Barbara Eden turns 94

In my young adolescent years, I had three teenage crushes – Barbara Eden, Angie Dickinson, and Elizabeth Montgomery. Amazingly, two of the three are still alive and doing well.

The Bewitched star passed away from colon cancer in 1995, at the relatively young age of 62.

Angie, the star of the groundbreaking TV show “Police Woman,” which ran between 1974 and ’78 and was the first television show that featured a female lead, turns 94 next month. Still doing well, based on a recent 2024 interview.

Last, but not least, Barbara Eden turned 94 this past Saturday. To help celebrate the event, Bill Maher had her on his show and mentioned how some stars seem to shy away from what made them so famous. In Eden’s case, it was obviously “I Dream of Jeannie,” which ran from 1965 to ’70.

Speaking of iconic moments, Maher said to Eden, “It’s like, if you wrote ‘Hotel California,’ then sing it every night. What you did is iconic, and when some people do something so iconic, they end up not liking it, wanting to move away from it. I hope you’re not like that because what you did is iconic. I hope you’re happy with it.”

A paraphrase, but close. “I enjoyed doing it,” said Eden. “I felt lucky doing it, fortunate.”

Today, of course, some women take issue with Eden calling her co-star Larry Hagman “Master” on the show, but come on, it was TV. Entertainment. And sure, “I Dream of Jeannie” was a rip-off from “Bewitched,” but it was a show that featured some laughs and an escape from reality, which at the time was brutal (Viet Nam, unrest in the streets, the assassinations of MLK and RFK, etc.).

Plus, it didn’t hurt that Barbara Eden was drop-dead gorgeous. Still beautiful in her own way at 94, with what looks like minimal cosmetic surgery, if any.

In Eden’s case, she still goes to star conventions, sets up her Jeannie booth and interacts with fans who still love her work, which includes both television and film (Elvis Presley in “Flaming Star,” etc.).

So much goodness still today from a woman who lost her one and only son to a heroin overdose in 2001, the same year she turned 70. Despite the heartbreak, she soldiered on, turning that tragedy into an opportunity to publicize the dangers of drug addiction, warning parents what they might look out for, so as to avoid a similar fate, e.g., the early signs that your kid’s abusing drugs and/or alcohol.

Also a heartbreak, Angie Dickinson lost her only daughter to suicide in 2007.

Terrible tragedies, and yet the two women are still alive and well, which can serve as examples for us all, I guess, in varying ways, since life is so full of sadness. Good times, yes, but so much heartbreak along the way for so much of humanity.

Yet, at the same time, both women give us hope — still alive and doing well at 94. Amazing.

Happy birthday to both. A side note, Hefner offered Barbara Eden a million dollars to appear topless in Playboy, but she said, no. This, during a time when a million bucks was really a million bucks.

Teenage crushes, we never forget them.