Barbara Rush, the Golden Globe-winning actress known for roles in It Came from Outer Space and 7th Heaven, has died. Rush’s daughter, Claudia Cowan, confirmed her mother passed away at a senior care center in Westlake Village, California, on Sunday, March 31. She was 97.
“My wonderful mother passed away peacefully at 5:28 this evening. I was with her this morning and know she was waiting for me to return home safely to transition. It’s fitting she chose to leave on Easter as it was one of her favorite holidays and now, of course, Easter will have a deeper significance for me and my family,” Cowan shared in a statement to Fox News Digital. In a statement to USA Today, she added, “she’s battled dementia for a long time and I know she’s at peace in a better place. She was … among the last of Old Hollywood royalty. Luckily we have our memories and of course her movies to keep her alive in our hearts.”
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Born in Denver in 1927 and growing up in Santa Barbara, Rush began her career on the stage, performing at the Pasadena Playhouse. After being discovered by a talent scout, she signed to Paramount Pictures in 1950, going on to make her big-screen debut in the film The Goldbergs later that year. Her big break came just two years later when she starred in 1953’s It Came From Outer Space opposite Richard Carlson. She received a Golden Globe for the film the following year for Most Promising Newcomer (Actress).
Over the next three decades, Rush continued to star in major productions, including roles as James Mason’s wife in Bigger Than Life and Dean Martin’s love interest in The Young Lions, as well as roles in Magnificent Obsession (1954), The Young Philadelphians (1959), and Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964). Throughout her career, she shared the screen with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Paul Newman, Rock Hudson, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Richard Burton.
The actress also enjoyed a bustling career on the small screen, and is well-known for her role as Marsha Russell on the 1960s soap opera Peyton Place.She also starred as Grandma Ruth Camden on 7th Heaven and appeared in every episode of NBC’s nighttime sudser Flamingo Road from 1980 through 1982. Her other TV credits include Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, The Fugitive, Marcus Welby, M.D., McCloud, Maude, Ironside, Mannix, The Love Boat, Knight Rider, Matt Houston, Fantasy Island, Magnum P.I., and Murder, She Wrote.
Rush’s final acting credit was in the 2017 comedy short Bleeding Hearts. She is survived by her daughter, whom she shared with her second husband, publicist Warren Cowan, and her son Christopher Hunter, from her first marriage to Jeffrey Hunter.
