Barbara Rush (January 4, 1927 – March 31, 2024) was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. In 1954, she won the Golden Globe Award for most promising female newcomer for her role in the 1953 American science-fiction film It Came from Outer Space.Warren 1982, pp. 151–63. Later in her career, Rush became a regular performer in the television series Peyton Place, and appeared in TV movies, miniseries, and a variety of other programs, including the soap opera All My Children and the family drama 7th Heaven, as well as starring in films such as The Young Philadelphians, The Young Lions, Robin and the 7 Hoods, and Hombre.
Early life and education Rush was born in Denver on January 4, 1927. Her parents were Roy and Marguerite Rush. Her father was a lawyer for a Midwest mining company. She grew up in Santa Barbara, California. Rush attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated in 1948, starting her career in the university's theatre program. After graduating from UCSB, she moved to Los Angeles. She lived at the Hollywood Studio Club, a hostel for young women working in the film industry. She also took acting classes at the accredited Pasadena Playhouse School for Performing Arts, also known as the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theatre Arts. Just two years after graduating from UCSB, Rush was contracted to do her first feature-length film, The Goldbergs, in 1950.
Career Rush's career began on the stage in the 1940s and quickly expanded to film and TV. She performed on stage at the Lobero Theatre and the Pasadena Playhouse before signing with Paramount Pictures. She made her screen debut in the 1950 movie, The Goldbergs. In 1951, she co-starred in the classic George Pal sci-fi film When Worlds Collide. In 1952, she starred in Flaming Feather with Sterling Hayden and Victor Jory. In 1953, she starred in the sci-fi thriller It Came From Outer Space, for which she won the 1954 Golden Globe Award for "Most Promising Newcomer – Female" for her performance.
In the acclaimed 1956 drama, Bigger Than Life, Rush played the role of Lou Avery, the wife of James Mason's character, Ed Avery, a teacher who has a chronic, inflammatory disease that is incurable. He uses cortisone for symptom relief but then begins to abuse the medication, putting his family in peril. In the 1958 film The Young Lions, she played the love interest of reluctant soldier Dean Martin, and the following year she was cast in the 1959 movie The Young Philadelphians as the on-again, off-again, hot-cold girlfriend of ambitious lawyer Paul Newman.
Rush's characters were often those of willful women of means or as polished, high-society doyenne. She was occasionally cast as a villainess or femme fatale, such as Marian Stevens in the Rat Pack's 1964 gangster musical Robin and the 7 Hoods. Marian either seduces or attempts to seduce five different men to control the Chicago mobs from behind the scenes. In the 1967 Western drama Hombre, working with Paul Newman again, she played Audra Favor, the rich, younger, and condescending wife of a thief – and ends up being taken hostage and tied to a stake.
Rush began working in television in the 1960s. In 1964, she was billed as "Special Guest Star" for the episode, "The Form of Things Unknown", in the popular 1960s sci-fi series on ABC, The Outer Limits (1963–1965). She portrayed the devious Nora Clavicle in the popular TV series Batman (1966–1968). Rush soon became a regular in TV movies, miniseries, and dramas such as Peyton Place and the daytime soap opera All My Children.
Rush began her career on stage, which remained a part of her professional life until she retired. In 1970, she earned the Sarah Siddons Award (Chicago Actress Of The Year) for dramatic achievement in Chicago theatre for her leading role in Forty Carats.
In 1976, Rush played the role of Ann Sommers/Chris Stewart, the mother of female sci-fi action character Jaime Sommers in The Bionic Woman. In 1979, Rush played Eleonor, the love interest of captain Stubing in a double episode of The Love Boat
After appearing in the 1980 disco-themed film, Can't Stop the Music, Rush returned to television. She was cast as Eudora Weldon in the early 1980s soap opera, Flamingo Road. In 1983 and 1984 she played widow Elizabeth Knight in the two-part episode "Goliath” in the Knight Rider series. (Part 1 aired 10/2/1983; Part 2 aired 2/19/1984.)
In 1984 Rush returned to the theatre and brought her one-woman play, A Woman of Independent Means, to Broadway in New York City. In 1989 she toured with the national company of Steel Magnolias as the character M'Lynn.
A native of Denver, Colorado, Rush appeared twice at the historic Elitch Theatre. In 1982 she played Ellen in The Supporting Cast and in 1987 she brought her one-woman play, A Woman of Independent Means to the theatre.
During the 1990s and up to 2007 Rush continued to make guest appearances on television. In 1998, she was featured in the episode, "Balance of Nature", in the series reboot of The Outer Limits on Showtime (1995–2002). Rush was one of five actors who appeared in both the original series and the reboot, and the only actress to do so. In 2007, Rush played the recurring role of Grandma Ruth Camden in the long-running and very popular series 7th Heaven (1996–2007). After the series ended in 2007, it appears that she "retired" from TV and films and focused her energy on her first love – the stage. She occasionally appeared on stage at the Theatre Guild in Orange County, CA in the mid-2000s. She made her final film appearance in 2017 in a "horror short" titled Bleeding Hearts: The Arteries of Glenda Bryant. She starred alongside her niece, actress Carolyn Hennesy.
Personal life and death Rush married actor Jeffrey Hunter in 1950; they divorced in 1955. She married publicist Warren Cowan in 1959 but divorced in 1969. Rush married sculptor Jim Gruzalski in 1970 after they met at an Engelbert Humperdinck concert. They divorced in 1973.
Rush had two children including daughter Claudia Cowan, a journalist with Fox News. Rush was also the aunt of actress Carolyn Hennesy.Podcast: Maurice Benard State of Mind with Carolyn Hennesy
Since 1997 Rush had lived in the Harold Lloyd Estate in Beverly Hills, California, and was a neighbor of David Geffen. Her final residence was a care home in Westlake Village, California. Rush died there on March 31, 2024, at the age of 97, due to complications from dementia.
Acting credits Filmography YearTitleRoleNotes 1950 The Goldbergs Debby Sherman 1951 Quebec Madelon The First Legion Terry Gilmartin When Worlds Collide Joyce Hendron 1952 Flaming Feather Nora Logan 1953 Prince of Pirates Countess Nita Orde It Came from Outer Space Ellen Fields 1954 Taza, Son of Cochise Oona Magnificent Obsession Joyce Phillips The Black Shield of Falworth Meg 1955 Captain Lightfoot Aga Doherty Medal of Honor Herself Short subject Kiss of Fire Princess Lucia 1956 World in My Corner Dorothy Mallinson Bigger Than Life Lou Avery Flight to Hong Kong Pamela Vincent 1957 Oh Men! Oh Women! Myra Hagerman No Down Payment Betty Kreitzer 1958 The Young Lions Margaret Freemantle Harry Black and the Tiger Christian Tanner 1959 The Young Philadelphians Joan Dickinson 1960 The Bramble Bush Margaret "Mar" McFie Strangers When We Meet Eve Coe 1963 Come Blow Your Horn Connie 1964 Robin and the 7 Hoods Marian 1967 Hombre Audra Favor 1969 Strategy of Terror Karen Lownes 1972 The Man Kay Eaton 1973 Peege Mom Short Superdad Sue McCready 1980 Can't Stop the Music Norma White 1982 Summer Lovers Jean Featherstone 2006 My Mother's Hairdo Fate Short 2017 Bleeding Hearts: The Arteries of Glenda Bryant Barbara Irons Short; Co-starred with niece Carolyn Hennesy
Television films YearTitleRole 1962 Dateline: San Francisco 1964 The Unknown Leonora Edmond 1966 The Jet Set 1971 Suddenly Single Evelyn Baxter1972 Cutter Linda The Eyes of Charles Sand Katharine Winslow Moon of the Wolf Louise Rodanthe 1973 Crime Club Denise London 1974 Fools, Females and Fun Karen Markham 1975 The Last Day Betty Spence 1979 Death Car on the Freeway Rosemary 1983 The Night the Bridge Fell Down Elaine Howard 1984 At Your Service Barbara Stonehill 1990 Web of Deceit Judith 1996 Widow's Kiss Edith Fitzpatrick
Theatre
The Golden Ball (1937) stage debut Personal Appearance (1948) Lobero Theatre The Little Foxes (1948, 1975) UC Santa Barbara Antony and Cleopatra (1950) Pasadena Playhouse Summer Stock (1951) with Anthony Perkins The Madwoman of Chaillot (1951) with Jeffrey Hunter The Voice of the Turtle (1953), with Jeffrey Hunter Always April (1969) Forty Carats (1969–1971, 1972) national tour The Fourposter (1971) The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1972) Butterflies Are Free (1972, 1981) Private Lives (1973) national tour with Louis Jourdan Father's Day (1974) national tour with Carole Cook Finishing Touches (1974, 1978) Hay Fever (1975, 1980) Kennedy's Children (1975, 1976) Endangered Species (1976) Same Time, Next Year (1976–1978) national tour The Night of the Iguana (1978) Twigs (1980) The Supporting Cast (1982) national tour with Carole Cook and Sandy Dennis Blithe Spirit (1982–1983) Disabled Genius (1983) Woman of Independent Means (1983–1988) Broadway and national tour Steel Magnolias (1988–1989) national tour with Carole Cook, June Lockhart, and Marion Ross Love Letters (1990–1993) The Vagina Monologues (1995–1997) A Delicate Balance (1993) The Golden Age (1997) Make Me a Place at Forest Lawn (2002–2007)
Television
Lux Video Theatre (1954–1956, 4 episodes) as Cathy / Ruth / Charlotte / Joyce Gavin Playhouse 90 (1957–1960, 2 episodes) as Liz / Clara The Eleventh Hour (1962, 1 episode) as Linda Kincaid Saints and Sinners (1962–1963, 4 episodes) as Lizzie Hogan The Outer Limits (1964, 1 episode: "The Forms of Things Unknown") as Leonora Edmond Dr. Kildare (1965, 2 episodes) as Madge Bannion The Fugitive (1965, 2 episodes) as Marie Lindsey Gerard Custer (1967, 1 episode) as Brigid O'Rourke Batman (1968, 2 episodes) as Nora Clavicle Peyton Place (1968–1969, 75 episodes) as Marsha Russell Mannix (1968–1975, 2 episodes) as Rebekah Bigelow / Celia Bell Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969–1972, 2 episodes) as Dorothy Carpenter / Nadine Cabot Medical Center (1969–1974, 4 episodes) as Claire / Pauline / Judy / Nora Caldwell Love, American Style (1970, 1 episode) as Carol (segment "Love and the Motel") The Mod Squad (1971, 1 episode) as Mrs. Hamilton Ironside (1971–1972, 2 episodes) as Lorraine Simms / Mme. Jabez Night Gallery (1971, 1 episode) as Agatha Howard (segment "Cool Air") Maude (1972, 1 episode) as Phyllis 'Bunny' Nash The Streets of San Francisco (1973, 1 episode) as Anna Slovatzka Marshall The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1973–1974, 3 episodes) as Margot Brighton Cannon (1975, episode "Lady on the Run") as Linda Merrick The Bionic Woman (1976, 1 episode) as Ann Sommers / Chris Stuart The Eddie Capra Mysteries (1978, 1 episode) Fantasy Island (1978–1984, 3 episodes) as Mildred Koster / Kathy Moreau / Professor Smith-Myles The Love Boat (1979, 2 episodes) as Eleanor Gardner The Seekers (1979 miniseries) as Peggy Kent Flamingo Road (1980–1982, 38 episodes) as Eudora Weldon Knight Rider (1983, Part 1 of "Goliath";1984, Part 2 of "Goliath") as Elizabeth Knight Magnum, P.I. (1984–1987, 2 episodes) as Phoebe Sullivan / Ann Carrington Murder, She Wrote (1987, 1 episode) as Eva Taylor Hearts Are Wild (1992, 1 episode) as Caroline Thorpe All My Children (1992–1994, 35 episodes recurring) as Nola Orsini Burke's Law (1995, 1 episode) as Judge Marian Darrow 7th Heaven (1997–2007, 10 episodes) as Ruth Camden The Outer Limits (1998, 1 episode) as Barbara Matheson
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