Barbara Lang Profile

Barbara Lang

	(Barbara Jean Bly)
2 March 28	is born in Pasadena, California, the daughter of Los Angeles nose drop bottler Leonidis Stannage Bly and his wife Esther W., nee Kaufman, former silent movie dancer Maureen Knight
30	lives with her parents in Glendale, Los Angeles
?	is raised in Eagle Rock, a suburb of Los Angeles
?	is a department store jewelry salesgirl and part-time model at 17
?	is a cocktail lounge singer-pianist
?	starts as a nightclub singer
53	awakes unable to move anything except her toes and is taken to General Hospital and told she will never walk again due to polio
?	after months of treatment she's able to walk again
23 April 54	her father dies at age 50 in Los Angeles
c. 56	is discovered by an MGM scout in a "Death Valley Days" show
17 September 56	marries actor Alan Wells, her co-star in an episode of "Death Valley Days," in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
February 57	the press reports from The House of Numbers: “The only real regret expressed by the inmates of San Quentin was that the film's leading lady, Barbara Lang, did not appear at the prison for any scenes. San Quentin is not co-educational."
March 57	her estranged husband, Alan Wells, gifts her with a gold wristwatch. "Would you say he's trying to make 'time'"
Early 57	voids her marriage to Wells and says "I guess marriage isn't for me."
May 57	does the town with actor Jacques Bergerac, husband of Ginger Rogers
June 57	her role in Jailhouse Rock is cut by MGM because it is too small / withdraws from Jailhous Rock by her own request. She feels the part isn't right for her. The role goes to Judy Tyler.
	files for an annulment or divorce from Wells on the grounds that Wells was not a free man when they were married. A subsequent check of court records will reveal that Wells had a final decree from his first wife, 28-year-old Claudia Barrett.
July 57	columnist Mike Connolly ponders: "Could be that 20th-Fox is using those stories about Barbara Lang being a top contender for The Jean Harlow Story as a wedge to get Marilyn Monroe to play it..."
August 57	drops her court action against Wells and says they have reconciled and will participate in a new wedding ceremony. He's 30; her age is given as 23.
11 October 57	is among 15 young actresses predicted for stardom and presented at the Deb Star Ball in Hollywood by the Hollywood Make-Up and Hair Stylists. The other Deb Stars are Joan Blackman, Peggy Connolly, Patricia Craig, Vikki Dougan, Dolores Hart, Diane Jergens, Ruta Lee, Jana Lund, Carol Lynley, Erin O'Brien, Joan Tabor, Joyce Taylor, Rebecca Welles, and Gloria Winters.
October 57	enjoys a dinner date with producer Irving Hoffman
December 57	is selected as official hostess for the $40,000 Los Angeles Open golf tournament, to be held January 2 through 6 at the Rancho Municipal Course
19 August 58	files a new complaint to have her marriage annulled
3 November 58	weeping, she wins an annulment of her marriage to Wells in Los Angeles court on grounds that Wells married her in Ensenada, Mexico, ten months before his divorce from actress Claudia Barrett was final. Wells will die at age 82 in June 2008 in Reno, Nevada.
9 January 59	is taken to UCLA medical center after taking an overdose of sleeping pills in the presence of her agent, Ken Smiley. She collapsed in her West Los Angeles home.
June 59	is featured in Nugget
18 March 67	marries John George in Los Angeles. He's 33; she's 39.
March 72	divorces George in Los Angeles
22 July 82	as Barbara George, she dies at age 54 in Los Angeles

Sources: Richard Koper, Burlington Daily Times-News, Tri-City Herald, The Coshocton Tribune, The Berkshire Eagle, The Salisbury Times, The Progress, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Long Beach Independent, Oakland Tribune, San Mateo Times, The Modesto Bee, Silver Screen, www.Ancestry.com
Recommended Books: Fifties Blondes by Richard Koper
Links: Filmography