At 91, Barbara Eden continues to thrive more than 50 years after starring in “I Dream of Jeannie.”

At 91, Barbara Eden continues her remarkable seven-decade career and remains active.

The actress, singer, and producer is best known for her role in “I Dream of Jeannie,” which premiered in 1965, though she had been appearing on screen for ten years by then.

Generations of viewers have delighted in I Dream of Jeannie, the iconic 1960s sitcom about an astronaut who discovers a 2,000-year-old genie. Despite the whimsical premise, Barbara Eden’s charm and talent as Jeannie kept audiences entertained. It’s hard to believe, but Barbara is now 91! While she hasn’t been seen in her classic harem attire for some time, she is still very much alive and well.

Barbara’s journey hasn’t always been smooth. Born in Tucson, Arizona in 1931, she moved to San Francisco after her parents divorced and began studying singing at the Conservatory of Music. As a young girl in San Francisco, she performed with small bands at local nightclubs, eventually deciding to pursue acting.

“Barbara, you don’t sound like you mean a word you’re singing,” her mother remarked once. “I think you should also study acting,” Eden recalled. Realizing acting was the right path, she moved to Los Angeles and began appearing in some of the top shows of the 1950s.

She first appeared on screen in 1955 as a semi-regular guest on The Johnny Carson Show, but it was her role in the legendary sitcom I Dream of Jeannie that catapulted her to fame.

The Arizona native portrayed Jeannie, a playful genie freed from her bottle by astronaut and Air Force Captain Anthony “Tony” Nelson, played by Larry Hagman.

“We just clicked. We shared the same rhythm. Whatever we were doing brought out the same truth,” Eden explained.

“I liked him. Some actors take effort to like… and you file it away in your mind. But with Larry, I never had to do that. He was always present.”

She played Jeannie for five years, also portraying Jeannie’s mother and mischievous sister. Her harem outfit, considered risqué for television at the time, contributed to the show’s popularity.

“NBC executives were very nervous,” she told Today in 2015, near the show’s 50th anniversary. “They became quite strict about the navel.”

Eden recalled how her friend, columnist Mike Connolly, teasing her about the matter, helped fuel the legend, following an early interview with the Hollywood Reporter.

“When Mike came in and started joking about my belly button, the story spread like wildfire. We had fun with it, and I teased him back, but I had no idea it would become such a big thing.”

That classic costume also solidified Eden as a television sex symbol for many, including famous admirers like John F. Kennedy, who once passed her his phone number, and Elvis Presley.

“I threw away the paper, but I wish I’d kept it,” she wrote in her 2011 memoir, Jeannie Out of the Bottle.

Throughout her career, Eden has appeared in over 50 films, and at 91, she is still active.

She played Mrs. Claus in her most recent movie, My Adventures with Santa, released in 2019. That same year, she also made her stage debut as Melissa Gardner in the play Love Letters.

“I feel young!” Barbara says, adding that she’s grateful to be doing the work she loves. “I feel for people like my father who had to work every day at a job they didn’t like. I enjoy what I do. I still work.”

Until recently, Eden kept up with her gym routine, spin classes, and weight training. Nowadays, a trainer helps her with resistance training, and they go for walks together.

“I have a lot of friends,” she said. “I’m still pretty active socially.”

She even has an appearance scheduled for March 2022.

“If I’m still around, I’ll be there,” she joked.

Apart from acting, Barbara enjoys writing children’s books. She co-wrote Barbara and the Djinn, a story about a young girl who meets a “charming and magical genie,” taking her on adventures reminiscent of Eden’s famous role.

Barbara hopes her books will inspire children to appreciate reading. “Now all they do is stare at phones!” she remarked.

She dismisses the idea that I Dream of Jeannie might seem dated to modern viewers.

“This is a timeless theme,” she explained. “Think of ‘One Thousand and One Nights.’ It’s a beautiful fantasy.”

“And to be clear, Jeannie was in control. She wasn’t subservient at all.”

Barbara Eden’s incredible life, driven by her inspiring energy and outlook, shows that age is just a number.

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