Barbara Ellen Myers (born 1946) is an American former child model and stage and television actress,Hanauer, Joan (INS). "TV a Meal-Ticket For Child Stars". The Houston Chronicle Feature Magazine. January 12, 1958. p. 7. "Her colleague in the show, 11-year-old Barbara Ellen Myers, is a veteran of two previous Broadway productions and has been a professional model since the age of 4." perhaps best known as Diane Sherwood in the soap opera Woman with a Past, and as the youngest of Kim Stanley's three "alter egos" in the Broadway production of Arthur Laurents's A Clearing in the Woods.Dickstein, Martin (January 14, 1957). "The Theatre: A Clearing in the Woods". Brooklyn Daily. p. 11. "Kim Stanley's portrayal of the anguished Virginia is compelling and surely must be counted among the finest stage characterizations of the season. Onslow Stevens is excellent as the pathetic, whisky-sodden father, and Joan Lorring, Anne Pearson and little Barbara Myers contribute splendid bits as the unhappy heroine's alter-egos."
Early life and career Born in Brooklyn in 1946,Johnson, Cecil (February 13, 1954). "Around the Borough; Brooklyn News in Brief". Brooklyn Eagle. p. 2. "Barbara Ellen Myers, of the Bensonhurst section, although only seven, is a veteran Conover model. She has appeared with Eddie Fisher on TV and is in the cast of the TV soap opera, 'Woman with a Past,' WCBS. She is the little daughter in the serial."Johnson, Cecil (December 14, 1950). "Around the Borough: New in Brief". Brooklyn Eagle. p. 19. "Adorning the covers of current issues of several national magazines is a photo of four-year-old Barbara Ellen Myers. A Conover model, Barbara is no stranger to a camera lens. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ned Myers of 3102 Brighton 1st Place." and raised in Bensonhurst, Myers is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ned Myers. She attended Hunter College.Winchell, Walter (February 9, 1966). "Man About Town". The Patriot-News. p. 6. "Barbara Myers, newcomer-actress, who made her debut in 'The Playroom,' a fast fade. She returned to her studies at Hunter College. Smart Girl."
In December 1950, at age 4, Myers was the subject of a brief write-up and photo in the Brooklyn Eagle, describing her as "no stranger to the camera lens" and a Conover model who was, at that moment, "[a]dorning the covers of current issues of several national magazines". By the summer of 1952, she was one of the "Wildroot gleam girl[s]" occupying the back cover of Ladies' Home Journal, as well as assorted pages of various magazines, as part of the national ad campaign for Lady Wildroot shampoo."New Lady Wildroot Shampoo". The Ladies' Home Journal. August 1952. Back cover. See also: "New Lady Wildroot Shampoo". Photoplay. August 1952. p. 10. "New Lady Wildroot Shampoo". Cosmopolitan. August 1952. p. 11. "New Lady Wildroot Shampoo". Modern Screen. August 1952. p. 70.
In the fall of 1953, Myers appeared in three episodes of the religious program Lamp Unto My Feet, then replaced Lucille Graygor as the youngest daughter Angela in the final few episodes of the short-lived NBC sitcom, Bonino.
In January 1954, she appeared with Gage Clark and Lois Bolton in "T.R. and the Buttercups", an episode of the popular series, Mama, Two months later, she was being dubbed "one of the cutest stage and tv actresses we've seen" by nationally syndicated columnist Earl Wilson.Wilson, Earl (March 23, 1954). Mona's Out of Luck With Bing; The Midnight Earl". The Richmond Independent. p. 14.Wilson, Earl (March 23, 1954), "Kaye's No Different: He Likes Bing; The Midnight Earl". The Lima News. p. 16.Wilson, Earl (March 23, 1954). "It Happened Last Night: No Bride for Bing; The Midnight Earl". Newsday (The Nassau Edition). p. 44.Wilson, Earl (March 23, 1954). "It Happened Last Night: 'Der Bingle' Won't Marry---Would Bring Boys Up Right; The Midnight Earl". The State. p. 6-A. In the meantime, she had joined the cast of the daytime soap, Woman with a Past,"Weekly Report: This Week -- Network Debuts & Highlights: Monday (1)". The Television Index. February 1–7, 1954. p. 1. "CBS- 4-4:15pm EST, Mon thru Fri; DEBUT; Woman With a Past; from WCBS-TV(NY), to the net. Sustaining. Pkgr- CBS-TV(NY); Prod- Richard Brill; Dir- Marcella Cisney; Asst Dir- Lamar Caselli; Music Dir- Billy Nalle(organ); Sets- Neil De Luca; Costumes- Julia Sze; Writer- Mona Kent; Casting- Robert Dale Martin(CBS Casting). The story of a successful young dress designer; starring Constance Ford in the title role as Lynn Sherwood; with Anne Hegira as her older sister Pegs (cq), and Mary Sinclair, Geoffrey Lamb, Lilia Skala, Barbara Ellen Myers, Marta Linden, Jean Stapleton, Jay Barney and Bram Nossen. Replaces Action in the Afternoon, formerly seen Mon thru Fri, 4-4:30pm EST." portraying Diane Sherwood, daughter of the show's protagonist, Lyn Sherwood (Constance Ford). Later that year, Myers appeared in two episodes of Kraft Television Theatre: as Pearl, Hester Prynne's illegitimate daughter, in an adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, and as Debbie in Aurand Harris's "A Party for Jonathan".
In 1957, Myers had two featured roles on Broadway; in Arthur Laurents's A Clearing in the Woods—as the youngest of three onstage alter egos of the play's troubled protagonist, Kim StanleyOppenheimer, George (January 18, 1957). "On Stage: The Importance of Being Successful". Newsday (Suffolk Edition). p. . "Joan Lorring, Anne Pearson, Kim Stanley and Barbara Myers, left to right, in a scene from Arthur Laurent's, 'A Clearing in the Woods' now at the Belasco [...] Anne Pearson, Barbara Myers and especially Joan Lorring were consistently good as Miss Stanley's trio of alter egos."—and the character Clementine in Morton Wishengrad's The Rope Dancers, alongside Siobhan McKenna, Art Carney, Beverly Lunsford,Peet, Creighton (December 1, 1957). "From New York: 'Rope Dancers' Proves Absorbing Tragedy". The Virginia Pilot. p. 10-C. and—as Mrs. Farrow, Clementine's mom—Joan Blondell.(November 22, 1957). "Play at Cort a Grim Drama (Continued from preceding page)". New York Daily News. p. 63.
In 1959, Myers played Patsy Gallagher—amidst a supporting cast including Glenda Farrell, Charlie Ruggles, and Marc Connelly—in the CBS TV remake of the 1945 box office hit, with Robert Preston and Claudette Colbert in the Crosby-Bergman roles. Reviewing the film, Daily News critic Kay Gardella, while lukewarm on the production as a whole, made sure to include the supporting cast amongst its redeeming features, Ruggles and Myers, in particular.
In October 1965, Myers portrayed Abishag in the Directions '66 episode, "David and Nathan", costarring Biff McGuire as King David and Lawrence Keith as Nathan the Prophet.
On Sunday morning, May 28, 1967, Myers earned her final screen credit in "New Life to Live", the second in a series of three Pentecost-themed episodes in the religious series, Look Up and Live."Pentecostal Series". The Baltimore Sun. May 24, 1967. p. C5.
Personal life In 1966, news of the announcement by Mr. and Mrs. Myers of their daughter's engagement to Mr. Gerald Siegal, formerly of South Carolina, was published in the New York Times. Siegal was a New York-based talent agent—later dubbed by Liz Smith "the flack with a sense of humor"—whose marriage to Myers produced one child, a son born in 1981.Smith, Liz (October 24, 1976). "The big town is still for the living". Sunday News. p. 7. "The flack with a sense of humor, Gerald Siegal, informs me that Stormin' Norman and Suzy will be at Tramps Oct. 27, and he sends along their raves, plus one from Cynthia Heimel; one of the most embarrassing acts to come along. If they make it in the real world, I'll eat my press card." As of June 9, 2008 (according to the obituary for Siegal's mother published that day in the Florence Morning News), Gerald and Barbara Siegal were still married and still residing in New York."Obituaries: Shirley Siegal". Florence Morning News. June 9, 2008. p. 8. "Gerald Siegal and his wife Barbara in New York City."
Filmography