Barbara Britton(1919-1980)
- Actress
Radiant to a tee, well-coiffed and well-dressed Barbara Britton looked
like she stepped out of a magazine when she entered into our homes
daily as the 'Revlon Girl' on 50s and 60s TV. She sparkled with the
best of them and managed to capture that "perfect wife/perfect mother"
image with, well, perfect poise and perfect grace. Co-starring opposite
some of Hollywood's most durable leading men, including
Randolph Scott (multiple times),
Joel McCrea,
Gene Autry,
Jeff Chandler and
John Hodiak, it's rather a shame Barbara was
rather obtusely used in Hollywood films, but thankfully her beauty and
glamour, if not her obvious talent, would save the day and put the
finishing touches on a well-rounded career.
It all began for sunny, hazel-eyed blonde Barbara Maureen Brantingham
in equally sunny Long Beach, California on September 26, 1920 (1919 is
incorrect, according to her son and several other sources). Attending
Polytechnic High School, Barbara eventually taught Sunday school and
majored in speech at Long Beach City College with designs of becoming a
speech and drama teacher. Her interest in acting, however, quickly took
hold and she decided, against the wishes of her ultra-conservative
parents, to pursue the local stage. Barbara's own personal 'Hollywood'
story unfolded when, as a Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade
representative of Long Beach, she was seen on the front pages of the
newspaper, scouted out and signed by Paramount movie agents.
The surname Britton was a cherished family name and Barbara picked it
as her stage moniker when Paramount complained that Brantingham was
"too long to fit on a marquee." She made her film debut with
Secret of the Wastelands (1941),
a Hopalong Cassidy western, and continued in bit parts for a time
before finding modest but showier roles in such fare as
Louisiana Purchase (1941),
So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
and Till We Meet Again (1944).
She eventually earned higher visibility as a lead and second femme lead
but was underserved for most of her film career, confined as a pretty,
altruistic, genteel young thing in such durable but male-oriented films
as The Great John L. (1945),
The Virginian (1946),
The Return of Monte Cristo (1946),
Albuquerque (1948), and
Champagne for Caesar (1950).
Barbara wisely turned to the stage and TV in the 1950s, making her TV
debut on an episode of "Robert Montgomery Presents" in 1950 and her
Broadway debut co-starring in the short-lived
Peggy Wood comedy "Getting Married"
the following year.
After co-starring a couple of seasons with
Richard Denning on the TV
program
Mr. & Mrs. North (1952),
Barbara earned major attention as Revlon's lovely pitchwoman and
remained on view in that capacity for 12 years. She appeared in Revlon
commercials live for a number of programs, including "The $64,000
Question," "The $64,000 Challenge," "Revlon's Big Party" and "The Ed
Sullivan Show." In between Barbara graced several of the top dramatic
shows of the day, and co-starred intermittently in such "B" films as
Bandit Queen (1950),
The Raiders (1952),
Bwana Devil (1952),
Dragonfly Squadron (1953) and
Night Freight (1955) before ending
her movie run with
The Spoilers (1955) opposite
Jeff Chandler and
Rory Calhoun.
Various Broadway shows included "Wake Up, Darling (1956), "How to Make
a Man" (1961), and "Me and Thee" (1965). Other stage credits on the
dinner theatre and summer stock circuits include "Last of the Red Hot
Lovers", "Mary, Mary," "Barefoot in the Park" and "No, No, Nanette." As
time passed, more and more would be devoted to raising her family. Only
occasionally seen in the 1970, Barbara sometimes appeared with her two
children in such regional shows as "Best of Friends," "Forty Carats"
and "A Roomful of Roses".
Married in 1945 to Eugene Czukor, a naturopathic physician at the time,
he later became a psychiatrist when the family moved to New York City
(Manhattan) in 1957. The couple raised two children -- son Theodore
(Ted or Theo) who appeared on the Canadian Shakespearean stage and
later became a yoga instructor, and daughter Christina who grew up to
become a model, actress, opera singer, music therapist and romance
novelist. Both used the surname Britton in their respective performance
careers. Sadly, two other children born to Barbara and husband Eugene,
a girl and a boy, died at the hospital shortly after birth.
One of Barbara's last roles was as a regular on the daytime soap
One Life to Live (1968) in
1979. Her enjoyment on this show was short-lived as the vivacious
actress was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer not long after. She died
in January of 1980 at age 60.
like she stepped out of a magazine when she entered into our homes
daily as the 'Revlon Girl' on 50s and 60s TV. She sparkled with the
best of them and managed to capture that "perfect wife/perfect mother"
image with, well, perfect poise and perfect grace. Co-starring opposite
some of Hollywood's most durable leading men, including
Randolph Scott (multiple times),
Joel McCrea,
Gene Autry,
Jeff Chandler and
John Hodiak, it's rather a shame Barbara was
rather obtusely used in Hollywood films, but thankfully her beauty and
glamour, if not her obvious talent, would save the day and put the
finishing touches on a well-rounded career.
It all began for sunny, hazel-eyed blonde Barbara Maureen Brantingham
in equally sunny Long Beach, California on September 26, 1920 (1919 is
incorrect, according to her son and several other sources). Attending
Polytechnic High School, Barbara eventually taught Sunday school and
majored in speech at Long Beach City College with designs of becoming a
speech and drama teacher. Her interest in acting, however, quickly took
hold and she decided, against the wishes of her ultra-conservative
parents, to pursue the local stage. Barbara's own personal 'Hollywood'
story unfolded when, as a Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade
representative of Long Beach, she was seen on the front pages of the
newspaper, scouted out and signed by Paramount movie agents.
The surname Britton was a cherished family name and Barbara picked it
as her stage moniker when Paramount complained that Brantingham was
"too long to fit on a marquee." She made her film debut with
Secret of the Wastelands (1941),
a Hopalong Cassidy western, and continued in bit parts for a time
before finding modest but showier roles in such fare as
Louisiana Purchase (1941),
So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
and Till We Meet Again (1944).
She eventually earned higher visibility as a lead and second femme lead
but was underserved for most of her film career, confined as a pretty,
altruistic, genteel young thing in such durable but male-oriented films
as The Great John L. (1945),
The Virginian (1946),
The Return of Monte Cristo (1946),
Albuquerque (1948), and
Champagne for Caesar (1950).
Barbara wisely turned to the stage and TV in the 1950s, making her TV
debut on an episode of "Robert Montgomery Presents" in 1950 and her
Broadway debut co-starring in the short-lived
Peggy Wood comedy "Getting Married"
the following year.
After co-starring a couple of seasons with
Richard Denning on the TV
program
Mr. & Mrs. North (1952),
Barbara earned major attention as Revlon's lovely pitchwoman and
remained on view in that capacity for 12 years. She appeared in Revlon
commercials live for a number of programs, including "The $64,000
Question," "The $64,000 Challenge," "Revlon's Big Party" and "The Ed
Sullivan Show." In between Barbara graced several of the top dramatic
shows of the day, and co-starred intermittently in such "B" films as
Bandit Queen (1950),
The Raiders (1952),
Bwana Devil (1952),
Dragonfly Squadron (1953) and
Night Freight (1955) before ending
her movie run with
The Spoilers (1955) opposite
Jeff Chandler and
Rory Calhoun.
Various Broadway shows included "Wake Up, Darling (1956), "How to Make
a Man" (1961), and "Me and Thee" (1965). Other stage credits on the
dinner theatre and summer stock circuits include "Last of the Red Hot
Lovers", "Mary, Mary," "Barefoot in the Park" and "No, No, Nanette." As
time passed, more and more would be devoted to raising her family. Only
occasionally seen in the 1970, Barbara sometimes appeared with her two
children in such regional shows as "Best of Friends," "Forty Carats"
and "A Roomful of Roses".
Married in 1945 to Eugene Czukor, a naturopathic physician at the time,
he later became a psychiatrist when the family moved to New York City
(Manhattan) in 1957. The couple raised two children -- son Theodore
(Ted or Theo) who appeared on the Canadian Shakespearean stage and
later became a yoga instructor, and daughter Christina who grew up to
become a model, actress, opera singer, music therapist and romance
novelist. Both used the surname Britton in their respective performance
careers. Sadly, two other children born to Barbara and husband Eugene,
a girl and a boy, died at the hospital shortly after birth.
One of Barbara's last roles was as a regular on the daytime soap
One Life to Live (1968) in
1979. Her enjoyment on this show was short-lived as the vivacious
actress was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer not long after. She died
in January of 1980 at age 60.