Barbara Hershey

Birth Date:

February 5, 1948

Birth Name:

Barbara Lynn Herzstein

Birth Place:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Nick Name:

Sarah Bernhardt

Film Debut:

With Six You Get Eggroll 1968

Breakthrough Film:

The Stunt Man 1980

Biography

Barbara Hershey is an American actress whose career has lasted more than five decades. She was born Barbara Lynn Herzstein on February 5, 1948, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. As a child, she was extremely shy, but she became interested in acting and performed in school productions. Her family reportedly nicknamed her “Sarah Bernhardt,” after the famous French actress. A drama teacher at Hollywood High School helped her find a talent agent, leading to her first professional television role on Gidget in 1965, when she was 17. She later appeared regularly in The Monroes and began building a career in television and film, quickly gaining experience. Her birth name was eventually replaced professionally by Barbara Hershey.

Hershey made her feature-film debut in 1968 with With Six You Get Eggroll, starring Doris Day. She followed it with Last Summer, Heaven with a Gun, and Boxcar Bertha. In the 1970s, she briefly adopted the name Barbara Seagull, inspired by an incident involving a seagull during Last Summer. She eventually returned to using Hershey professionally. Her career became more prominent in the late 1970s and early 1980s, particularly after her performance in The Stunt Man (1980), which renewed her profile. She subsequently appeared in The Entity, The Right Stuff, The Natural, and Hannah and Her Sisters, demonstrating her versatility and range.

Hershey earned recognition for performances in Shy People and A World Apart, for which she won Best Actress awards at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1990, she won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for A Killing in a Small Town. Her later films include The Portrait of a Lady, Lantana, Insidious, Black Swan, The Manor, and 9 Bullets throughout her career. Her key facts are: birth date February 5, 1948; birth name Barbara Lynn Herzstein; birthplace Hollywood, Los Angeles, California; nickname Sarah Bernhardt; film debut With Six You Get Eggroll (1968); and breakout film The Stunt Man (1980).

Movie Portfolio