
Barbara Bates
Barbara Jane Bates (August 6, 1925 – March 18, 1969) was an American singer and actress, best known for her portrayal of Phoebe in the 1950 drama film All About Eve and as Katy Morgan on It's a Great Life (1954–1956).
The eldest of three daughters, Bates was born in Denver, Colorado. While growing up in Denver, she studied ballet and worked as a teen fashion model. The shy teen was persuaded to enter a local beauty contest and won, receiving two round-trip train tickets to Hollywood, California. Two days before returning to Denver, Bates met Cecil Coan, a United Artists publicist, whom she would later marry.
In September 1944, 19-year-old Bates signed a contract with Universal Pictures after Cecil Coan introduced her to producer Walter Wanger. Soon after, she was cast as one of the "Seven Salome Girls" in the 1945 drama, Salome Where She Danced starring Yvonne De Carlo. Around this time, she fell in love with Coan, who was married with two sons and two daughters. In March 1945, Coan divorced his wife Helen Coan and secretly married Bates, on March 25, 1945, in Chihuahua, Mexico. Bates spent the next few years as a stock actress, landing bit parts in movies and doing cheesecake layouts for magazines such as Yank, the Army Weekly and Life. One of those photo sessions caught the eye of executives at Warner Bros., which signed her in 1947. Warner Bros. highlighted her "girl-next-door" image and her acting career took off. She appeared with some of the biggest stars of the day, including Bette Davis in June Bride and Danny Kaye in The Inspector General.
In late 1949, Bates auditioned for the small role of Phoebe in Fox's upcoming All About Eve. In competition for the part were Zsa Zsa Gabor and others, but Bates impressed the producers and was given the part. She made a short but important appearance as the devious schemer, Phoebe, at the end of the film. Bates's image is enshrined in the film's last scene, posing in front of a three-way mirror, while holding the award won by her idol Eve Harrington, played by Anne Baxter. After her appearance in All About Eve, Bates co-starred in Cheaper by the Dozen, and its sequel Belles on Their Toes, with Jeanne Crain and Myrna Loy. In 1951, she landed a role opposite MacDonald Carey and Claudette Colbert in the comedy Let's Make It Legal. Fox refused to lend out Bates for the role of the suicidal ballerina saved by Charlie Chaplin's aging vaudevillian in Limelight (1952). She co-starred with Donna Reed as the love interests of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the 1953 hit comedy The Caddy.
In January 1967, Bates's husband died of cancer. Devastated by his death, Bates grew more depressed, and she again became suicidal. Later that year, she returned to Denver and fell out of public view. For a time, Bates worked as a secretary, dental assistant, and hospital aide. In December 1968, she married for the second time, to a childhood friend, sportscaster William Reed. Despite her new marriage and location, Bates remained increasingly despondent and depressed.
On March 18, 1969, just months after her marriage to Reed, Barbara Bates died from suicide in her mother's garage by carbon monoxide poisoning. She was 43 years old. She is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Jefferson County, Colorado.
Known For








Credits
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The Saint 1962Helen Ravenna★ 7.3
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Apache Territory 1958Jennifer Fair★ 6.4
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Town on Trial 1957Elizabeth Fenner★ 6.5
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House of Secrets 1956Judy Anderson★ 5.9
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The Millionaire 1955Marian Curtis★ 5
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Studio 57 1954★ NR
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It's a Great Life 1954Cathy 'Katy' Morgan★ NR
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Rhapsody 1954Effie Cahill★ 6.7
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The Caddy 1953Lisa Anthony★ 6.4
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All Ashore 1953Jane Stanton★ 6
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Piney Wilson★ 5.9
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Belles on Their Toes 1952Ernestine Gilbreth★ 6.8
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Let's Make It Legal 1951Barbara Denham★ 6.3
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Barbara Purcell★ 6.6
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Jenny Brock★ 6.6
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All About Eve 1950Phoebe★ 8.1
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Cheaper by the Dozen 1950Ernestine Gilbreth★ 6.3
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Quicksand 1950Helen Calder★ 6
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Leza★ 6.5
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Beth Roberts★ 4.5
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One Last Fling 1949June Payton★ 4
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Innkeeper's daughter (uncredited)★ 6.4
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June Bride 1948Jeanne Brinker★ 7.2
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Johnny Belinda 1948Gracie Anderson (uncredited)★ 6.8
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Stewardess (uncredited)★ 6.8
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April Showers 1948Barnes' Secretary (uncredited)★ 6
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Always Together 1947Ticket Seller (uncredited)★ 6.7
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The Fabulous Joe 1947Debbie Terkel★ 5.8
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A Scandal in Paris 1946Girl by pool★ 6.3
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Night in Paradise 1946Palace Maiden★ 4
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Strange Holiday 1945Peggy Lee Stevenson★ 6.4
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Lady on a Train 1945Hat Check Girl★ 6.6
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Salome Girl★ 3.7