Barbara Luna

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BarBara Luna (b. March 2, 1939) is an American actress with an extensive list of roles in film, television, and shows. Notable roles included Five Weeks in a Balloon and Lt. Marlena Moreau in the classic Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror". She has also appeared during 2004 in the first episode of Star Trek: New Voyages, a fan-created show distributed over the Internet.

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[edit] Biography

Born in Manhattan of Italian, Hungarian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Filipino descent, BarBara Luna (as spelled on her official site), was introduced to Broadway shows early in life. While still in high school, she was tapped by Rodgers and Hammerstein to play the daughter of Ezio Pinza in South Pacific. She next appeared in The King and I as one of the Siamese children, advancing to the more important role of "swing girl" by the time the show closed on Broadway. Not wishing to drop out of school to go on the road, she auditioned for and won the understudy role of Lotus Blossom in Teahouse of the August Moon. A few months later, after graduating from high school, she was given the starring role of Lotus Blossom in Teahouse and toured with the show's company for three years.

Director Mervyn LeRoy saw her performance as Lotus Blossom in Los Angeles and cast her to play Camille, the blind girl who was Frank Sinatra's love interest in The Devil at 4 O'Clock.[1] This led to roles in other films including Firecreek, Ship of Fools, The Concrete Jungle, and Five Weeks in a Balloon.

Opportunities in television came as well. Luna has appeared in some 500 television shows, including Walt Disney's Zorro, The Wild, Wild West, The Big Valley, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Outer Limits, Hawaii Five-O, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Dallas, and Mission: Impossible. One of her better-known roles was Lt. Marlena Moreau in the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of Star Trek: The Original Series (1967) — a role she still commemorates as a guest of Star Trek conventions worldwide. She has also had roles in the television soap operas Search for Tomorrow and One Life to Live.

Between film commitments, Luna remained active in musicals. She appeared as Anita in five companies of West Side Story, including a revival at Lincoln Center in New York City. Her last Broadway show was A Chorus Line in the role of Diana Morales. This performance led to the preparation of a cabaret act for her. Its opening night, at Freddie's in New York City, drew rave reviews[2] and led to engagements at the Concord Hotel in the Catskills and at clubs in Atlantic City and Los Angeles.

Within the past few years, Luna has hosted the Ms. Roanoke Beauty Pageant, entertained at Arci's Supper Club on Park Avenue in New York City, and performed for the Richard Rodgers 100th Anniversary celebration at Town Hall in New York City. Currently Luna is a member of The Thalians, a charity foundation at Cedars Sinai Hospital, and she supports other charitable causes. She is an avid sports fan; she roller-skates and plays golf and tennis.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Television Work

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961)
  2. ^ http://www.barbaraluna.com/Bio/

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Filmography pages at IMDB

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