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On 85th Birthday, “I Dream Of Jeanie” Star Reveals 1 Thing That Changed Her Life And STILL Haunts Her Every Day…

August 30, 2016 Trivia
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You may remember her as the most beautiful genie to come out of the bottle, but we knew her as Jeannie, from I Dream of Jeannie. Actress Barbara Eden recently celebrated her 85th birthday, and after all these years she’s still as lovely as ever!

Despite having had her share of heartbreak, the star considers herself “lucky to be here.” We’ll take you inside some of the highs and lows of Barbara’s life as we look back at her career in Hollywood. The comedy series I Dream of Jeannie made her famous. But before landing the role of a lifetime, Barbara had made several guest appearances on a variety of successful TV shows with some of the biggest stars of the 1950s and 60s. One of her first big breaks was working with no other than the king of rock & roll himself, Elvis Presley. The two starred in the 1960 western, “Flaming Star.”

While working on the film, she discovered that years before, Elvis had inquired about her with the owner of the nightclub she worked at as a dancer. She admitted she’d never called him back because she thought someone was playing a joke on her!

A few other leading men she starred with on TV included Clint Eastwood in the TV series, Rawhide and Desi Arnaz in I Love Lucy for the “Country Club Dance” episode. Barbara said in an interview that Desi flirted with her the entire time on the set but it didn’t bother Lucille Ball one bit.

In fact, she actually complimented Eden on her sense of humor. “She said that it was rare to find a pretty girl who could be funny,” Eden explained. Ball even tried to sign her under her production company but Eden eventually went with 20th Century Fox. By the time she got the role of Jeannie, Eden was 34-years-old, however she didn’t look a day over 25! She revealed that her time filming the show from 1965 to 1970 was like “heaven.”

Eden admits that she and her co-star, the late Larry Hagman, shared the same values about truth and honesty when it came to acting. One of her favorite memories was from their first time rehearsing.

“I threw my arms around his neck and said, ‘Oh, Master!’”, she recalls. “And he was like, ‘What is this woman doing?’”

Perhaps one of the oddest things about I Dream of Jeannie was the fact that the producers always had to keep her belly button carefully concealed due to NBC’s censors. At one point, Eden wanted to do a “belly button reveal” on the show Laugh In but was ultimately forbidden by the show’s producers.

Despite her success in Hollywood, life wasn’t always dreamy for the girl who played a 2000-year-old genie. In 2001, Eden lost her only child, Matthew Ansara to a heroin overdose at the age of 35.

Matthew had struggled with addiction for years but had recently cleaned up his act and was about to get married. Eden was in the middle of planning his wedding when she got the devastating news.

When asked how she deals with the memory of her late son, she answered, “I remember the good times, I don’t dwell on the other.”

Recently, Eden told People Magazine that she can still fit into her Jeannie costume thanks to her love of fitness. She attends spinning classes regularly and tries to maintain a healthy diet.

Eden admits she’s grateful for every moment of her career even though she’s not always too happy about growing older. “There are times when I am really upset with the time passing,” Eden said.

“But I have a loving husband [Jon Eicholtz] and really good friends. You can’t possibly be what you were when you were younger. I am so lucky to be here. Really lucky.”

Source: http://www.liftable.com/virgialaniz/httpwww-inquisitr-com3446317barbara-eden-turns-85-inside-dream-jeannie-stars-happiness-heartbreak/

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