{{Short description|American actress (born 1947)}} {{Infobox person | name = Barbara Rhoades | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|3|23}} | birth_place = Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = Barbara Rhodes<br>Barbara Orenstein | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1967–2011 | spouse = Bernie Orenstein | children = 1 }}
'''Barbara Rhoades''' (born March 23, 1947) is an American actress, known primarily for her comedy and mystery roles, especially as lady bandit Penelope ("Bad Penny") Cushings in ''The Shakiest Gun in the West'' (1968) with Don Knotts.
She had a recurring role on ''Soap'' as Maggie Chandler, Jodie Dallas's future wife.
== Early years == Born March 23, 1947, in Poughkeepsie, New York,<ref>Leszczak, Bob (2014). ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odd_Couple_on_Stage_and_Screen/TPdWBAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Barbara+Rhoades%22+Poughkeepsie&pg=PA104&printsec=frontcover The Odd Couple on Stage and Screen: A History with Cast and]''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 104. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-7790-6}}. ""</ref> Rhoades attended Our Lady of Lourdes High School.<ref>{{cite news| title=Barbara Rhoades Lands Bumper Morgan| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18927544/barbara_rhoades/| newspaper=Poughkeepsie Journal| date=September 16, 1976| page=19| via=Newspapers.com| accessdate=April 4, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>
She began taking dancing lessons when she was 7 years old.<ref name="tt">{{cite news| last1=Pack| first1=Harvey| title=A Long, Tall, Cool One| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18928759/barbara_rhoades/| newspaper=The Tampa Tribune:TV Week| agency=King Features Syndicate, Inc.| page=16| via=Newspapers.com| accessdate=April 4, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>
==Career== Rhoades began acting in the late 1960s, appearing in guest roles on several television series, including ''It Takes a Thief'', ''Ironside'', ''Mannix'', ''McMillan & Wife'', ''Columbo'', ''Kojak'', ''Starsky & Hutch'', ''Alias Smith and Jones'', ''Love, American Style'', ''The Odd Couple'', ''The Six Million Dollar Man'', ''Sanford and Son'', ''Bewitched'', ''Maude'', ''Trapper John, M.D.'',''The Partridge Family'', ''Murder, She Wrote'', ''Cagney & Lacey,'' and ''Law & Order''. She was a regular cast member of the 1977 situation comedy ''Busting Loose'', portraying Melody Feebeck, and in 1989, as Jessica Gardner on ''Generations''<ref name="filmref">{{cite web| url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/32/Barbara-Rhoades.html| title=Barbara Rhoades Biography (1947-)| website=FilmReference.com| accessdate=2009-02-21| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308004250/http://www.filmreference.com/film/32/Barbara-Rhoades.html| archivedate=March 8, 2009| url-status=live}}</ref>
In 1967, Rhoades signed a long-term exclusive contract with Universal Pictures.<ref name="pj">{{cite news| title=County Girl Starring In Universal Pictures| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18927771/barbara_rhoades/| newspaper=Poughkeepsie Journal| date=May 13, 1967| page=8| via=Newspapers.com| accessdate=April 4, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>
Rhoades appeared in a number of films during the 1970s, including ''There Was a Crooked Man...'' (1970), opposite Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda, and ''Up the Sandbox'' (1972) starring Barbra Streisand. She played a police officer, "No Balls" Hadley, in 1977's ''The Choirboys'' and a Las Vegas hooker who picks up Art Carney along the road during his Oscar-winning performance in ''Harry and Tonto'' (1974). She also had roles in ''Scream Blacula Scream'' (1973) and ''The Goodbye Girl'' (1977) and was a frequent panelist on the popular 1970s game show ''Match Game'', hosted by Gene Rayburn. In 2007, she appeared in ''First Born'' with Elisabeth Shue.{{Citation needed |date=July 2020}}
In 2011, she had a recurring role on the American soap opera ''One Life to Live'' as Irene Manning, childhood best friend of Victoria Lord (Erika Slezak).
For 18 months<ref name=pj/> on Broadway, Rhoades had the role of a showgirl in the musical ''Funny Girl'' (1964).<ref>{{cite web| title=Barbara Rhoades|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/barbara-rhoades-96043| website=Internet Broadway Database| accessdate=4 April 2018| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404175642/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/barbara-rhoades-96043| archivedate=4 April 2018}}</ref> She gained other stage experience in summer stock productions at the Cecilwood Theater in Fishkill, New York.<ref name=pj/>
==Personal life== On Sunday, February 18, 1979, in a ceremony conducted at L'Orangerie (a then fashionable French restaurant located in West Hollywood<ref>Britton, Charles (September 5, 1986). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-pilot/191081388/ "restaurants / night life: L'Orangerie – It's the home of elegant meals]. p. E27. Retrieved February 11, 2026.</ref>), Rhoades was married to television producer Bernie Orenstein.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Rambling Reporter|author=Grant, Hank|date=February 2, 1979|work=The Hollywood Reporter|page=45|quote=TOY Prods. honcho Bernie Orenstein ties the knot Feb. 18 with actress Barbara Rhoades.|id={{ProQuest|2598209635}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Who's Doing What: Marriages|author=|date=March 1979|work=WGAw News|page=25|quote=John Carpenter to Adrienne Barbeau, Jan. 1, Bowling Green, KY. Neil Israel to Lori Lieberman, Jan. 9, Temple Sinai. Bernard Orenstein to Barbara Rhoades, Feb. 18, L'Orangerie.|id={{ProQuest|2293616488}}}}</ref><ref name="os">{{cite news| last1=Lardine| first1=Bob| title=Like Redford, Barbara Rhoades works only when she wants to| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18928447/barbara_rhoades/| work=Orlando Sentinel| agency=New York Daily News| date=October 14, 1979| page=2-F| via=Newspapers.com| accessdate=April 4, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> In 1995, they and their son Alec moved to Weston, Connecticut, where, as of at least 2011, they continued to reside,<ref>Meyers, Joe (February 20, 2011). "Stage Buzz: 'Sesame Street' star set for Long Wharf production; [https://www.newspapers.com/article/stamford-advocate/191080410/ RHODES & EPHRON"]. ''The Stamford Advocate Pulse''. p. 2. Retrieved February 11, 2026. "The Weston actress Barbara Rhoades has just joined the cast of the long running off Broadway hit, 'Love, Loss and What I Wore' at Manhattan's Westside Theatre. [...] The actress moved to Weston in 1995 with her husband, television writer, producer Bernie Orenstein, and their son. Alec."</ref> and where, on occasion, Rhoades continued to perform.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/connecticut-post/191088509/ "'Seascape': Veteran actress Rhoades doing Newtown staged reading"]. ''Connecticut Post Go''. February 23, 2012. p. 23. Retrieved February 11, 2026.</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" ! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Film |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | rowspan=2|1968 | ''The Shakiest Gun in the West'' | Penelope 'Bad Penny' Cushings | |- | ''Don't Just Stand There!'' | Kendall Flanagan | |- | 1970 | ''There Was a Crooked Man...'' | Miss Jessie Brundidge | |- | 1972 | ''Up the Sandbox'' | Dr. Bolden | |- | rowspan=2|1973 | ''Scream Blacula Scream'' | Elaine | |- | ''Little Cigars'' | Helen | Credited as Barbara Rhodes<br>Alternative title: ''The Little Cigars Mob'' |- | 1974 | ''Harry and Tonto'' | Stephanie | |- | 1976 | ''The Great Houdini'' | Margery Crandon | |- | 1977 | ''The Choirboys'' | No Balls Hadley | |- |1977 | ''The Goodbye Girl'' | Donna | |- | 1980 | ''Serial'' | Vivian | |- | 2007 | ''First Born'' | Nancy | |- ! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Television |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 1968 | ''The Virginian'' | Josie | Episode: "With Help from Ulysses" |- | 1968 | ''It Takes a Thief'' | Hilda | Episode: "A Spot of Trouble" |- | 1968 | ''Mannix'' | Billie | Season 2 episode 02 "Comes Up rose" |- | 1969 | ''Love, American Style'' | Bunny | Season 1, Episode 2, Vignette: "Love and the Unlikely Couple"<br>Credited as Barbara Rhodes |- | 1970 | ''The Partridge Family'' | La Von | Episode: "Danny and the Mob" |- |1970 |''Mannix'' |Donna |Episode: "Once upon a Saturday" |- | 1971 | ''Bewitched'' | Aretha | Episode: "The House That Uncle Arthur Built " |- | 1971 | ''Columbo'' | Hostess | Episode: "Lady in Waiting" |- | 1972 | ''McCloud'' | Susan | Episode: "Give My Regrets to Broadway" |- | 1972 | ''Mission: Impossible'' | Vicki Wells | 1 episode |- | 1972 | ''The Paul Lynde Show'' | Eve Loring | Episode 10: "Whose Lib?" |- | 1972–1973 | ''McMillan & Wife'' | | 4 episodes |- | 1973 | ''Kojak'' | Joanna Ferro | Episode: "Web of Death" |- | 1973 | ''Night Gallery'' | Julie | Episode: "Something in the Woodwork" |- | 1973 | ''Police Story'' | Marnie | Episode: "Slow Boy" |- | 1974 | ''Happy Days'' | Bubbles McCall | Episode: "The Skin Game" |- | 1974 | ''The Odd Couple'' | Lucy | Episode: "Our Fathers" |- | 1974 | ''Nakia'' | Jackie Thayer | Episode: "Roots of Anger" |- | 1975 | ''Kolchak: The Night Stalker'' | Unnamed secretary | Episode: "Primal Scream" |- | 1975 | ''Petrocelli'' | Virginia Halima | 1 episode |- | 1975 | ''Ellery Queen'' | Veronica Vale | 1 episode |- | 1975 | ''Columbo'' | Joyce | Episode: "Identity Crisis" |- | 1975 | ''Starsky & Hutch'' | Robin Morton | Episode: "Shootout" |- | 1975 | ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' | Kelly Wixted | Episode: "Target in the Sky" |- | 1976 | ''The Blue Knight'' | Carrie | 4 episodes |- | 1976 | ''Sanford and Son'' | Gladys | 3 episodes |- | 1977 | ''Busting Loose'' | Melody Feebeck | Regular (21 episodes) |- |1977 | ''Match Game'' | Herself ('77-'82) | |- |1978 | ''Quark'' | Princess Carna | Episode: "The Old and the Beautiful" |- | 1978 | ''The Love Boat'' | Di Di Donnelly | 1 episode |- | 1978 | ''Maude'' | Maggie Gallagher | Episode: "Maude's Big Move: Part 3" |- | 1978 | ''The Eddie Capra Mysteries'' | Alicia | Episode: "Murder! Murder!" |- | 1979 | ''Hanging In'' | Maggie Gallagher | 4 episodes |- | 1979 | ''Super Train'' | | 1 episode (February 1979 episode 2) |- | 1979–1981 | ''Password Plus'' | Herself | 15 episodes |- | 1980–1981 | ''Soap'' | Maggie Chandler | 10 episodes |- | 1982 | ''Magnum, P.I.'' | Marcella Ziller | 1 episode |- | 1984 | ''Murder, She Wrote'' | Barbara Stevenson | Episode: "Birds of a Feather" |- | 1985 | ''Cagney & Lacey'' | Cece Wentworth | Episode: "Happily Ever After" |- | 1986 | ''You Again?'' | Maggie Davis | 4 episodes |- | 1988 | ''Charles in Charge'' | Pat Walker | 1 episode |- | 1988 | ''Murder, She Wrote'' | Flo Oakes | 1 episode |- | 1989 | ''Generations'' | Jessica Gardner | series regular |- | 1990 | ''Father Dowling Mysteries'' | Daphne Dumont | 1 episode |- | 1991 | ''Over My Dead Body'' | Det. Loraine McBride | 1 episode |- | 1993 | ''Diagnosis: Murder'' | Marcy Blake | 1 episode |- | 1995 | ''Marker'' | Woman | 1 episode |- | 2003 | ''Law & Order'' | Kathy McGarity | 1 episode |- | 2011 | ''One Life to Live'' | Irene Manning | |- |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0722315|name=Barbara Rhoades}} * {{tcmdb name|id=160767|name=Barbara Rhoades}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoades, Barbara}} Category:Living people Category:American film actresses Category:American soap opera actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Actresses from Poughkeepsie, New York Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American actresses Category:1947 births