ACTOR · BORN 1945
Adrienne Barbeau
- Born
- 11 June 1945
35 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
All facts (35)
- #001
Between 1964 and 1967, while breaking into Broadway, Adrienne Barbeau worked as a go-go dancer at a New York nightclub run by the Mafia. She quit when the owner decided to turn the club into a bikini bar.
- #002
At the age of 51, on March 17, 1997, Adrienne Barbeau gave birth to identical twin boys named Walker Steven and William Dalton Van Zandt. Their father is her ex-husband Billy Van Zandt.
- #003
In 1978, a poster of Adrienne Barbeau wearing a tight purple corset was among the best sellers. The image from the poster was later used as the cover photo of her autobiography.
- #004
Her roles in the horror film The Fog (1980) and in Escape from New York (1981) were written specifically with her in mind.
- #005
For playing the bad girl Betty Rizzo in the original Broadway production of "Grease," Adrienne Barbeau was nominated in 1972 for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
- #006
Her memoir "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" (2006) rose to No. 11 on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list.
- #007
In the horror film The Fog (1980), the two leads, Adrienne Barbeau and Jamie Lee Curtis, never appear together in any scene.
- #008
During the 1963 USO tour of Southeast Asia, Adrienne Barbeau was paid $7 a day. It was her first professional job.
- #009
Her acting mentor is the late Bea Arthur. Years before Maude (1972), both Arthur and Barbeau had performed in the original Broadway production of "Fiddler on the Roof."
- #010
Adrienne Barbeau returned to the New York stage for the first time in 34 years to play Judy Garland in "The Property Known as Garland," written by her then-husband, playwright Billy Van Zandt.
- #011
Adrienne Barbeau's nude scene in Swamp Thing (1982) was meant to be shown only in Europe, but it eventually made its way into the film's American DVD — until a Texas housewife complained that her sons had accidentally seen nudity in a PG-rated film, at which point the DVD was recalled.
- #012
Adrienne Barbeau was the winner of The Cannonball Run (1981), and she also won the heart of her co-star Burt Reynolds, who was then at the peak of his popularity.
- #013
Adrienne Barbeau made her Broadway debut in "Fiddler on the Roof" (1968), where she met another young, promising actress named Bette Midler. "I guess I adopted some of her enthusiasm and hopefully her street smarts," Barbeau said.
- #014
Adrienne Barbeau has a son with John Carpenter: Cody Carpenter (born John Cody Carpenter).
- #015
With Bill Macy's death on October 17, 2019, Adrienne Barbeau became the last surviving member of the regular cast of Maude (1972).
- #016
On the series Maude (1972), Adrienne Barbeau turned out to have a great working relationship with Bea Arthur.
- #017
According to Bea Arthur, in an interview she said that Barbeau herself had wanted Marcia Rodd to play the role of Carol Traynor instead of her. Rodd played Carol "more of a mouth" and more strongly in the All in the Family (1971) spin-off episode, which made the fight scenes more exciting. When Maude (1972) became its own series, much to Bea's horror, they hired Barbeau, who played the "softer" version of the role.
- #018
Adrienne Barbeau is the former sister-in-law of musician and actor Steven Van Zandt.
- #019
In her autobiography, Barbeau says she first encountered the series' job of entertaining troops while touring with the San Jose Civic Light Opera, performing for soldiers at military bases in Southeast Asia.
- #020
Her role in the horror remake Halloween (2007) was ultimately cut from the final film, but it was included on the DVD Special Edition.
- #021
She appeared in four films directed by her then-husband John Carpenter: Someone's Watching Me! (1978), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981) and The Thing (1982).
- #022
Three-quarters of her father's ancestry was German, with his other roots being French-Canadian and Irish. Her mother was of Armenian descent.
- #023
She appeared in four films alongside Tom Atkins: The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), Creepshow (1982) and Two Evil Eyes (1990).
- #024
She was working in a beauty salon when she was discovered by a member of the San Jose Civic Light Opera's board of directors. This led to her being cast in a production of The King & I.
- #025
She was considered for the role of the legendary Ardra in the fourth-season episode Devil's Due (1991), which went to Marta DuBois.
- #026
As a child, she attended the Burlingame Music Conservatory.
- #027
Because of her busy schedule, she had to miss most of the episodes of Maude (1972) during its final two seasons.
- #028
She attended and graduated from Del Mar High School in San Jose, California.
- #029
She studied at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California.
- #030
Her favorite television role is Carol Traynor on the television comedy Maude (1972-1978).
- #031
Her favorite film genre is horror.
- #032
Her hobbies are writing and singing.
- #033
Her favorite animals are dogs.
- #034
Her favorite author is Harlan Coben.
- #035
She was born in the same city and the same year as Randolph Mantooth, and she is three months older than him.
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