Barbara Read
Canadian-American actress
title: "Barbara Read" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1917-births", "1963-deaths", "actresses-from-thunder-bay", "canadian-film-actresses", "the-shadow", "20th-century-canadian-actresses", "actresses-from-laguna-beach,-california", "1963-suicides", "canadian-emigrants-to-the-united-states", "suicides-in-california", "female-suicides"] description: "Canadian-American actress" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Read" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Canadian-American actress ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Barbara Read |
| image | Barbara Read.jpg |
| caption | Read at age 18 |
| birth_name | Barbara French Read |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Laguna Beach, California, U.S. |
| known_for | |
| occupation | Actress |
| years_active | 1936–1948 |
| spouse | William Paul III (1936–1936) (divorced) |
| Bill Josephy (1947–1951) (2 children) (divorced) | |
| William Talman (1953–1960) (divorced) (2 children) | |
| :: |
| name = Barbara Read | image = Barbara Read.jpg | alt = | caption = Read at age 18 | birth_name = Barbara French Read | birth_date = | birth_place = Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada | death_date = | death_place = Laguna Beach, California, U.S. | known_for = | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1936–1948 | spouse = William Paul III (1936–1936) (divorced) Bill Josephy (1947–1951) (2 children) (divorced) William Talman (1953–1960) (divorced) (2 children)
Barbara French Read, also known as Barbara Reed, (December 29, 1917 – December 12, 1963) was a Canadian-American film actress of the 1930s and 1940s, who appeared in 21 films during her career.
Early life
Born Barbara French Read on December 29, 1917, the daughter of contractor John Howard Read and Nancy Elizabeth Collier, in Port Arthur, Ontario. Read moved to California in the mid-1930s. She got her first movie contract while living in Laguna Beach, California, she was watching a film production in Laguna when she was spotted and offered a screen test, after which she entered a six-month contract with the production company. When she failed to receive any roles because of her lack of experience, she joined the Laguna Beach Players theater, where she acted in a new play each month for two years.
Film career
Her first film appearance was one of the three principal girls in the 1936 comedy film Three Smart Girls, which also starred Deanna Durbin and Nan Grey. From 1937 through 1939, Read appeared in nine films, most notably starring in The Spellbinder, opposite Lee Tracy. From 1940 through 1948, she appeared in 11 films. Her most remembered role was that of Margo Lane, portrayed in three films from The Shadow series, starring opposite Kane Richmond. She and Richmond teamed together in The Shadow Returns, Behind the Mask, and The Missing Lady, all in 1946. Her last role was alongside Randolph Scott and Marguerite Chapman in the 1948 Western Coroner Creek.
Personal life
In September 1936, Read eloped to Mexico with a young artist named William Paul III, but they divorced two months later. Read married talent agent Bill Josephy in Santa Barbara on December 27, 1947. They had two boys, Damon Josephy and Quentin Josephy. She married actor William Talman in 1953 and had one daughter, Barbie, and one son, William Whitney Talman III. The couple divorced on August 23, 1960.{{cite web|url=http://www.perrymasontvseries.com/justine/tvguide_article_4_27_63.htm |title=He Never Comes in First |date=1963-04-27 |access-date=2016-07-14}}
Suicide and death
She died by suicide on December 11, 1963 at her Laguna Beach (CA) home when she turned on the gas jets of her stove and sealed the doors and windows. She left a note blaming "ill health".
Selected filmography
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Three Smart Girls | Kay Craig | |
| 1937 | The Man Who Cried Wolf | Nan | |
| 1937 | Merry-Go-Round of 1938 | Clarice Stockbridge | |
| 1937 | The Road Back | Lucie | |
| 1937 | Make Way for Tomorrow | Rhoda Cooper | |
| 1937 | The Mighty Treve | Aileen Fenno | |
| 1938 | The Crime of Doctor Hallet | Claire Saunders | |
| 1938 | Midnight Intruder | Patricia Hammond | |
| 1939 | The Spellbinder | Janet Marlowe | |
| 1939 | Sorority House | Dotty Spencer | |
| 1940 | Married and in Love | Helen Yates | |
| 1940 | Curtain Call | Helen Middleton | |
| 1942 | Rubber Racketeers | Mary Dale | |
| 1942 | Too Many Women | Linda Pearson | |
| 1946 | The Shadow Returns | Margo Lane | |
| 1946 | The Missing Lady | Margo Lane | |
| 1946 | Death Valley | Mitzi | |
| 1946 | Behind the Mask | Margo Lane | |
| 1946 | Ginger | Peggy Sullivan | |
| 1947 | Key Witness | Martha Higby | |
| 1948 | Coroner Creek | Abbe Miles | |
| :: |
References
References
- "Desert Sun 12 December 1963 — California Digital Newspaper Collection".
- Wagner, Laura. (April 2022). "Barbara Read: Doing Her Own Thing".
- Hoadley, Roy. (June 14, 1937). "Barbara Read Near Stardom Thinks Writer". The Calgary Daily Herald.
- (October 19, 1937). "From Comedy to War Drama, New Role for Barbara Read". The West Australian.
- Kendall, Read. (March 15, 1937). "Around and About in Hollywood". The Los Angeles Times.
- (December 23, 1947). "Film Actress to Wed". The Deseret News.
- "Barbara Read Biography".
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