BARBARA BATES

Barbara Bates was an actress from the 1940s to the 1960s. She is likely best remembered for her role as Phoebe in the All About Eve.

Despite a seemingly successful career, Bates' life, both on and off screen, started unraveling in the early 1950s. She became a victim of extreme mood swings, insecurity, ill health, and chronic depression. In 1954, she was cast on the NBC sitcom It's a Great Life, but after seven episodes she was written out of the show because of her erratic behavior and depression.

Bates tried to salvage her career and traveled to England to find work. She was signed on as a contract player with the Rank Organisation, only to drop out of two leading roles in one month. Bates continued to be too emotionally unstable to work and in 1957, her contract with the Rank Organisation was canceled.

In 1960, Bates and her husband moved back to the United States and got an apartment in Beverly Hills, but soon he was diagnosed with cancer and she attempted suicide by slashing her wrists and was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Hospital and recovered.

In January 1967, her husband died of cancer and Bates' depression worsened and she again became suicidal. For a time, Bates worked as a secretary, as a dental assistant, and as a hospital aide.

In 1968 she married for the second time to a childhood friend, but despite her new marriage and location, Bates remained increasingly despondent and depressed.

On March 18, 1969, just months after her marriage, Barbara Bates committed suicide in her mother's garage by carbon monoxide poisoning. She was 43 years old.

Some of her other movies include: Cheaper by the Dozen, and its sequel Belles on Their Toes, Let's Make It Legal and The Caddy.