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Beautiful green-eyed Barbara Jeanne Anderson is best remembered on screen as the socialite- turned San Francisco police Officer Eve Whitfield in the first four seasons of the NBC police drama Ironside (1967), starring Raymond Burr. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of an enlisted navy man. In her teens, her family moved to Memphis, Tennesse, following her father's latest posting. Barbara took elocution lessons to overcome, first, her strong Brooklyn accent, and then, her newly-acquired Southern drawl. She attended Memphis State University, took part in amateur dramatics and made her professional acting bow with the Southwestern University Players. In 1963, she was voted "Miss Memphis".
Having relocated to California to further her career prospects, Barbara joined the ensemble of the Los Angeles Art Theatre for two years, acting at night, while making ends meet during the daytime as a phone receptionist and telemarketer. Her career was launched after she was noticed by a talent agent playing the lead role of Cyrenne in a stage production of Rattle of a Simple Man (Diane Cilento played this role in the 1964 film).
Signed to a contract with Universal, Barbara's first acting assignment was an episode of The Virginian (1962), followed by guest spots in Star Trek (1966) (as Lenore Karidian) and Mannix (1967). She also made her debut as Eve Whitfield in the Ironside (1967) movie-length TV pilot. Her subsequent role in the series won her a 1968 Primetime Emmy for 'Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Drama'. After she left Ironside in 1971, her spot in the show was taken by Elizabeth Baur for whom a new character, Fran Belding, was created.
Barbara had another recurring role in the final season of Mission: Impossible (1966) as Mimi Davis, an ex-con and recovering alcoholic who was adept at role play and participated in seven missions for the team. Until the early 80's, she continued to make guest appearances in TV movies and prime time shows like Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969), Hawaii Five-O (1968) and Simon & Simon (1981). In 1993, she returned to the screen one final time to reunite with her fellow cast members for The Return of Ironside (1993). Ironically, Elizabeth Baur, who had replaced her in the series, also retired after this film. Raymond Burr died just four months after it went to air.
Barbara left show business in 1993 to devote time to family life, to playing tennis, sailing and painting. The actor Don Burnett, her husband since 1971, had likewise retired early and become a successful investment broker.
