Jeannie Out of the Bottle

About the bookA magical, heartwarming memoir from one of Hollywood’s most beloved icons

Over the past four decades, the landmark NBC hit television series I Dream of Jeannie has delighted generations of audiences and inspired untold numbers of teenage crushes on its beautiful blond star, Barbara Eden. Part pristine Hollywood princess and part classic bombshell, with innocence, strength, and comedic talent to spare, Barbara finally lets Jeannie out of her bottle to tell her whole story.

Jeannie Out of the Bottle takes us behind the scenes of I Dream of Jeannie as well as Barbara’s dozens of other stage, movie, television, and live concert performances. We follow her from the hungry years when she was a struggling studio contract player at 20th Century Fox through difficult weeks trying to survive as a chorus girl at Ciro’s Sunset Strip supper club, from a stint as Johnny Carson’s sidekick on live TV to tangling on-screen and off with some of Hollywood’s most desirable leading men, including Elvis Presley, Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, and Warren Beatty. From the ups and downs of her relationship with her Jeannie co-star Larry Hagman to a touching meeting with an exquisite and vulnerable Marilyn Monroe at the twilight of her career, readers join Barbara on a thrilling journey through her five decades in Hollywood.

But Barbara’s story is also an intimate and honest memoir of personal tragedy: a stillborn child with her first husband, Michael Ansara; a verbally abusive, drug-addicted second husband; the loss of her beloved mother; and the accidental heroin-induced death of her adult son, just months before his wedding. With candor and poignancy, Barbara reflects on the challenges she has faced, as well as the joys she has experienced and how she has maintained her humor, optimism, and inimitable Jeannie magic throughout the roller-coaster ride of a truly memorable life. 

Illustrated with sixteen pages of photographs, including candid family pictures and rare publicity stills, Jeannie Out of the Bottle is a must-have for every fan, old and new.

My review: I loved watching re-runs of I Dream of Jeannie as a girl, so I was thrilled when I saw this book on the website of my local library. And even more thrilled that they had e-copy's available. (I'm not sure why it's so hard for me to get to read a hardbound book right now, but it is!) I'm never quite sure what I'm going to get when I read a book off one of the national lists and not one of the local ones, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. There really wasn't any sex talk or too much swearing in this one.

I enjoyed reading about Barbara Eden's life, her career and I Dream of Jeannie. She didn't have a picture perfect life by any means (are there any of us that really do?) but she has done her best to rise above anything that has come her way. I love that she is a family person and cares for her family, both her personal family and her extended family. I was truly saddened when she talked about her son and the tragedy his death was for her personally, I'm sure that part was extremely hard to write. If you have some time, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading this book, I laughed, I cried and I really enjoyed it!

I was able to borrow a copy of this book from my local library.

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