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Barrie Chase Profile
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| 20 October 33 | is born in Kingsport, Long Island, New York to Bordon Chase, a writer, and his wife, concert pianist Lee Keith |
| c. 36 | starts dancing at 3 |
| c. 39 | her family takes her to Los Angeles |
| ? | becomes an equestrian champion |
| c. 49 | drops out of the Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles to find steady work as a chorus dancer |
| 51 | marries young Gene D. Shacove |
| ? | divorces Shacove after only four months. Shacove will become one of Hollywood’s most renowned hairdressers and die in 2001 at age 72 in Los Angeles. |
| ? | studies ballet at the Marie Bekefi School, where she’s discovered by a talent scout for MGM’s upcoming Scaramouche for doing a very simple Minuet |
| ? | tours with Igor Dega and his nightclub dancing act working leading Hilton Hotels and Las Vegas |
| ? | returns to Hollywood and joins the Jack Cole dancers |
| May 54 | is on the cover of Focus |
| March 55 | columnist Walter Winchell knows: “Paul Gilbert’s next bride will be Barrie Chase, actress-daughter of Universal-International writer Borden Chase…” |
| July 55 | is steady-dating Paul Gilbert |
| 57 | is discovered by Fred Astaire on the set of Les Girls. He’s 58; the press gives her age as 21. He asks her out to dinner and Jack Cole to release her so she can appear in Silk Stockings. |
| April 57 | columnist Erskine Johnson tells: “Fred Astaire’s frequent dates with Barrie Chase, daughter of writer Borden Chase. First doll he’s escorted more than once since the death of his wife…" |
| November 57 | she and Astaire attend Lauren Bacall’s farewell party for Frank Sinatra at the big home Bacall shared with Humphrey Bogart |
| 17 October 58 | debuts with Astaire in “An Evening with Fred Astaire” on NBC-TV |
| c. November 58 | producer Buddy Adler signs her to a long-term contract with 20th Century-Fox. The press gives her age as 23. |
| May 59 | asks Buddy Adler to be withdrawn from the cast of Stage Door. “There’s a method in Barrie’s madness, because she wants to make a big movie splash in Can Can which 20th Century-Fox has scheduled for her.” |
| June 59 | rumors link her romantically with Fred Astaire |
| July 59 | columnist Erskine Johnson reports: “No, Barrie Chase didn’t get banned from Can Can. She wasn’t chased off the set by Shirley MacLaine, either. It was just one of those Hollywood things for the girl who danced to fame with Fred Astaire on TV almost a year ago.” |
| ? | is suspended by 20th Century-Fox for refusing Can Can, and her part is given to Juliet Prowse |
| September 59 | is on TV again in “Another Evening with Fred Astaire.” Four of the dance numbers are pre-filmed before the rest of the show was performed live and taped before a studio audience of 300 people. |
| November 59 | 20th Century-Fox signs her to star in the upcoming Daddy-O opposite Bing Crosby, Carol Lynley and Fabian |
| April 60 | columnist Dorothy Kilgallen says that Barrie and Tony Perkins “are being talked of for the leading roles in the screen version of West Side Story…” |
| is interviewed by Charles Collingwood via telephone for “Person to Person” |
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| September 60 | the press tells she will be soon seen on a Perry Como show |
| June 61 | columnist Hedda Hopper reports: “Barrie Chase left her boyfriend in Paris and flew here to begin dance rehearsals opposite Ray Danton for The George Raft Story…” |
| she and Astaire part ways. She says: “You know, when I got my Jaguar, people whispered Fred bought it for me. Well, I’m still making the payments.” |
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| October 61 | columnist Earl Wilson relates meeting her: “’I’m having a romance with a man who’s a little sick of reading that I’m Fred Astaire’s girl,’ Miss Chase told me with great heat, spirit and a little acidity over a cocktail at the Plaza Oak Room. ‘It’s such a serious romance that ‘marriage is for my man and me to talk about’… she said ‘my man’ being big, blond, Swedish actor-director Gunner Helstrom, 32, who was in Return to Peyton Place. ‘The Astaire rumors are an annoyance to both Fred and me,’ complained Miss Chase, who’s 25 to Astaire’s 62.” |
| the press reveals she didn’t make friends during the filming of the ABC special “The Seasons of Youth” in New York. “The producers resented her saying that she was ‘used to’ such things as a private hairdresser and private make-up man. Some network press agents objected to her coldness during interviews. Members of the press believed she showed an obvious desire to be somewhere else.” |
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| Wilson reports: “Barrie Chase pronounced the Twist ‘the most obscene dance I’ve ever seen’…” |
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| November 62 | the press writes that producer-director Stanley Kramer is forced to fight his way past crew members, newsmen, photographers and casual visitors who crowd around her while she performs a torrid Twist for It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World |
| January 63 | will join Vaughn Meader in his Las Vegas show at the Sahara in April |
| June 64 | will dance again with Astaire for Bob Hope’s “Chrysler TV Theater” |
| November 64 | is in a “Bonanza” segment written by her brother, veteran “Bonanza” scriptwriter Frank Chase |
| September 65 | columnist Dorothy Kilgallen reveals: “Barrie Chase, for years linked on and off with Fred Astaire, has become betrothed to Jan Malmsjo, an actor and one of Sweden’s top recording stars. She’s with him now in Scandinavia” |
| January 66 | she and Ann Blyth are guest scouts on “Hollywood Talent Scouts” |
| 1 August 66 | marries Jan W. Malmsjo in Santa Barbara, California. He’s 34; she’s 32. |
| February 67 | it’s rumoured she’ll take the Gwen Verdon part in the Sweet Charity road company |
| July 67 | is a surprise twosome with Dr. Jim Kaufman at the Daisy Club |
| January 68 | her marriage is reported on the rocks and she back to her King’s Road home in Hollywood. Columnist Dorothy Manners headlines: “Fred Astaire And Barrie Chase Are Linked Again Romantically” |
| February 68 | she and Astaire dance together in a music-and-dance special on NBC |
| March 68 | divorces Malmsjo in Los Angeles |
| January 69 | she and Dr. James Kaufman are seen at Hollywood Beachcombers |
| May 72 | from columnist Ed Sullivan: “Fred Astaire’s dancing partner, Barrie Chase, wed Dr. Jim Kaufman…” |
| July 73 | is reported “happily married and not very interested now in her dance career” |
| 8 December 73 | her son, Jeb D., is born in Los Angeles |
| 20 | resides in Marina Del Ray, California |
| June 23 | is featured in Quad-City Times |
| Sources: Oakland Tribune, Daily Herald, Syracuse Herald-Tribune, Charleston Daily Mail, Screenland, San Antonio Express and News, Syracuse Herald-Journal, The Evening Independent, The Times Recorder, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Galesburg Register-Mail, Anderson Daily Bulletin, Show Time, The Frederick Post, The Constitution-Tribune, The Cedar Rapids Gazette, The Salt Lake Tribune, Muscatine Journal, The Altoona Mirror, The Abilene Reporter-News, The Hammond Times, The News-Palladium, The News Clock, The Post-Standard, Barrie Chase, www.Ancestry.com | |
| Recommended Books: | |
| Links: Filmography Barrie Chase in [Quad-City Times] (Interview) | |