The mixed fortunes of 1960s sitcom stars – from Bewitched to I Dream of Jeannie

Barbara Eden – I Dream of Jeannie

Everyone watched I Dream of Jeannie – and I mean everyone. I remember seeing reruns of it when I was 12, and falling in love with Barbara's portrayal of Jeannie, the bubbly and mischievous 2,000-year-old genie. I mean, who wouldn't? Viewers adored her for five whole seasons from 1965 to 1970, and Barbara loved them right back, later reflecting that she was "very lucky" to land the role.

The part immortalised her in the industry, and Barbara went on to appear in more than 25 films, 19 TV movies and five TV series. Her most recent role was in the 2019 Christmas flick My Adventures with Santa, playing Mrs. Claus. While her career soared, the blonde beauty's personal life was not exactly smooth sailing.

She married her first husband, Michael Ansara, in 1958, and the pair went on to welcome their son, Matthew, in 1965. They divorced in 1974, and she married Chicago Sun-Times exec Charles Fegert in 1977. They split just five years later, and she found her forever love with real estate developer Jon Eicholtz in 1991.

Tragedy struck in 2001 when her only son died of a heroin overdose, following years of substance abuse issues. "When Matthew was clean and sober, he was such a beautiful human being, inside and out," Barbara candidly told People in 2021. "Drugs are inexplicable. It's so frustrating.

"At first we didn't recognise the behaviour – the sleeping and the bouts of anger that would come up all of a sudden with this charming, darling boy. I was scared to death," she continued. "I didn't know what to do. He was too young to know he needed rehab or help. It's a wonder that he lived to be 35."

Barbara has never recovered from the devastating loss. "I don't think there's anything worse than to lose your child," she shared. "As a parent, I had a lot of guilt and anger, and following his death, I was always on the edge of tears. Even though he was 35, he was still my baby." And yet, she has turned her personal tragedy into advocacy, proving her altruistic heart.

"I began to speak with parents who were going through the same thing," she said. "I think parents should know that it's not a bad thing to be strict with your child. If you know what's going on, you have a chance to help. Ultimately, it's up to them, but there's hope." What an incredible woman, channelling her grief into a lifeline for others. To me, she's every bit as heroic as her on-screen characters.  

Elizabeth Montgomery – Bewitched

Another show that I was obsessed with growing up was Bewitched, starring quick-witted Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens, the suburban witch attempting to live a normal life with her husband. We all tried to twitch our noses just like her, right? The series ran for eight seasons between 1964 and 1972, garnering her five Emmy nominations and four Golden Globe nods. Not too bad for a sitcom about a housewife!

After Bewitched went off the air, Elizabeth refused to be typecast and switched to more dramatic roles, like in the 1975 TV movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden. Broadway credits, Japanese confectionery commercials (yes, really) and a prestige miniseries followed, cementing her status as a prolific and acclaimed actress who successfully broke free of the sitcom mould.

Her personal life, however, was as turbulent as any soap opera. She married four times – first to New York socialite Frederick Gallatin Cammann in 1954, yet the pair didn't even make it a year before they went their separate ways. Next was actor Gig Young, who would go on to win an Oscar in 1969, and whom Elizabeth was married to from 1956 to 1963.

Her third husband was director William Asher from 1963 until 1973; the duo welcomed kids William, Robert and Rebecca during their decade-long marriage. She fell in love with director Richard Michaels while filming the eighth season of Bewitched, when the couple were both married to other people.

Their affair ended both the show and their marriages, and they moved in together in 1972. That romance fizzled out less than three years later, and the blonde beauty finally found her soulmate in actor Robert Foxworth. They lived together for more than 20 years before saying "I do" in 1993.

Elizabeth fell ill with flu-like symptoms while filming Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan in 1995. After minimising her illness for months, she finally went to see a doctor, only to be told that she had colon cancer that had metastasised to her liver. Eight weeks later, the star died in her home aged 62, surrounded by her husband and children.

Her legacy doesn’t just belong on the screen – it also belongs to her tireless activism. She campaigned for animal rights, women's rights, and gay rights throughout her life, and was also an outspoken dissident of the Vietnam War, advocated for AIDS research, and worked to help disabled people. Elizabeth was ahead of her time, fighting to protect those less privileged than herself. In my eyes, this made her more magical than Samantha ever could. 

Sally Field – Gidget

Before becoming one of Hollywood's most acclaimed and adored actresses, Sally Field got her start playing a boy-crazy surfer girl on Gidget from 1965 to 1966. While the series was cancelled after one season, the network wasn't about to let her charm go to waste. She landed a role in The Flying Nun in 1967, and was quickly typecast as a perky, wholesome and unserious young star, something Sally longed to break free from. 

That chance came with her role in the 1976 TV movie Sybil, which was so impactful that she won an Emmy Award for her performance, proving that she wasn't just a has-been child star.

Throughout her career, Sally has earned two Oscars, two Golden Globes, three Emmys, and a Tony nomination, making her one step away from hallowed EGOT status. If anyone doubted her abilities after glancing at that resumé, they need their eyes checked.

Like many of her '60s sitcom peers, her personal life has been a rollercoaster. After suffering abuse from her stepfather throughout her teenage years, she went on to marry Steven Craig in 1968, before their split in 1975. They welcomed sons Peter and Eli together, who both work in the film industry. Peter works as a screenwriter and Eli is an actor and director.

Sally also shared a tumultuous relationship with legendary actor Burt Reynolds, whom she starred alongside four times in Smokey and the Bandit, Smokey and the Bandit II, The End and Hooper. They dramatically split in 1980, yet dated on and off until calling it quits two years later.

The Oscar winner married her second husband, Alan Greisman, in 1984, and they welcomed a son, Sam, in 1987. They went their separate ways in 1994, and Sally swore off marriage for good. She revealed on the Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus podcast in 2024 why it hadn't worked out for her in the dating world.

"Several people that I was dating, or around, would say, 'Why can't you treat me the way you treat your sons?' 'Uh, because you're not my son!’" she exclaimed in the interview. You tell 'em, Sally!

"I've just never been good at picking a person, a partner, to be with who would be loving and know me and not want to change me and also be challenging to me," she added Instead, the icon channelled her energy into activism. She has staunchly supported women's rights, gay rights, and abortion access throughout her life, and has raised the alarm about climate change for years. 

Sally was arrested in 2019 while supporting Jane Fonda's climate change protests in Washington, D.C., proving that she wasn't afraid to stand up for what's right. In other words, she's an icon!

Eva Gabor – Green Acres

Eva Gabor was easily the most glamorous woman on TV during her time on Green Acres from 1965 to 1971. She starred as Lisa Douglas, the elegant wife of Eddie Albert's Oliver Wendell Douglas, who decided to move to a rural farm and start a new life, much to her chagrin. Still, Lisa managed to make every scene look like a Vogue photoshoot.

Born into Budapest high society, the Hungarian star was an esteemed socialite and even had her own talk show in the '50s. You might also recognise the names of her older sisters, Zsa Zsa and Magda Gabor, who were socialites and actresses like Eva.

After Green Acres, she carved a second career as a voice actress, lending her pipes to Disney's The Aristocats in 1970, The Rescuers seven years later, and its 1990 sequel, The Rescuers Down Under. She also launched her own clothing, wig and beauty brand in 1972, proving she had business acumen to boot.

Her romantic life was colourful to say the least. She was married five times, first to the Swedish-born osteopath Eric Valdemar Drimmer in 1937. They split five years in, and she married investment broker Charles Isaacs in 1943. Then – you guessed it – they divorced in 1949, and she found love again with plastic surgeon John Elbert Williams in 1956, experiencing just a year of wedded bliss.

Next came her wedding to textile manufacturer Richard Brown in 1959, which was her longest marriage at almost 14 years. After their 1973 divorce, Eva married aerospace executive Frank Gard Jameson Sr in 1973, and she was a loving stepmother to his four children until their divorce in 1983. She may have just kept the diamond industry in business with all of those engagement rings!

Hollywood lost one of its best and brightest in 1995 when Eva died from respiratory failure stemming from pneumonia. She left behind a legacy of wit, glamour and regalness the likes of which had not been seen in a sitcom before.

Nancy Kulp – The Beverly Hillbillies

Nancy was the bird-watching spinster sister, Jane Hathaway, in The Beverly Hillbillies, one of the '60s most popular sitcoms. The series ran for nine seasons from 1962 to 1971, making Nancy into a household name, and even earning her an Emmy nomination for her performance.

After the show ended, she took roles in everything from CHiPs to The Love Boat, and reprised her role as Jane in the 1981 TV movie Return of the Beverly Hillbillies. Proving that she was more than just a sitcom star, Nancy took a hard left turn (literally) in 1984 when she began a career in politics, running unopposed as the Democratic nominee for the House of Representatives for Pennsylvania.

In a shocking plot twist, her former Hillbillies co-star Buddy Ebsen, a staunch Republican, decided to run against her, which enraged Nancy to no end. "He's not the kindly old Jed Clampett that you saw on the show…It's none of his business and he should have stayed out of it," she said in an interview, adding that while she "didn't get along because I found him difficult to work with," she "never would have done something like this to him."

She lost the race, but refused to fade away, and got a gig teaching at a liberal arts college in Pennsylvania. She spent her final years working as a proud activist for the Humane Society of the Desert, the Desert Theatre League, and United Cerebral Palsy. In terms of romance, Nancy married Charles Malcolm Dacus in 1951, yet they split a decade later.

The star was diagnosed with cancer in 1990 after being a smoker for decades, and she died from the disease in 1991 aged 69. While she may not have won a seat in Congress, she certainly won our hearts and remains a key figure in pop culture.

Dawn Wells – Gilligan's Island

Dawn Wells won our hearts with her portrayal of Mary Ann Summers in Gilligan's Island, starring as the girl next door who was left stranded alongside a ragtag group of tourists. Originally training as a ballerina, she switched paths after winning Miss Nevada in 1959 and competing in Miss America the following year, which propelled her to Hollywood.

Gilligan's Island was her first major acting job, and the star went on to reprise her role several more times over the years in various reunions. "Mary Ann wasn't just a silly and sweet ingénue," Dawn wrote in her 2014 book What Would Mary Ann Do?: A Guide to Life. "She was bright, fair-minded and reasonable, and I like to think that's what I brought to her. She was a little more of a Goody Two-Shoes than I am."

Dawn later guest-starred on shows like The Love Boat, Alf and Baywatch, all while running her clothing line for disabled people. Her personal life was less idyllic; Dawn was married to talent agent Larry Rosen from 1962 until their split in 1967.

The brunette beauty fell on hard times during the 2008 recession, having amassed almost $200,000 in medical bills. Her close friend, Dugg Kirkpatrick, helped her climb out of debt by launching a fundraiser in 2018. "She was very upset with me, probably still is a little upset with me because she's a little bit embarrassed," he told People at the time.

"But being her dearest friend, I know that this is the best thing." Sadly, Dawn died in 2020 aged 82, due to complications from COVID-19. To fans, she'll always be the heart of Gilligan's Island, one of the most popular sitcoms of all time.