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Where Are They Now? Barbara Bain

Where Are They Now? Barbara Bain

Saturday magazine of the Daily Express newspaper, 2020.

Screen actress Barbara Bain is most famous for playing Cinnamon Carter in the classic 60s American series Mission: Impossible (1966-73). Chicago-born Barbara, 88, continues to act and lives in California. Her then husband, actor Martin Landau, starred with Barbara in Mission: Impossible and Space: 1999. The couple divorced in 1993 and have two daughters, Juliet and Susan. Martin died in 2017.

'I was born in a car on the way to the hospital on Friday 13th - unlucky for some but not for me.

'I started on TV in 1958, with five lines in a live drama and then a TV series called Harbormaster as a lobster fisherman's daughter whose father did not approve of the boy I was going to marry - who was played by Larry Hagman.

'I met Martin in acting class, where he was the best student in the class and I was the new girl. He was also a teacher and what he taught me was ongoing, eye-opening and for ever.

'I've never been a career planner: my skill was doing my best with whatever showed up, whether it was theatre or classic US TV series like Ben Casey, 77 Sunset Strip or Perry Mason.

'After many auditions for Mission: Impossible, the last step was to be approved by Lucille Ball as her company produced the show. She looked me up and down and said in her deep voice, "She looks OK to me." Cinnamon was smart and sexy, which was not the usual combination in Hollywood - the roles tended to be the dumb blonde or the nice housewife.

'Mission: Impossible became the programme the nation sat down to watch. I was celebrated and awarded three consecutive Emmys. It certainly changed my life. 'Martin and I left in 1969 because there was an ugly lawsuit after new people took over the show and decided to make changes.

'I had kept in touch with Peter Graves, who played Jim Phelps (he died in 2010). I speak to Peter Lupus (Willy Armitage) every New Year's Day, and I'm close with Greg Morris's family. He was Barney Collier, but he died in 1996. His daughter Iona had directed me on stage.

'In the 70s, Martin and I packed our bags to spend three happy years in London to make Space: 1999, which sold to 130 countries. My character, Dr Helena Russell, was similar to Cinnamon Carter because they were women at the top of their game and men respected them - both were breakthrough roles.

'Back in Los Angeles I continued on stage and TV, including Moonlighting, Nothing Special and Murder, She Wrote. Among my stage roles in recent years were Winnie in Samuel Beckett's Happy Days and as Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night.

'Lately, I've found joy directing on the stage. Another part of my life is teaching young actors at the Actors Studio, which was my artistic home. It is important for us to hand down our thoughts, techniques and experiences and see the students develop; so the romance hasn't worn off.

'My daughter Juliet played Drusilla the cockney vampire in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's a great actress and worked with Martin on Ed Wood. Juliet and I have appeared together on stage many times. My other daughter, Susan, is a successful writer-producer who has worked with Francis Ford Coppola.

'Martin and I continued to speak after our divorce - not an awful lot because we'd talked ourselves to death for all those years. I'd say the lines of communication were open but not adamantly pursued.

'I'm keen to promote children's literacy and I created BookPALS through the Screen Actors Guild Foundation. I realised that we have thousands of actors who are unemployed and who can take words off a page and make magic. The actors enjoy their time in the school room, reading to kids of all grades.

'And because of its success, BookPALS has been renamed Storyline Online. Storylineonline.net is now available worldwide and has reached millions.

'I've enjoyed life, I've been fortunate and I celebrate my voyage. I have no complaints.

Caption (top): Mission: Impossible, 1968. From left: Peter Lupus, Barbara, Greg Morris, Peter Graves and Martin Landau

Caption (bottom): Above: Get Smart (1965). Right: Space: 1999 (1976). Far right: With then husband Martin Landau in 1980

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