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 Its a Great Life 19541956 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 roundtrip 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 19yearold 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 girlnextdoor 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 Foxs 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 Batess image is enshrined in the films last scene posing in front of a threeway mirror while holding the award won by her idol Eve Harrington played by Anne Baxter After her appearance in All About Eve Bates costarred 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 Lets Make It Legal Fox refused to lend out Bates for the role of the suicidal ballerina saved by Charlie Chaplins aging vaudevillian in Limelight 1952 She costarred with Donna Reed as the love interests of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the 1953 hit comedy The Caddy In January 1967 Batess 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 mothers garage by carbon monoxide poisoning She was 43 years old She is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Jefferson County Colorado