What if Barbara Eden wasn't chosen to play Jeannie

[TMC]

...what other actress could have portrayed the character? In all honesty though, it's safe to say that at this point, it's hard to imagine anybody else but Barbara Eden in the role. A lot of what made the show work so to speak was the sexual tension and chemistry between her and Larry Hagman.

Also, one thing to take note is that Barbara seemed to play Jeannie as if she had no idea how hot she was. Basically, there was a naivety and innocence about Jeannie that actually enhanced her sex appeal.

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by TMC

...what other actress could have portrayed the character? In all honesty though, it's safe to say that at this point, it's hard to imagine anybody else but Barbara Eden in the role. A lot of what made the show work so to speak was the sexual tension and chemistry between her and Larry Hagman.

Also, one thing to take note is that Barbara seemed to play Jeannie as if she had no idea how hot she was. Basically, there was a naivety and innocence about Jeannie that actually enhanced her sex appeal.

I agree that it’s hard to imagine a different “Jeanie” than Barbara Eden. But there WERE a lot of great actresses out there, and had one of them snagged the role, I know I might be thinking “no one else could have Jeannie soooo well, about them too.

But IMO Barbara Eden did a FANTASTIC job with the role, so she’s my “Jeanie”

[PracTz]

I'm not sure Julie Newmar would have worked. Yes, she was quite stunning but she could not have played Jeannie as a naive yet mischievous childlike being the way Miss Eden did.

[kentauros]

Kamala Devi

She played the djinni Tezra in The Brass Bottle.

[OH Nuts!]

Debbie Reynolds (God rest her soul) would have done a bang up job.

[RetroTVNitekatt]

Now if we only knew Who read for the part Before Barbara, it might be interesting if any familiar or well known actresses were in the group.

People sometimes forget Barbara had a good 9 years worth of film and TV roles before being cast in IDOJ - so she was a well known face. Even after 20th Century Fox dropped all their contract players in the early 1960's,which really didn't hurt her film career, she continued to have steady film and TV parts.

[RetroTVNitekatt]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Well, Julie Newmar if she wanted to go from a robot to a genie......

She would still have been filming, and contracted to MY LIVING DOLL at the time the IDOJ was casting and filming it's pilot (Late 1964)

[thejasoomian]

I can't image anybody else in the role. But to play along maybe Leslie Parrish.

Or search the Elvis movies :

https://youtu.be/_-Efls6stJ8

[tcr1701]

If you watch Barbara's appearance on the Andy Griffith Show you can see why she was chosen. She was beautiful, but vulnerable and down to earth in that role. I often wonder if that's the performance she Sidney Sheldon saw that impressed him so much.

[merlinjones]

No one could ever top Barbara and her amazing appeal in my mind, but its interesting to consider how different the show would have played with other talents in the role.

How about Goldie Hawn? If she had played her signature dumb blonde from Laugh-in - that might have a been a way-out variant.

[ansara1]

As many people have commented about Larry Hagman, the same is true that the show could not have worked without Barbara Eden. As Bill Daily stated in the A&E Biography on Barbara Eden, "Without Barbara, that show could never have gone on the air. That note that she does... it's innocent, it's charming and to play clean, wholesome sexy - that's a tough one." He also commented on Larry King Live that he couldn't think of a current-day actress who could pull off the role. Sony has been trying to make a movie about I Dream of Jeannie since the 1990s and still can't come up with anything. Casting as well as a decent script is most definitely the reason. Bill Daily was so right in all of his comments regarding Barbara. Sidney Sheldon tested many Middle Eastern types but could not find the right innate qualities until he saw Barbara Eden. He wanted a brunette to minimize comparisons to Bewitched, but Barbara Eden was so perfect for the role, he went with her. I understand some people might think the role is "fluff" and just needs any sexy blonde, but that is far from the truth. It may not be as easy to see until you see that kind of role being done badly. Only then do you appreciate everything that she brought to the role. As with a "silly" show like The Munsters, you don't appreciate the actors and everything that went into the original until you see the 1980s reboot The Munsters Today or the horrible movie of The Munsters that came out a few months ago. Dick York is another example of someone quietly doing an excellent job. It's hard to appreciate him in that role until you see someone else doing it. Barbara knew Jeannie inside and out and was excellent and irreplaceable in the part.

[biffbronson]

A tough question. If I had to come up with a good candidate, how about Diane McBain, in her early 20s at the time. Quite a pretty lady:

[stevea]

The way Elizabeth Montgomery did a 180 as Serena, I'd say she could have done Jeannie, had she not been otherwise occupied art the time.

But it really is hard to imagine anyone else in the role than Eden.

[kentauros]

Originally Posted by stevea

But it really is hard to imagine anyone else in the role than Eden.

Not for me.

From the movie which inspired "I Dream of Jeannie", meet Kamala Devi (who played the djinni Tezra in The Brass Bottle as depicted below).


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[GentlemanJim]

Susan Oliver?
Angie Dickenson?
Joanna Moore?