Barbara Bates
Actor · Died March 18, 1969, aged 43 · Denver, Colorado, USA
Barbara Jane Bates (August 6, 1925 – March 18, 1969) was an American singer and actress, best known for her portrayal of Phoebe in the 1950 drama film All About Eve and as Katy Morgan on It's a Great Life (1954–1956). The eldest of three daughters, Bates was born in Denver, Colorado. While growing up in Denver, she studied ballet and worked as a teen fashion model. The shy teen was persuaded to enter a local beauty contest and won, receiving two round-trip train tickets to Hollywood, California. Two days before returning to Denver, Bates met Cecil Coan, a United Artists publicist, whom she would later marry. In September 1944, 19-year-old Bates signed a contract with Universal Pictures after Cecil Coan introduced her to producer Walter Wanger. Soon after, she was cast as one of the "Seven Salome Girls" in the 1945 drama, Salome Where She Danced starring Yvonne De Carlo. Around this time, she fell in love with Coan, who was married with two sons and two daughters. In March 1945, Coan divorced his wife Helen Coan and secretly married Bates, on March 25, 1945, in Chihuahua, Mexico. Bates spent the next few years as a stock actress, landing bit parts in movies and doing cheesecake layouts for magazines such as Yank, the Army Weekly and Life. One of those photo sessions caught the eye of executives at Warner Bros., which signed her in 1947. Warner Bros. highlighted her "girl-next-door" image and her acting career took off. She appeared with some of the biggest stars of the day, including Bette Davis in June Bride and Danny Kaye in The Inspector General. In late 1949, Bates auditioned for the small role of Phoebe in Fox's upcoming All About Eve. In competition for the part were Zsa Zsa Gabor and others, but Bates impressed the producers and was given the part. She made a short but important appearance as the devious schemer, Phoebe, at the end of the film. Bates's image is enshrined in the film's last scene, posing in front of a three-way mirror, while holding the award won by her idol Eve Harrington, played by Anne Baxter. After her appearance in All About Eve, Bates co-starred in Cheaper by the Dozen, and its sequel Belles on Their Toes, with Jeanne Crain and Myrna Loy. In 1951, she landed a role opposite MacDonald Carey and Claudette Colbert in the comedy Let's Make It Legal. Fox refused to lend out Bates for the role of the suicidal ballerina saved by Charlie Chaplin's aging vaudevillian in Limelight (1952). She co-starred with Donna Reed as the love interests of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the 1953 hit comedy The Caddy. In January 1967, Bates's husband died of cancer. Devastated by his death, Bates grew more depressed, and she again became suicidal. Later that year, she returned to Denver and fell out of public view. For a time, Bates worked as a secretary, dental assistant, and hospital aide. In December 1968, she married for the second time, to a childhood friend, sportscaster William Reed. Despite her new marriage and location, Bates remained increasingly despondent and depressed. On March 18, 1969, just months after her marriage to Reed, Barbara Bates died from suicide in her mother's garage by carbon monoxide poisoning. She was 43 years old. She is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Jefferson County, Colorado.
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Biography from TMDB.
- August 6, 1925
- March 18, 1969 (aged 43)
- Denver, Colorado, USA
- Actor
- 19 on MovieCove · 34 credits in all
What are Barbara Bates' films like?
Across their 13 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 2 · Wry 0 · Earnest 10
Light 7 · Serious 3 · Dark 3
Grounded 5 · Stylized 6 · Heightened 2
Gentle 4 · Charged 7 · Intense 2
Steady 9 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 0
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 5 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 6
Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 9 · Relentless 0
Casual 10 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 9 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 1
Resolved 12 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1
Roles they play
- Heraldas Barbara Denham in Let's Make It Legal (1951)
Moods and endings
- Happy6
- Bittersweet6
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Barbara Bates' films?
As of October 24, 2026, 8 of their 19 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (6).
- IndieFlix, show their 2 titles on IndieFlix
- Best Westerns Ever, show their title on Best Westerns Ever
- BroadwayHD, show their title on BroadwayHD
- Cohen Media Channel, show their title on Cohen Media Channel
- Great American Pure Flix, show their title on Great American Pure Flix
- ScreenPix, show their title on ScreenPix
- Shout! TV, show their title on Shout! TV
Subscription and free streaming for Barbara Bates' titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
34 credits, 19 with a MovieCove page.
Becoming Marilyn (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
The Saint (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1962)
Apache Territory(1958)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all films
Town on Trial (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1957)
Triple Deception(1956)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films
The Millionaire (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1955)
Studio 57 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1954)
It's a Great Life (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1954)
Rhapsody(1954)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
The Caddy(1953)
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films
All Ashore (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1953)
The Outcasts of Poker Flat (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1952)
Belles on Their Toes(1952)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
Let's Make It Legal(1951)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1951)
All About Eve(1950)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
Cheaper by the Dozen(1950)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Quicksand(1950)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
The Inspector General(1949)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
The House Across the Street (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1949)
One Last Fling (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1949)
Adventures of Don Juan(1948)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
June Bride(1948)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
Johnny Belinda(1948)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Romance on the High Seas(1948)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
April Showers (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1948)
Always Together (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1947)
The Fabulous Joe(1947)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
A Scandal in Paris(1946)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
Night in Paradise (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1946)
Strange Holiday (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1945)
Lady on a Train(1945)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
Salome, Where She Danced(1945)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films
Career shape
Star power in the 93rd percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 34 titles from 1945 to 2022.
Film career
Top draw in 1 MovieCove title.
- 1945Screen debut· Lady on a Train
- 1950Career best· All About Eve
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30; the columns are the share of top-billed roles in each era, 5-year spans from the year on the label, merged until each holds at least 5 roles.
How do Barbara Bates' films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 66th percentile, the median of all 19; across their 13 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 60th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up7
- 50th to 74th7
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
None of their 19 titles divides audiences: 12 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved2
- Crowd Pleaser12
- Broadly Agreed3
- Mixed2
Reviewers score the acting 70/100 in their films, across 13 reviewed titles; fans 77, detractors 43. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Barbara Bates work with?
People who share at least 2 of Barbara Bates' MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Cyril J. Mockridge shares the most, 3.
Writers
- Ernestine Gilbreth CareyShared titles: Belles on Their Toes (1952), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)See all 2 shared titles with Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
- Frank B. Gilbreth Jr.Shared titles: Belles on Their Toes (1952), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)See all 2 shared titles with Frank B. Gilbreth Jr.
- Ben HechtShared titles: The Secret of Convict Lake (1951), The Inspector General (1949)See all 2 shared titles with Ben Hecht
Actors
- Jeanne CrainShared titles: Belles on Their Toes (1952), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)See all 2 shared titles with Jeanne Crain
- Myrna LoyShared titles: Belles on Their Toes (1952), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)See all 2 shared titles with Myrna Loy
- Marilyn MonroeShared titles: Let's Make It Legal (1951), All About Eve (1950)See all 2 shared titles with Marilyn Monroe
- Zachary ScottShared titles: Let's Make It Legal (1951), The Secret of Convict Lake (1951)See all 2 shared titles with Zachary Scott
Composers and editors
- Cyril J. MockridgeShared titles: Belles on Their Toes (1952), Let's Make It Legal (1951), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)See all 3 shared titles with Cyril J. Mockridge
- Robert FritchShared titles: Belles on Their Toes (1952), Let's Make It Legal (1951)See all 2 shared titles with Robert Fritch
- Alfred NewmanShared titles: All About Eve (1950), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)See all 2 shared titles with Alfred Newman
Producers
- Darryl F. ZanuckShared titles: All About Eve (1950), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)See all 2 shared titles with Darryl F. Zanuck
