Barbara Jane Bates was born on August 6, 1925, in Denver, Colorado, to a postal clerk and a registered nurse. She was the eldest of three daughters. Due to her shyness, her mother initially sent her to study ballet. However, by her late teens, Barbara began modeling clothes and eventually entered a local beauty contest, winning two round-trip train tickets to Hollywood.
In California, Barbara met Cecil Coan, a United Artists publicist, who promised to guide her career and make her a star. He left his wife and married Barbara, and she began to gain recognition as a pin-up girl and in obscure starlet roles. She eventually signed with Warner Bros. in 1947 and adopted a girl-next-door image.
Barbara's career took off, and she appeared in films alongside notable stars such as Bette Davis, Danny Kaye, Rory Calhoun, and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. However, her personal life began to unravel due to extreme mood shifts, insecurity, ill health, and chronic depression. By age 30, her career had stalled, and she and her husband tried to revive it in England.
Despite initial success, Barbara's career in England was short-lived, and she was eventually dropped by the Rank Organisation. The couple returned to Hollywood, where Barbara appeared in a few more films before abandoning her career. She worked in various jobs, including as a secretary, dental assistant, and hospital aide, before her death in 1969.
Barbara is perhaps best remembered for her small but iconic role as Phoebe, a devious school girl, in the 1950 film All About Eve. Her image is enshrined in the film's final scene, posing in front of a three-way mirror while clutching the award won by her idol, Eve Harrington.
