Cigarette Card. Size: 4.5x6.5cm
Barbara Read, also known as Barbara Reed, (December 29, 1917 – December 12, 1963) was a Canadian film actress of the 1930s and 1940s, who appeared in twenty one films during her career.
Born in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada, Read relocated to Hollywood during the mid-1930s. Her first film appearance was a role in the 1936 comedy film Three Smart Girls, which starred Binnie Barnes, Ray Milland, and Alice Brady. From 1937 through 1939 Read appeared in nine films, most notably with a lead starring role in The Spellbinder, opposite Lee Tracy. From 1940 through 1948 she would appear in eleven films. Her most remembered role was portraying "Margo Lane" in three films from The Shadow series, starring opposite Kane Richmond. She and Richmond teamed together in The Shadow Returns, Behind the Mask, and The Missing Lady, all in 1946. Her last role was alongside Randolph Scott and Marguerite Chapman in the 1948 western Coroner Creek. She was the second wife (married 1953; separated September 1959; divorced August 23, 1960) of actor William Talman; they had one daughter, Barbie, and one son, William Whitney Talman III. She died of an apparent suicide on December 12, 1963, in Laguna Beach, California. "Notes she left behind blamed ill health for her action. |
