Lynn Bari Biography

Fast Facts

• Was active in the campaigns of Herbert Hoover, Wendell Willkie, Thomas E․ Dewey, Dwight D․ Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan
• Was a direct descendant of Revolutionary War hero Alexander Hamilton on her mother's side
• Made her film debut in the same musical that dancer Fred Astaire did, "Dancing Lady․"
• Had a number of early uncredited roles as receptionists or chorus girls
• Often played the villainous other woman in low-budget pictures for 20th Century Fox in the 1930s and 1940s
• Played rare lead roles in "China Girl, ""Hello, Frisco, Hello" and "The Spiritualist․"
• Devised her stage name by combining the name of actress Lynn Fontanne with the name of author Sir James M․ Barrie
• According to a poll conducted during World War II, she was the second most popular pin-up girl among G․I․s
• Film historian Jeff Gordon published "Foxy Lady" in 2010, an authorized biography based on interviews completed shortly before Bari's death
• Originally started taking elocution lessons and participating in amateur theatrics in order to lose the Southern accent her Massachusetts school peers mocked her for