Barbara Eden recalls fond memories of her former ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ co-star Larry Hagman
Barbara Eden recalls fond memories of her former ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ co-star Larry Hagman, as well as the reason she thinks the show ended after five seasons.
Barbara Eden is all for an “I Dream of Jeannie” reboot — as long as it’s done correctly.
“It would have to be different,” the actress told People magazine on Friday. “I don’t think you’d ever copy something, but it’s a good idea.”
“It’s a good idea,” the actress shared. “They should do it."
And the star already has some wise words she would give to a new Jeannie.
“Just follow your own road,” said Eden. “Do what you’re comfortable doing. You find your own truth.”
Barbara Eden (Photo by Reuters)
'I DREAM OF JEANNIE' STAR BARBARA EDEN DESCRIBES WORKING WITH LARRY HAGMAN, ELVIS AND LUCILLE BALL
The sitcom, which aired from 1965 until 1970, chronicled the adventures of an astronaut (Larry Hagman), who discovered the wish-granting genie (Eden).
Eden said she still has fond memories of Hagman, who passed away in 2012 at age 81.
“I have never worked with anyone before or since, that we just had a connection and a rhythm of working,” she said. “It was wonderful.”
Eden also dished on some of the secrets to looking and feeling youthful to Closer Weekly on Friday. The star told the outlet that while wine and chocolate are her guilty pleasures, she does enjoy working out to burn off the extra calories.
“I go to the gym, and I have a trainer,” she explained. “It used to be spinning. I don’t do that anymore. I stopped that. I loved it but it’s not good for your knees so I stopped. Now I do weights and I walk around a track.”
Barbara Eden, star of "I Dream of Jeannie," was seen arriving at the VIVID Grand Show premiere at Friedrichstadt-Palast on October 11, 2018, in Berlin, Germany. (Getty/Splash)
'I DREAM OF JEANNIE' STAR BARBARA EDEN SAYS SHE'S NEVER THOUGHT OF HERSELF AS 'THE SEXY ACTRESS'
Back in 2017, Eden told Fox News her belly button became famous while on the set of “I Dream of Jeannie.”
“I have a big ‘thank-you’ to the media for that,” she chuckled. “I was on the set one day and [a writer] for The Hollywood Reporter walked on set and right over to me. He said, ‘I don’t believe you have one.’ I said, ‘A what?’ And he goes, ‘A belly button!’ And then he poked me in the middle!
"He started writing about my belly button… The next thing I knew, the ‘Laugh-In’ wanted to premiere my navel on NBC. I know a lot of women are known for very glamorous body parts, but my navel? Ha!”
But life as Jeannie wasn’t always so humorous. Eden described one unforgettable moment when her mother visited the set for the very first time.
“It was a show in which the genie was trapped in a safe,” said Eden about the scene, in which her character had turned into a miniature genie as it often did.
Barbara Eden as Jeannie, Larry Hagman as Anthony 'Tony' Nelson. (Photo by NBCU Photo Bank/Getty)
JAMES DEAN MOVIE DIRECTORS ORIGINALLY WANTED ELVIS PRESLEY IN CGI CASTING
“And inside that safe, don’t ask me why, there was a huge lipstick and a bottle of aspirin. I don’t know why that was in the safe, but it was! And of course, they would jiggle the set whenever someone would pick up this safe.
"Well, they jiggled it a little too hard and the lipstick fell over me and hit me on the head. I was out for a couple of minutes. My mother was having a fit! Just having a fit," Eden recalled.
The star also stressed that she never felt typecast because of her success in “I Dream of Jeannie.” In fact, she’s still thankful for the magical alter-ego.
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“I really didn’t,” she explained. “Because after I did ‘I Dream of Jeannie,’ I did at least two other television shows. And I don’t know how many television movies playing entirely different kinds of people. I was so busy.
"So, I didn’t feel that I was ever typecast. In fact, I wasn’t. ‘Jeannie’ just so happens to be one people remember and that’s all right with me.”
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