Barbara Feldon is now 91 years old and her name remains vital in the movie industry. In her career from the late 1950s to the 2000s, she played numerous roles and became most famous for her Agent 99 role in Get Smart (1965-1970) sitcom.
In case you wonder how she is doing and where Barbara Feldon is now, here is her story. Following her leaving the movie scene, she stayed away from fame but moved to New York in 2020. In 2003, she wrote a book titled Living Alone and Living It.
All About Feldon’s Life Now
Barbara Feldon is 91 years old and lives a quiet life away from the acting career that brought her to fame. Yet, in 2020, she revealed that she moved to start another phase of her life in New York.
This was after her long-term relationship with Burt Nodella ended.
She granted a few interviews while she was away from her professional career.
Before her official retirement in 2006, she wrote a book three years prior. The book, Living Alone and Loving It (2003) recounts her being alone, not depending on romance, and living life on her terms.
Find Out All About Barbara Feldon’s Life Before Her Current Place
She Lived Most of Her Life in Pittsburgh Before Fame
Feldon was born Barbara Anne Hall in Butler, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh on March 12, 1933. She is the daughter of Raymond D. and Julia Stewart Hall.
Barbara was raised alongside her older sister Patricia Hall.
The actress lived most of her early life in Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. There, she attended Bethel Park High School and also trained as an actress at Pittsburgh Playhouse.
Subsequently, she attended Carnegie Institute of Technology which is now known as Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in drama from the institution.
To pursue her career, she left Pittsburgh for New York.
She Struggled in Different Areas of Entertainment Before Fame
Barbara had it rough while she was starting her career. In the earliest phase of her being in the entertainment industry, she tried out modeling and commercials.
While trying to find her footing as a model, she was told by some top model agencies that she would not make it to becoming a professional model. This was because of her full face since models at the time were thin-faced.
It turned out that her struggle as a model didn’t last forever. Everything changed when she met Gillis McGill, a fashion model who asked if she was interested in modeling. She did get a job at Pauline Trigere.
This marked the beginning of her long journey into modeling and featuring in commercials. Barbara quickly became known and featured in a Class A commercial for a floor wax company.
Her success in commercials didn’t come until after she faced challenges. In an interview, she revealed that:
a commercial producer said he wouldn’t even turn his camera on to test me, because nobody would buy anything I sold.
Her Career as an Actress
By the time she was 19 years old, Barbara knew she wanted a career in acting and worked towards her goals. She would later leave Pittsburgh for opportunities on Broadway.
As in the case of her journey in modeling and commercials, Barbara did not find it easy starting as an actress. Before she became a famous actress, she was a contestant on television’s The $64,000 Question Show in 1957, winning the grand prize in the category of William Shakespeare.
Afterward, she started to gain small roles in some off-Broadway works. In 1964 and 1965, the former actress made guest appearances in several series.
She appeared in season one, episode 24 of Twelve O’Clock. She also appeared in Flipper, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Mr. Broadway.
She made her breakthrough as an actress in 1965 when she played Agent 99 in the American comedy TV series, Get Smart. She was on the series from 1965 to 1970 after appearing in 138 episodes.
To add to the list, Barbara appeared in several other series such as Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1967-1968), The Doctors and the Nurses (1964), Griff (1973), and Doctors’ Hospital (1975).
Apart from TV series, the former actress appeared in numerous films, adding to her fame.
In 1967, she played the role of Juliet Nowell in Fitzwilly. She also played Valerie Norton in What Are Best Friends for (1973) and Carolyn in No Deposit, No Return (1976).
Apart from acting, she has also made +soundtracks in some series. She performed “Where Are Your Children Tonight?” on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1967) and “There’ll Be Some Changes Made and La Vie en Rose” in Get Smart (1965).
List of Her Films and Series
- The Last Request (2006)
- American Experience (1987)
- Emily of New Moon (1998)
- Chicago Sons (1997)
- Something So Right (1996)
- Get Smart (1995)
- Mad About You (1992)
- Cheers (1982)
- Get Smart, Again! (1989)
- Hothouse (1988)
- Square One Television (1987)
- Children of Divorce (1980)
- Before and After (1979)
- A Vacation in Hell (1979)
- Sooner or Later (1979)
- A Guide for the Married Woman (1978)
- The Natural Look (1977)
- The Four of Us (1977)
- No Deposit, No Return (1976)
- No Deposit, No Return (1976)
- Doctors’ Hospital (1975)
- Smile (1975)
- Barbara Feldon in Let’s Switch! (1975)
- What Are Best Friends for? (1973)
- The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas (1973)
- McMillan & Wife (1971)
- Griff (1973)
- Of Men and Women (1973)
- Medical Center (1969)
- The Wide World of Mystery (1973)
- Thriller (1973)
- Search (1972)
- Playmates (1972)
- Here Comes the Judge (1972)
- Getting Away from It All (1972)
- Matt Lincoln (1970)
- The Name of the Game (1968)
- The Tim Conway Comedy Hour (1970)
- Get Smart (1965)
- The Red Skelton Hour (1951)
- Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1967)
- Fitzwilly (1967)
- Point Blank (1967)
- Profiles in Courage (1964)
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964)
- 12 O’Clock High (1964)
- Slattery’s People (1964)
- Flipper in Flipper (1964)
- The Doctors and the Nurses (1962)
- Mr. Broadway (1964)
- East Side/West Side (1963)
See Also: Joyce Randolph: Where Is The Actress?
She has Won Awards and Nominations in Her Career
Barbara has claimed several awards and nominations from her acting career. Here is a list of her accolades.
- In 2003, Barbara won the TV Land Awards for Hippest Fashion Plate (female).
- She received a Photoplay Awards nomination for Most Promising New Star (female) in 1966.
- The Get Smart actress is a two-time Primetime Emmy Awards nominee for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series (1968, 1969).
- In 1984 and 1983, Barbara Feldon was nominated for Program Hostess for the Cable ACE Awards
She Was Married for 9 Years
Feldon was married to Lucien Verdoux-Feldon on March 22, 1958. The marriage ended in divorce after 9 years in 1958.
In 1968, Barbara started a relationship with Get Smart producer Burt Nodella. The relationship ended after 12 years in 1979.
Before Burt’s relationship with Feldon, he was married to Joanne David in 1949 and they had 2 children.
Burt Nodella died on February 23, 2016, at 91.
