Home> Facts and Trivia > Stars > Barbara Bel Geddes
Barbara Bel Geddes Facts
| Sign | Scorpio |
| Born |
Oct 31, 1922 New York City, NY |
| Died |
Aug 8, 2005 Northeast Harbor, ME |
| Age | Died at 82 |
| Total Facts | 28 |
A longtime smoker, she was forced to quit by her doctors after her heart attack in March 1984.
After her long role on "Dallas" (1978), she retired from acting at age 67.
At age 16 she was kicked out of the fancy Putney Finishing School in New England for being a disruptive influence.
Before she was a successful actress, she used to work at a summer stock as an apprentice in Clinton, Connecticut.
Best remembered by the public for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow on "Dallas" (1978).
Daughter of stage designer/art director Norman Bel Geddes and Helen Belle Sneider Geddes.
Daughters, Susan and Betsy.
Designed stationery for Caspari and Crane in her retirement years.
Graduated from Andrewbrook, an all-girls French convent school, in Tarrytown, New York, in 1940.
Had 3 grandchildren: Samantha, Hannah and Joshua.
Her future "Dallas" (1978) co-star's, Patrick Duffy's father-in-law, worked with her father Norman Bel Geddes, long before Duffy's future wife saw her in a Broadway play.
Her mother died when she was only age 15, at that time, she moved in with her father in Putney, Vermont.
Left "Dallas" (1978) at the end of the seventh season, due to health problems. She came back at the beginning of the ninth season until she retired from acting in 1990.
Like her ex-"Dallas" (1978) co-star, Larry Hagman, Bel Geddes was also a heavy smoker for years, which eventually lead to her heart attack, decades before being diagnosed with lung cancer, which claimed her life.
Made her Broadway debut when she was 18.
Of Scottish-German ancestry by her father.
Operated on for breast cancer in 1971/72, and relived the experience in "Dallas" (1978) when Miss Ellie underwent a mastectomy.
Prior to her retirement, she was the best-selling author of 2 children's books.
She attended Putney School, a private school in Putney, Vermont.
She did not appear in two "Dallas" (1978) reunion movies, nor Dallas Reunion: Return to Southfork (2004) (TV), just the year before her death.
She played Maggie the Cat in the original Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Elizabeth Taylor garnered the role in the Hollywood film version - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)).
She played the lead in Mary, Mary on Broadway. Debbie Reynolds garnered the role in the Hollywood film version - Mary, Mary (1963).
She played the showgirl in The Sleeping Prince on Broadway. Marilyn Monroe garnered the role in the Hollywood film version - The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).
She was good friends with Jim Davis, Ellen Corby, Charles McGraw, Steve Forrest, Richard Basehart, Frank Faylen and Paul Douglas.
Spent her retirement years in Northeast Harbor, Maine up until her death.
Stepdaughter of famous theatrical costumer designer Edith Lutyens-Bel Geddes
Was the first and only choice to audition for the role of Miss Ellie Ewing on "Dallas" (1978).
Was twice nominated for Broadway's best dramatic actress Tony Award: in 1956 for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and in 1961 for Mary, Mary.