Joanna Barnes

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Joanna Barnes (b. November 15, 1934, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American actress and writer.

Barnes moved to Los Angeles, California soon after finishing her education, and took up a contract with Columbia Pictures. She has since had rôles in more than twenty films, and made guest appearances on many television shows, including 77 Sunset Strip, Maverick, and Have Gun - Will Travel. Her performance in the 1958 film Auntie Mame as the snooty 'Gloria Upson' earned her a Golden Globe nomination for "New Star of the Year".

Barnes became the thirteenth actress to play Jane when she appeared in Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959), opposite Denny Miller as Tarzan.

Barnes worked for producer Martin Ransohoff in the 1960s, appearing in episodes of his The Beverly Hillbillies (Elly Goes to School and The Clampett Look) and was billed as special guest-star. In 1967, she appeared in Ransohoff's comedy Don't Make Waves, starring Tony Curtis and the ill-fated Sharon Tate.

Barnes played Peter Falk's ex-wife on the 1965-66 CBS series The Trials of O'Brien and was host of the ABC daytime talk show Dateline: Hollywood in 1967. During this period she appeared in The War Wagon, a lavish western movie starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, which she touted tirelessly on her show.

She is also a distinguished writer and columnist. Her column, Touching Home, was carried by The Chicago Tribune and the New York News Syndicate. She has also published several novels, including The Deceivers (1970), Pastora (1980), and Silverwood (1985).

On June 24, 1962, she married actor Lawrence Dobkin; they had no children, but she inherited four (4) stepchildren from Dobkin's first marriage.

In the original Parent Trap (1961), she played the gold-digger, Vicki Robinson, who temporarily comes between Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith. In the latest remake (The Parent Trap (1998 film)) Barnes played Vicky Blake, the mother of the gold-digging girlfriend character.