The world of cinema mourns the loss of Barbara Rush, celebrated for her leading role in the iconic Fifties sci-fi horror film, “It Came from Outer Space.”
At the remarkable age of 97, Rush leaves behind a legacy of unforgettable performances and timeless charm. Join us as we pay tribute to this legendary actor, exploring her illustrious career and the indelible mark she left on the silver screen.
Barbara Rush’s Death
Actress Barbara Rush, who gained popularity for her lead in the iconic sci-fi horror film It Came from Outer Space in the 1950s, passed away. She was ninety-seven.
Her daughter Claudia Cowan said, “My wonderful mother passed away peacefully at 5:28 this evening,” in a statement to news outlets on Sunday, March 31. “I was with her this morning and know she was waiting for me to return home safely to transition.”
50's film actress Barbara Rush has died at age 97. https://t.co/bRv8m0yPKu
— News 4 Buffalo (@news4buffalo) April 1, 2024
Born in Denver in 1927, Rush spent her childhood in Santa Barbara, where she attended the University of California, Santa Barbara’s theater department.
She was cast in the 1950 sci-fi feature The Goldbergs and the 1951 Oscar-winning picture When Worlds Collide after signing with Paramount Pictures after graduating from college.
Rush landed a major part in the science fiction classic It Came from Outer Space in 1953. Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451, had written the initial script for the film.
Rush once said to an interviewer, “Ray Bradbury was such a wonderful man. I remember I used to see him all the time riding his bicycle all over Beverly Hills, I just loved him so much. But the thing about this movie was that he was really the first one who talked about aliens as superior beings – not just monsters trying to kill us. His idea was that if they were intelligent enough to get here, it was probably safe to say that they were a little smarter than us.”
In the movie, Rush plays a schoolteacher who discovers an alien spacecraft after she and her boyfriend, Richard Carlson, see a falling meteor. The aliens are largely harmless even if they replicate the bodies of the local villagers. For her performance in the movie, Rush was awarded a Golden Globe for Most Promising Female Newcomer.
Over the following three decades, Rush maintained her position as a leading lady in theater, appearing as Dean Martin’s love interest in The Young Lions and as James Mason’s wife in Bigger Than Life. She also starred in the Rat Pack comedy Robin and the Seven Hoods with Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Bing Crosby as Marian.
Her most well-known television role was as the mother of a disobedient teenage girl whose marriage is failing in the soap opera Peyton Place. She has appeared as a guest star on television programs such as Murder, She Wrote, Magnum PI, and The Love Boat.
Rush had three marriages during her lifetime. Between 1950 and 1955, she was married to actor Jeffrey Hunter. From 1959 to 1969, she was married to publicist Warren Cowan. Her last union was with sculptor Jim Gruzalski, which lasted from 1970 to 1973. Their friendship started when they went to an Engelbert Humperdink performance.
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