Actress. She is best remembered for her portrayal of the strong-willed Lt. Rosemary Larson in the acclaimed war film "So Proudly We Hail!" (1943). Born Barbara Brantingham, she was raised in a family of wealth and position. After attaining her degree in speech therapy from Long Beach City College, she began her career appearing in stock companies. While starring in a stage production of "The Old Maid", she was discovered by a talent scout who brought her to Paramount Pictures for screen and voice testing. Upon being noticed by director Derwin Abrahams, he was so impressed by her blonde good looks, articulate voice, and charm, he arranged for her to begin a career in the film industry beginning with her being under his supervision in "Secrets of the Wasteland" (1941). From there, she would go on to flourish as a prominent supporting actress in over 50 features; often typecast as wives, mothers, chorines, love interests, debutantes, nurses, secretaries, retail clerks, businesswomen, clergywomen, salesladies, neighbors, landlords, reporters, exotics, southern belles, snobs, historical figures, eccentrics, and, in her later years, matriarchs. She appeared in such feature films as "Louisiana Purchase" (1941), "Reap the Wild Wind" (1942), "Freedom Comes High" (1943), "Till We Meet Again" (1944), "Captain Kidd" (1945), "The Return of Monte Cristo" (1946), "Gunfighters" (1947), "Mr. Reckless" (1948), "I Shot Jesse James" (1949), "Champagne for Caesar" (1950), "The Raiders" (1952), "Dragonfly Squadron" (1954), "The Spoilers" (1955), and "Majeok" (1966). During the advent of television, she flourished as a household name appearing in various guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse," "Lights Out," "Lux Video Theatre," "Armstrong Circle Theatre," "Danger," "Mr. and Mrs. North," "Schlitz Playhouse," "Climax!," "Robert Montgomery Presents," "The Christophers," "Appointment with Adventure," "The Ford Television Theatre," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and "The Comedy Hour." During her career, she was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, had been an active member of the Hollywood Republican Committee, was a regular parishioner within the Catholic church, was the president of American Foundation of Religion and Psychiatry, had been designated as the 1941 Miss Long Beach, was the 1949 Deb Star, had been the celebrity spokeswoman for Revlon, was one of the inventors of the brand Tupperware, presided as a chairwoman for her local charters of the American Red Cross and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, and she was married to Dr. Eugene Czukor from 1945 until her death (their union produced two children). After retiring from acting in 1979, following what would be her final appearance in an episode of the soap opera "One Life to Live," she died the first of the following year from complications of cancer.