date: May 01, 2005 Location: Central Missouri Posts: 871	Nice article, but they got one piece of information wrong: Barbara was born in Tucson, AZ, before moving to San Francisco where she was raised. Donna
	__________________ Donna

05-28-2012, 06:48 PM	#3
Lisa_Eva Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 31, 2011 Posts: 102	I was at the Castro and got to meet her last Summer! She signed my 2010 edition IDOJ Barbie. It was an awesome event.