Special Friendship

THE CHALLENGES THEY OVERCAME FILMING DREAM OF JEANNIE CREATED A BOND THAT LASTED A LIFETIME

- LOUISE A. BARILE

Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman never met before their I Dream of Jeannie screen test together. "We started doing this scene and I threw my arms around his neck," Barbara tells Closer. "Later he told me, 'You scared the bejesus out of me!' He was always so honest, he'd just blurt out things."

That auspicious meeting would change both their lives. I Dream of Jeannie, which originally aired for five seasons, from 1965 to 1970, starred Barbara as a beautiful 2,000-year-old genie who falls in love with her rescuer, dashing astronaut Tony Nelson, played by Larry. While never a ratings juggernaut, Jeannie would make both of them stars and continue to win new generations of fans in syndication and streaming.

It also made lifelong friends of Barbara and Larry. "I've never worked with anyone with whom I've been so in tune and on the same level, acting-wise," says Barbara, 92. "It was a joy and a challenge working with him. He was so talented and so very sweet to me. But he was his own worst enemy."

MAGIC CARPET RIDE

Their on-screen chemistry was so obvious, fans often wondered if they’d ever had an off-screen romance, but Barbara denies it. She was wed to her first husband, Michael Ansara, during the run of I Dream of Jeannie and pregnant with her son Matthew during the first season. “I was a walking tent, but they just kept putting chiffon over my head,” she recalls with a laugh.