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Joanna Barnes

Joanna Barnes clawed her way up the Hollywood ladder during the late 1950s. After several appearances on second string television series and a role as a "Bit Model" in the '57 noir "The Garment Jungle," Barnes scored a breakthrough as the uppity Gloria Upson in the comedy of manners "Auntie Mame." She was honored at the Golden Globes the following year, where she received a nomination for Most Promising Newcomer. Her performance caught the attention of young auteur Stanley Kubrick, who cast her as Claudia in his epic 1960 retelling of "Spartacus." Between ever more prominent TV appearances, Barnes found success yet again as the thorny gold digger Vicky Robinson in the family comedy "The Parent Trap." When Disney remade the film in 1998, Barnes was hired again, and played the mother of her original character. Her popularity and visage well established, Barnes kept up appearances in the '60s as a regular panelist on the popular game show "What's My Line?," and served as host of televised industry rag "Dateline: Hollywood" in 1967. Over the following years, Barnes's interest in acting waned. An aspiring writer, she performed with increasing infrequency and used the time off to pen the first of three novels. For years, her lifestyle column, "Touching Home," appeared in the Chicago Tribune. Joanna Barnes died on April 29, 2022 in Sea Ranch, CA at the age of 87.