Barbara Ann (Loden) Kazan (1932 - 1980)

Born 8 Jul 1932 in Marion, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Laurence Lee Joachim — married 1954 (to before 1967) in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

Died 5 Sep 1980 at age 48 in New York City, New York, United States

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Biography

Barbara (Loden) Kazan is Notable.

Barbara Ann Loden was an American actress and director of film and theater.

Barbara was born on 8 Jul 1932 in North Carolina. She was the daughter of George Loden and Ruth Nanney. Her father was a barber, and she described herself as a "hill-billy's daughter." Upon her parents' divorce in her early childhood, Loden was raised by her religious maternal grandparents in the Appalachian Mountains in rural Marion, North Carolina. She described her childhood as emotionally impoverished. Loden was described as a shy, humble, statuesque and soft-spoken loner.

At age 16, she moved to New York City, where she began working as a model for detective and romance magazines. Loden found minor success as a pin-up girl, model, and dancer at the Copacabana nightclub before studying at the Actors Studio, intending to become an actress.

Loden made her New York theater debut in 1957 in Compulsion and also appeared on stage in The Highest Tree with Robert Redford as well as Night Circus with Ben Gazzara.

She joined the cast of The Ernie Kovacs Show in the mid-1950s, as a "scantily clad" sidekick to Kovacs, a job that her first husband, television producer and film distributor Larry Joachim, helped her obtain. She said she owed a lot to Kovacs, as another producer on the show had initially vetoed Kovacs's decision to hire her. In interviews, Loden said, "Ernie felt sorry for me" and gave her another job as a stunt sidekick, rolling around in a rug or getting hit in the face with a pie.

She appeared in several projects directed by her second husband, Elia Kazan, including Splendor in the Grass (1961). Her subsequent performance in a 1964 Broadway production of After the Fall earned her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress.

In 1970, Loden wrote, directed, and starred in Wanda, a groundbreaking independent film that won the International Critics Award at the 1970 Venice Film Festival. Throughout the 1970s, she continued to work directing Off-Broadway and regional theater productions, as well as direct two short films.

In 1978, Loden was diagnosed with breast cancer, of which she died two years later, in 1980, aged 48.

Sources

• North Carolina Birth Index, 1800-2000

• "North Carolina, Department of Archives and History, Index to Vital Records, 1800-2000," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7HFJ-8GZM : 3 December 2021), Barbara Ann Loden, 8 Jul 1932; citing Birth, North Carolina, United States, North Carolina State Archives, Division of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 102380334.

• Census 1940 Marion Township, McDowell, North Carolina

• "New York, New York City Marriage Licenses Index, 1950-1995," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLS5-4V8P : 19 June 2017), Laurence Joachim and Barbara Loden, 1954, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States; Marriage, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States, from Reclaim the Records, The NYC Marriage Index (http://www.nycmarriageindex.com : 2016); citing New York City Clerk's Office.

• "Brasil, Cartões de Imigração, 1900-1965," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27FD-9K2 : 4 March 2021), Barbara Ann Loden, Immigration; citing 1954, Arquivo Nacional, Rio de Janeiro (National Archives, Rio de Janeiro).

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/108105477/barbara-loden: accessed 10 January 2023), memorial page for Barbara Loden (8 Jul 1932–5 Sep 1980), Find a Grave Memorial ID 108105477; Burial Details Unknown; Maintained by Kris 'Peterborough K' Peterson (contributor 46537737).

See also:

• Wikipedia : Barbara Loden

• Wikidata: Item Q442111, en:Wikipedia