Episode # 25 Guest Star: Barbara Feldon

- November 21, 2018

Barbara Feldon (born March 12, 1933) is an American character actress who works mostly in the theatre, but is primarily known for her roles on television. Her most prominent role was that of Agent 99 on the 1960s sitcom Get Smart. She also worked as a model.

Feldon was born Barbara Anne Hall in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Pittsburgh. She graduated from Bethel Park High School and trained at Pittsburgh Playhouse. In 1955 she graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) as a Bachelor of Arts in drama. She was initiated into the Delta Xi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. In 1957, she won the grand prize on The $64,000 Question in the category of William Shakespeare.

Following working as a model, Feldon's break came in the form of a popular and much parodied television commercial for "Top Brass", a hair pomade for men by Revlon. Lounging languidly on an animal print rug, she purred at the camera, addressing the male viewers as "tigers". This led to small roles in television series. In the 1960s, she made appearances on Twelve O'Clock High (S1 E24: "End of the Line"), Lorne Greene's Griff, Flipper (S1 E12: & E13: "The Lady & The Dolphin") and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (in "The Never-Never Affair"). In 1964, she appeared with Simon Oakland in the episode "Try to Find a Spy" of CBS's short-lived drama Mr. Broadway.

Feldon's feature films included Fitzwilly (1967), Smile (1975) and No Deposit, No Return (1976). Her last film to date is 2006's Last Request, a comedy with Danny Aiello and Joe Piscopo. Feldon reprised her role as "Agent 99" in the made-for-television film Get Smart, Again! (1989) and a short-lived television series also titled Get Smart in 1995. She wrote and provided audio

Don Adams & Barbara Feldon in Get Smart

commentaries and introductions for the DVD release of the original Get Smart series in 2006 but did not take part in the 2008 film adaptation that starred Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart. Feldon guest-starred as a former TV spy star on a 1993 episode (S1 E20) of Mad About You, as Diane "Spy Girl" Caldwell.

Feldon has served as the actress's last name since her marriage to Lucien Verdoux-Feldon in 1958. The pair divorced in 1967. In 1968 she began a relationship with Get Smart producer Burt Nodella. That union lasted 12 years. She does not have any children. Upon ending her relationship, she moved back to New York City where she resides.

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