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This lively, petite redhead has one of those distinctively kewpie-doll voices that can instantly make you laugh the moment she opens her mouth, and in her TV heyday that's exactly what Barbara Sharma did. At her peak during the 70s she was juggling musical stage assignments in between regular TV comedy appearances, while pitching household items in commercials on the side.
Barbara was born on September 14, 1943 (reference books often erroneously list her birth year as 1942) in Dallas, Texas. As a child she lived everywhere with her parents -- in Florida, New Orleans and even a pre-Castro Havana. A highly energetic youngster, her parents had her take dance classes at age 4 to find a creative use for all that get-up-and-go. She showed a natural ability and, at one point, was studying under famed Cuban prima ballerina Alicia Alonso. The talented youngster even found ways to work underage in hotels and, by her teens, had her own singing, dancing and comedy club act. With the rising Castro movement, the family quickly left Cuba when Barbara was 13 and settled in the Miami area where she continued to hone her craft on stage. Too short to become a ballerina, she refocused and began excelling in jazz and tap. She worked in niteries with (or for) such luminaries as Martha Raye and Joe E. Brown. She also worked with orchestra leader Paul Whiteman during the early years of TV.
New York was the teenager's next destination, moving there in the mid-50s where she gathered valuable experience performing with the Camp Tamiment group which was run by the producers of TV's "Your Show of Shows" and featured such up-and-coming talents as Larry Kert, with whom she worked alongside. She made her Broadway debut as a replacement for the young Dulcy character in the Julie Andrews musical hit "The Boyfriend" (Julie had already left the show by this time) and later went on tour with it. The early 60s also brought a close professional association with Bob Fosse. Barbara first worked with the famed choreographer on Broadway dancing in "Little Me" (1962), and continued with him as a lead dancer in his company for nearly five years in which Fosse created dances designed specifically with her in mind. Other such Fosse shows: "Pleasure Palaces" and, more notably, "Sweet Charity" in 1966. During that time Barbara appeared in the original production of "Hello Dolly!" (1964) starring Carol Channing as understudy to the Minnie Fay character and as an ensemble player. For the rest of the decade Barbara found plentiful work in Broadway musicals including "Hallelujah, Baby!" (1968) starring Leslie Uggams, and the short-lived shows "Her First Roman" (1968) and "Come Summer" (1969). It was off-Broadway, however, that finally connected Barbara's rising name to TV.
Producer George Schlatter, who had hit ratings gold with his popular, irreverent satire Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967), caught Barbara starring as Ruby in the tuneful tapper "Dames at Sea" (1970) in which she appeared in both the New York and Los Angeles productions. Looking for replacements at the time for his show, Schlatter took an instant fancy to Barbara's innate talent for comedy, singing and dancing, and immediately signed her up in 1970 for two seasons. A memorable appearance clashing hilariously with Mary Tyler Moore on her classic show led to a recurring role as Myrna Morgenstein on Valerie Harper's sitcom vehicle Rhoda (1974), the spinoff of Ms. Moore's show. Throughout the rest of the 70s and 80s, Barbara continued guesting on various sitcoms including "Tabitha", "Alice", "One Day at a Time", "The Facts of Life" and "Perfect Strangers". She also did scores of commercials, most notably playing the "Glass Plus" girl during the late 70s and early 80s.
The stage was never far away, however, and Barbara returned to her musical roots time and time again in summer stock and regional plays. She amassed a number of singing credits including "Carousel" (as Carrie), "Guys and Dolls" (Adelaide), "Oklahoma!" (Ado Annie), "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Irma La Douce". In 1971, Barbara received great reviews for her work in the comedy "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" opposite James Coco on Broadway and in the late 70s was a replacement in the musical "I Love My Wife". Later L.A. stage shows included "Blame It on the Movies", "Taking a Chance on Love" (Dramalogue Award), the female version of "The Odd Couple" (with both Lee Meriwether and Marcia Wallace) and a promising two-person musical revue entitled "Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride" with musical performer Kay Cole, a show that played both L.A. and New York. Her occasional film work included light comedy parts in Norman... Is That You? (1976), Con Air (1997) and Time Share (2000).
With her chatty comedy voice ideally suited to cartoons and voiceover work, Barbara continues to perform "second banana" guest spots, her more recent sitcoms being "Frasier" and "Becker" (the latter a recurring role). Barbara maintains residence in the Los Angeles area and has a daughter, Amy, who is a school teacher.
