Barbara Lawrence

This article is about the actress. For other people with the same name, see Barbara Lawrence (disambiguation).

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.
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1945–1962
Known for	Oklahoma! Margie A Letter to Three Wives
Spouses	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 and Bernice (nee Eaton) Lawrence in Carnegie, Oklahoma, 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 Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe (1945), her first film, as a night-club patron. A year later, she made a strong impression in Margie, in which she played outgoing flapper Marybelle. 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 soon was featured in a number of movies at 20th Century-Fox , 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 starred in Columbia Pictures' romantic comedy Paris Model (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). She starred in Man with the Gun (1955) that year. In 1956, she 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 story and special effects.

From 1958 to 1962, Lawrence made four guest appearances on the CBS-TV series 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 Lori Stoner 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 in the second episode "Terror Town". In 1960, she guest-starred as Della Thompson in the Bonanza episode "The Abduction".

Personal life

In 1947, aged 17, Lawrence married actor Jeffrey Stone. The marriage was kept secret until June 28, 1947, when Lawrence's mother threw her daughter a church wedding in Beverly Hills, California, but the marriage ended with a divorce granted on September 28, 1949.

Death

Lawrence died of kidney failure on November 13, 2013, aged 83, in Los Angeles, California, but her death was not published until January 3, 2014.

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
	Give My Regards to Broadway	June Norwick
	The Street with No Name	Judy Stiles
	Unfaithfully Yours	Barbara Henshler
1949	A Letter to Three Wives	Babe Finney
	Mother Is a Freshman	Louise Sharpe
	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
	The Star	Herself
1953	Arena	Sylvia Lorgan
	Paris Model	Marta Jensen
1954	Jesse James vs. the Daltons	Kate Manning
	Her Twelve Men	Barbara Dunning
1955	Oklahoma!	Gertie Cummings
	Man with the Gun	Ann Wakefield
1956	Four Star Playhouse	Eva Kenyon	Episode: "Rites of Spring"
1957	Kronos	Vera Hunter
	Joe Dakota	Myrna Weaver
	Man in the Shadow	Helen Sadler
1958–1962	Perry Mason	Ellen Waring, Gloria Barton, Lori Stoner, Mrs. Theilman	S1E26, The Case Of The Half-Wakened Wife; S2.E8, The Case of the Jilted Jockey; S4.E13, The Case of the Envious Editor; S5.E16, The Case of the Shapely Shadow

External links

• Barbara Lawrence at IMDb
• Barbara Lawrence at the TCM Movie Database
• Barbara Lawrence at Rotten Tomatoes
• Barbara Lawrence at TV Guide
• Lawrence, Barbara (1930– ) in the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture