As is so common and frequent when it comes to Hollywood couples, the relationship between Barbara Eden and their husband, Michael Ansara, didn’t last. They married in 1958 and divorced in 1974 for a reason largely unknown. It didn’t take long for gentleman callers to start beating a path to her door, however. Only three years later, in 1977, Eden married a man named Charles Fegert, though that relationship would only last five whole years.
Skipping ahead a bit, Eden would find love a third time with a man named Jon Eicholtz, whom she married in 1991. As of this writing, the two are still together. Through all that, Eden only had one child, Matthew Ansara. He apparently made a couple of appearances in “I Dream of Jeannie” as a young boy.
A Few More TV Movies
We’re not sure why, but Eden was sticking to TV movies for the most part in the years after “I Dream of Jeannie” stopped. Maybe she just liked the filming process better. From 1972 to 1974, she appeared in one TV movie per year. Hey, she’s earned a little bit of a break. In 1972, she starred in “The Woman Hunter,” a mystery film in which Eden plays Dina Hunter, who gets to know an artist she comes to believe has a criminal past.
In 1973, she was in the film “Guess Who’s Sleeping in My Bed?” as Francine Gregory, a divorced woman whose ex-husband comes to live with her, bringing his new wife, baby, and dog. Finally, “The Stranger Within” was a science-fiction horror film that tried to capitalize on “Rosemary’s Baby” with a twist.
Something for the Kids
Eden clearly loved to make grownup material, but she also had a chance to take a little break and make something fun for the whole family. In 1974, she appeared in a prime-time special that aired on ABC in December, with her acting as one of the ABC newscasters, along with people such as Elliott Gould and Carol Burnett.
She and the other newscasters stepped out of the office to go get lunch, which meant that someone had to fill in during that time – who better than the “Sesame Street” muppets? Bert and Ernie, Grover, the Cookie Monster, and a couple of other familiar faces decided to make their break into the news business, needing to make up an hour of programming. “The Electric Company” also stopped by to give them a hand.
Back to the Silver Screen
After a long time away from theater movies, Eden jumped back in with the 1976 crime comedy film “The Amazing Dobermans,” also starring Fred Astaire and James Franciscus. It was the third film in the trilogy, starting with “The Doberman Gang” in 1972. Astaire, his five trained Dobermans, and a gambler have to go undercover at a circus, where they come up with an act involving the dogs.
Eden plays a circus performer named Justine Pirot, who starts a relationship with the character that Franciscus plays. All three of them have to come together to stop a plot of a mob boss who intends to rob an armored car hauling the circus’s box office take. It doesn’t seem to have made many waves in Hollywood.
Another Big Hit
While also filming a couple of smaller TV movies, Eden was cast as the lead in the film “Harper Valley PTA,” an independent movie based on a song that turns up the raunch a whole lot. Eden played Stella Johnson, a widowed cosmetics salesperson whose way of doing life tends to cause trouble around her.
She eventually becomes the president of the PTA after the events of the film. Against a budget of only one million dollars, the movie was a smashing success at the box office, making twenty-five million dollars. The film didn’t fare as well with critics, but what do they know? The movie was such a hit that it led to a television series a few years later.