Barbara Stuart, Prolific Actress and Familiar TV Presence for Five Decades
Stuart appeared on almost 80 series during her half-century career.
Barbara Stuart, an actress whose career spanned five decades appeared in almost 80 series died May 15, 2011, in St. George, Utah. She was at 81 .
Stuart debuted on television with I Led 3 Lives in 1954 and made her last small-screen appearance on the Showtime series Huff in 2006.
Although not a major star, she was a familiar face whose memorable roles included a long-suffering girlfriend on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and McLean Stevenson’s wife on The McLean Stevenson Show.
Other credits included episodes of such series as The Great Gildersleeve, Pete and Gladys, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Rawhide, Taxi, The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, 77 Sunset Strip, Kung Fu, Three's Company, Our Family Honor and many, many others.
She was born Barbara Ann McNeese on January 3, 1930, in Paris, Illinois, and grew up in nearby Hume, Illinois. After graduating from high school, she took acting classes at the Schuster-Martin School of Drama in Cincinnati, after which she moved to New York, where she studied with Stella Adler and Uta Hagen. For professional purposes, she took the last name Stuart, a family name.
Her marriage to the actor Dick Gautier ended in divorce. Survivors include a brother and three stepchildren.