{"id":3427,"date":"2025-05-02T10:09:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T10:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/?p=3427"},"modified":"2025-05-02T10:09:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T10:09:37","slug":"looking-back-on-the-life-of-barbara-eden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/?p=3427","title":{"rendered":"Looking back on the life of Barbara Eden"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Step aside, Aladdin! Barbara Eden, the woman who made the world dream of genies, is celebrating her 92nd birthday on August 23, and the nonagenarian looks fantastic!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Eden\u2013who turned fans into shameless bottle shiners hoping for their own wish-granting blonde\u2013is still adored almost 60 years since she first appeared on\u00a0<em>I Dream of Jeannie<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-77128c256b19471d9b7373be4a4bd29f\" class=\"newsner-77128c256b19471d9b7373be4a4bd29f newsner-bluebillywig_instream\"><\/div>\n<p>But, while she was able to strike a pose and make magic happen on screen, in real life, she was unable to save her son, who died of a heroin overdose in 2001.<\/p>\n<p>Born in the Great Depression, Barbara Eden, 92 as of August 23, 2023, turned poverty into luxury when, in 1956, she started appearing in film (<em>A Private\u2019s Affair<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Twelve Hours to Kill<\/em>) and TV (<em>The Jonny Carson Show<\/em>,\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.newsner.com\/celebrity\/desi-arnaz-sober\/\">I love Lucy<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-1632269595bba58208adcd3fe4c5579f\" class=\"newsner-1632269595bba58208adcd3fe4c5579f newsner-incide_content_once\"><\/div>\n<p>In 1960, she played to international audiences when she cast was alongside the \u201cKing of Rock and Roll,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.newsner.com\/celebrity\/quincy-jones-reveals-why-he-never-worked-with-elvis-presley-claims-the-king-of-rock-and-roll-was-racist\/\">Elvis Presley<\/a>\u00a0in the western,\u00a0<em>Flaming Star<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>And then, in 1965, the stunning blonde played Jeannie, a beautiful genie that was set free by astronaut and US Air Force Captain, Tony Nelson.<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-a189f1d7e59c5200de21e89057fadecb\" class=\"newsner-a189f1d7e59c5200de21e89057fadecb\"><\/div>\n<p>Eden captured the hearts of fans with her impressive portrayal of the magical creature that she played for the five-season run of the fantasy sitcom\u00a0<em>I Dream of Jeannie<\/em>, with Larry Hagman playing her love interest, Nelson.<\/p>\n<p>The same year she was reaching super stardom as Jeannie, Eden and her husband, actor Michael Ansara (known for his starring in role in the 60s series\u00a0<em>Broken Arrow<\/em>) had a son, Matthew Ansara, who was born August 29, 1965.<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-1315076407\" class=\"newsner-article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"newsner-e8927992b6788fc4fa5c7e081cd1838d\" class=\"newsner-e8927992b6788fc4fa5c7e081cd1838d newsner-amp_article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<p>When Matthew was nine, his parents ended their 15-year marriage, a strike that Eden, who married two more times, says sent her son on the wrong path, towards drugs.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>Harper Valley PTA<\/em>\u00a0star explained that she first noticed Matthew was in trouble in 1984, when at 19, he moved in with his father after she remarried. Returning after she divorced a second time, Eden said he was sleeping a lot and lied about being enrolled in college.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-0\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/B1jZKgogDNa\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=800&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fen.newsner.com&amp;rp=%2Fnews%2Flooking-back-on-the-life-of-barbara-eden%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwY2xjawKBeQZleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFQRGxOUHJiVWp2Zk5ydWtqAR6h5XlvfQQ8IlM8rQhxdkpVDVnoAyZea5vyOc0K46oLLvpuTCEE-PxkgjAV1A_aem_paME0u1F-KOZSfMrodmZ#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1764.8999999761581%7D\" height=\"988\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cMatthew never told Mike and me that he was using heroin\u2014he didn\u2019t want to hurt us. But we figured it out because he had been acting sluggish, losing weight, staying out all night. I insisted that he enter a rehab center, and I let him come back home when he came out a month later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/archive\/tragic-waste-vol-57-no-9\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">The star<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0<em>The Stepford Children<\/em>\u00a0continued, \u201cBut he started using again. The professionals told us that if your child is using drugs, he has become the drug: He is no longer your child, and he no longer has a home with you. So, I locked him out when he was 20, which was the hardest thing I ever had to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Matthew, who started using drugs when he was only 10, spent the next 12 years in and out of rehab, his parents connecting to help him through.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen he visited us, sometimes he\u2019d laugh and say, \u2018Here I am, better lock up everything.\u2019 But when he was sober, he\u2019d tell us, \u2018I\u2019m so sorry. I love you more than anyone in the world,\u2019\u201d Eden said of her son, who often stole their property when he visited.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-94649\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/01\/05202158\/GettyImages-121982511.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/01\/05202158\/GettyImages-121982511.jpg 819w, https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/01\/05202158\/GettyImages-121982511-768x960.jpg 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Barbara Eden, US actress, in costume in a publicity portrait for the US television series, \u2018I Dream of Jeannie\u2019, circa 1967. The sitcom starred Eden as \u2018Jeannie\u2019. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During a brief remission when he was 27, Matthew married and studied creative writing at UCLA, but \u201cthe cycle began again,\u201d and his wife left.<\/p>\n<p>Recalling when things turned for the worse, Eden said she confronted her son, and \u201che got angry, threw things and stomped out.\u201d Finding Matthew after a months-long search, Eden learned he\u2019d spent most of the time living on the streets.<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-961933965\" class=\"newsner-article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"newsner-1d33cdcc3ca5d90b043bd29505b8b03f\" class=\"newsner-1d33cdcc3ca5d90b043bd29505b8b03f newsner-amp_article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cOne day, soon after they separated, he called me, sounding half dead, and said, \u2018Mom, I\u2019m sick.\u2019 Mike\u2019s wife and another friend drove with me to a bad part of Venice, Calif., and we found him in his apartment, unconscious from an overdose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Describing his living conditions as \u201cfilthy,\u201d Eden continued. \u201cHe weighed 200 lbs., but we three women got him up and to the car and took him to the hospital, which saved his life.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-1\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Cep9fQ7s2rF\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=800&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fen.newsner.com&amp;rp=%2Fnews%2Flooking-back-on-the-life-of-barbara-eden%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwY2xjawKBeQZleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFQRGxOUHJiVWp2Zk5ydWtqAR6h5XlvfQQ8IlM8rQhxdkpVDVnoAyZea5vyOc0K46oLLvpuTCEE-PxkgjAV1A_aem_paME0u1F-KOZSfMrodmZ#%7B%22ci%22%3A1%2C%22os%22%3A1770.5999999940395%7D\" height=\"1130\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-1\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>At 29 he was diagnosed with clinical depression and was on medication, that didn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n<p>When he was 31, Matthew was clean again and following the path of his parents, he had a starring role in the 2001 film\u00a0<em>To Protect and Serve<\/em>, and a supporting role in\u00a0<em>Con Games<\/em>, that was released posthumously the same year.<\/p>\n<p>In September that year, he had plans to wed a \u201cwonderful girl.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne day he told me, \u2018Life is great, Mom. I can\u2019t believe I spent so many years not being awake to how green the trees are.\u2019\u201d Eden said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Barbara Eden son cause of death<\/h2>\n<p>Soon after that conversation, on June 26 at 3 a.m. Eden was jolted from her sleep when a phone call came through about her son,<\/p>\n<p>Six hours before the call, police found 35-year-old Matthew, an amateur bodybuilder, slumped over the steering wheel of his truck, where cops also pulled vials of anabolic steroids that he used to bulk up for competitions.<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-248930785\" class=\"newsner-article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"newsner-e612ce1af1cfeeb44ecb6c236e4facaf\" class=\"newsner-e612ce1af1cfeeb44ecb6c236e4facaf newsner-amp_article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<p>Autopsy results showed that Matthew\u2019s cause of death was accidental drug overdose.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen he was dead. He had shot up with a dose of unusually pure heroin, and it was too much for his heart,\u201d Eden said. \u201cEven when he was getting in shape, he did it like an addict\u2014obsessively. He was unable to do anything in moderation.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-84063\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2021\/08\/05205049\/shutterstock_1484927606.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2021\/08\/05205049\/shutterstock_1484927606.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2021\/08\/05205049\/shutterstock_1484927606-768x512.jpg 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mourning the death of her only child, the author and singer, married to Jon Eicholtz since 1991, is still looking for answers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMatthew took it horribly. He wanted his mommy and daddy to stay together. If I had to do it over, I would have waited until he was older. But then I remind myself that so many kids from divorced homes don\u2019t become addicts.\u201d She continued, \u201cHe won a lot of battles. But he lost his personal war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The senior Ansara, who at 91 died in 2013 from complications related to Alzheimer\u2019s, is buried next to his son at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>As for Eden, who retired Jeannie\u2019s pink harem suit, she can be seen on TV shows like\u00a0<em>Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition<\/em>\u00a0and the 2019 film\u00a0<em>My Adventures with Santa<\/em>, where she plays Mrs. Claus. Her last stage production was 2019\u2019s\u00a0<em>Love Letters<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Step aside, Aladdin! Barbara Eden, the woman who made the world dream of genies, is celebrating her 92nd birthday on August 23, and the nonagenarian looks fantastic! Eden\u2013who turned fans into shameless bottle shiners hoping for their own wish-granting blonde\u2013is still adored almost 60 years since she first appeared on\u00a0I Dream of Jeannie. But, while&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/albotips.com\/?p=3427\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Looking back on the life of Barbara Eden&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3427"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3428,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3427\/revisions\/3428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}