Jeannie Out of the Bottle - Barbara Eden [37]
Even after we’d been married for over seven years, I still hated being parted from Michael when he went away on location. So whenever I had a break from filming whatever movie I was working on, I would jump on the next plane and join him wherever he was. Once I traveled to see him on location where he was taking part in a rodeo. Michael was a brilliant rider and gave the impression that he was at one with the horse. At this particular rodeo, like at all the others, he rode bareback, marvelously. Afterward, I had to leave, and I remember standing by the fence crying, I was so sad to be parted from him.
While we were apart, I often had to work with extremely attractive men, but Michael was never jealous, even though some of them flirted shamelessly with me. My experience with Harry Belafonte was typical.
We met during the seventies, when I was rehearsing for an NBC special and he was working on an adjacent set. He would spend hours watching me onstage, and when I came off, he flirted with me in the most enchanting way. But, handsome and charming as he was, I was never tempted by him. I was too in love with Michael. Moreover, I was never flattered when a man flirted with me, and still am not, because I don’t see it as a compliment, or even take it personally; it is just the nature of men to flirt.
My first major separation from Michael occurred because he had to go to New York to do a play and I couldn’t go with him because I had just started making Five Weeks in a Balloon, with Red Buttons.
During the shoot, Red developed a little bit of a crush on me. He must have been in his forties, but he still looked like a kid, and I think he felt like one as well. When it came to me, he certainly behaved like a kid, but I made it clear that I was married and intended to stay that way.
Later on, after I’d convinced Red that romance between us was completely out of the question, he invited me to go to the premiere of Hatari with him. I missed Michael, and I felt that my relationship with Red was on an even enough keel for me to accept an invitation from him without worrying about any consequences.
Stupidly, I’d forgotten that Red had just filed for divorce, and that the press would have a field day if we were at the premiere together, which they did.
When Michael saw the pictures of me with Red in the newspapers, he acted as if he could hardly believe his eyes. There was nothing for him to be upset about, so I told him that of course I had been to the premiere with Red, but if I had planned to step out on him, I certainly wouldn’t have done so in front of a barrage of press photographers. Michael laughed and said that he knew I wouldn’t.
Five years into our marriage, we bought a large four-bedroom house in the San Fernando Valley, complete with a play area and a swimming pool with a fence around it. The fence was there for one reason and one reason only: so that our future child could play safely in the yard without fear of him falling into the pool and drowning.
That yet-to-be-born child was constantly at the forefront of our minds, yet all our friends felt that we were crazy to buy such a big house just for the two of us, simply because we were dreaming of a family we might never have. For although we had been married for so long, it seemed that our chances of ever conceiving a child together were getting slimmer than ever.
Five Weeks in a Balloon marked the first time I worked with a lion (an experience I would reprise with Larry on I Dream of Jeannie). For some strange reason, this particular lion was permitted to roam free around the set, with his trainer standing by. Red and I were startled, but the trainer explained, “If you see him near you when he’s out of the cage, don’t move, don’t run. He just wants to play with you, like a kitten plays with a ball of string, but no matter how playful he is, just remember that he is five hundred pounds of muscle and can really hurt you. And if he rolls over,