{"id":1679,"date":"2025-08-13T20:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T20:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/giantnews.us\/?p=1679"},"modified":"2025-08-13T20:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T20:59:10","slug":"looking-back-on-the-life-of-barbara-eden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/giantnews.us\/?p=1679","title":{"rendered":"Looking back on the life of Barbara Eden"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Step aside, Aladdin! Barbara Eden, the woman who made the world dream of genies, is celebrating her 92nd birthday on August 23, and the nonagenarian looks fantastic!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eden\u2013who turned fans into shameless bottle shiners hoping for their own wish-granting blonde\u2013is still adored almost 60 years since she first appeared on I Dream of Jeannie<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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But, while she was able to strike a pose and make magic happen on screen, in real life, she was unable to save her son, who died of a heroin overdose in 2001.<\/p>\n

Born in the Great Depression, Barbara Eden, 92 as of August 23, 2023, turned poverty into luxury when, in 1956, she started appearing in film (A Private\u2019s Affair<\/em>, Twelve Hours to Kill<\/em>) and TV (The Jonny Carson Show<\/em>, I love Lucy<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n

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In 1960, she played to international audiences when she cast was alongside the \u201cKing of Rock and Roll,\u201d Elvis Presley<\/a> in the western, Flaming Star<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And then, in 1965, the stunning blonde played Jeannie, a beautiful genie that was set free by astronaut and US Air Force Captain, Tony Nelson.<\/p>\n

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Eden captured the hearts of fans with her impressive portrayal of the magical creature that she played for the five-season run of the fantasy sitcom I Dream of Jeannie<\/em>, with Larry Hagman playing her love interest, Nelson.<\/p>\n

The same year she was reaching super stardom as Jeannie, Eden and her husband, actor Michael Ansara (known for his starring in role in the 60s series Broken Arrow<\/em>) had a son, Matthew Ansara, who was born August 29, 1965.<\/p>\n

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When Matthew was nine, his parents ended their 15-year marriage, a strike that Eden, who married two more times, says sent her son on the wrong path, towards drugs.<\/p>\n

The Harper Valley PTA<\/em> star explained that she first noticed Matthew was in trouble in 1984, when at 19, he moved in with his father after she remarried. Returning after she divorced a second time, Eden said he was sleeping a lot and lied about being enrolled in college.<\/p>\n

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