“I Dream of Jeannie” star Barbara Eden recalled the challenges she faced in her early years while trying to break into Hollywood.
The actress detailed her interaction with an executive who made disparaging comments about her appearance.
Barbara Eden was bluntly told she wasn’t beautiful enough to make it in the movie business
Back when Eden was on the audition circuit waiting for her big break, she encountered an executive who wanted her to give up her Hollywood dreams. The actress exclusively told Entertainment Weekly that the experience was bitter.
“I went in, and the man was, ‘Okay,’ kind of abrupt,” Eden said. “And he said, ‘Look … you’re just not the type. You’re not. You’re not Hollywood type.”
The executive proceeded to demonstrate what “Hollywood-type” actually meant by pulling out a photo. She said, “He said, ‘This is what they want. This is a picture of my daughter. Big tits,’” Eden remembers. “He said, ‘You’re a pretty enough girl,’ he said, ‘But you’re not beautiful … You won’t make it. Go home and marry the boyfriend at home.’”
He commented on her looks, saying, “You’re a pretty enough girl,” he said. “But you’re not beautiful. You won’t make it.”
Eden said that she met the casting director a few months later, when he called her “yellow pants.”
The actress detailed this meeting as: “My heart dropped down to my feet, and I thought, ‘Oh boy, this is it,’” Eden recalls. “And he said, “Are you in here seeing [the acting coach]?’ I said, ‘Yes, I am.’ He said, ‘Have they tested you yet?’ I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Okay, we’re going to test you.’ Can you believe that?”
However, Eden’s successful Hollywood career was just beginning. She quickly entered the whirlpool of opportunities, appearing in major guest spots on “I Love Lucy” and “The Andy Griffith Show.” She also starred in movies like “Flaming Star” and “The Brass Bottle.”
