Jeannie Out of the Bottle - Barbara Eden [55]
But when it came to Gene Nelson, to whom Larry had taken an instant dislike when we shot the pilot, Larry hit out hard and often. And as much as I tried to avoid becoming involved in their clash, it was patently obvious that there was a lot of nastiness flying back and forth between the two of them during the early days of filming I Dream of Jeannie.
I was very secure in what I was doing in terms of my portrayal of Jeannie, and whenever a battle between Larry and Gene appeared to be on the horizon, I just hid away in my dressing room, as this was the only way I could survive the storms and conflicts that regularly raged on set. In fact, I retreated into my dressing room so often that many times I honestly didn’t know what was brewing on the set.
Pretty soon, though, I made the unpleasant discovery that I was no longer able to remain above the fray. Larry’s machinations created a situation that made it impossible for me to continue trying to rise above anything to do with I Dream of Jeannie.
After the first few episodes were aired on national TV, Larry demanded an audience with Sidney Sheldon, during which he complained, “Barbara is so little and so cute, and people keep coming up to me and asking how come I get so angry with this cute little thing. I look like I’m the bad guy, and I didn’t sign on for that!”
When you consider Larry’s iconic portrayal of J. R. Ewing, one of TV’s all-time most memorable villains, his objections to being portrayed as the bad guy in I Dream of Jeannie now seem rather laughable. At the time, however, the issue was very important to him. So Sidney Sheldon called me into his office.
“Barbara, I’ve decided to change Jeannie’s character a bit, and have her take charge more. I want you to be stronger,” he announced.
“Stronger?” I said.
“Be stronger, Barbara, be stronger,” Sidney replied.
Well, I’m an actress, and I believe I can play the strong woman (on- and offstage, as it happens) as well as any other actress in the business. No problem whatsoever. So, at Sidney’s behest, strong I became, and I made a concerted effort to make Jeannie far more acerbic and willful than in the pilot and the few other episodes already aired.
When my two “strong” I Dream of Jeannie episodes were tested in front of a focus group, to my amusement word quickly came back to the producers that not one member of the focus group liked the new, stronger Jeannie. As a result, Sidney threw up his hands and told me to go back to playing Jeannie the way I’d played her in the first place!
As for the two “strong” episodes we’d already made, because I was on maternity leave at the time, a much sweeter (in my opinion much too sweet) voice was dubbed over mine, and Jeannie was restored to her original persona.
Nonetheless, there were more clashes to come. Gene Nelson was a good friend of mine, and I liked and respected Larry as an actor, though his shifting moods and off-camera theatrics (arriving for work in a gorilla suit, for one) grew wearying. But it was clear that a showdown between Gene and Larry was imminent.
Unbeknownst to me, Larry decided to precipitate that showdown by issuing an ultimatum to Sidney: “Either Gene goes or I do.”
Sidney, an intensely clever man, prevaricated. Then, without putting it in so many words, he threw down the gauntlet at my feet.
He invited me into his office and, after telling me that Jorja (his wife) sent her best and asking after my family, he got to the point. “Barbara, how would you feel if we replaced Larry?”
Now, I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes, but I did know one thing: no matter how anarchic Larry might be or how much the crew might detest him, when that camera rolled, he was there. He didn’t have to be my best pal, just a good actor. And he definitely was that.
So I answered Sidney’s question the only way I could. “Sidney, I feel it would be a big mistake to replace Larry. He really does his job, once the camera is rolling.”
Before I knew it, Gene Nelson was