A Birthday Tribute to Barbara Britton

Lovely actress Barbara Britton was born in Long Beach, California, on September 26, 1920.

Some sources state Britton was born in 1919, but the marker at her final resting place in New York gives the 1920 date.

I've always felt a particular affinity for Britton as we were born in the same city; indeed, three generations of my family have been born in Long Beach.

According to James Robert Parish's wonderful book HOLLYWOOD PLAYERS: THE FORTIES (1976) Britton attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School and Long Beach City College.

Representing Long Beach on a Rose Parade float led to a screen test with Paramount Pictures, and Britton made her film debut in the Hopalong Cassidy film SECRET OF THE WASTELANDS (1941).

Britton appeared in a number of good Westerns during her career, including THE VIRGINIAN (1946), seen here with Brian Donlevy and Joel McCrea:

GUNFIGHTERS (1947), a fine Randolph Scott Western in which Britton had a particularly good role as Dorothy Hart's lookalike sister, who's in love with a ranch foreman played by Bruce Cabot.

Another good Western was Samuel Fuller's I SHOT JESSE JAMES (1948), costarring John Ireland and Preston Foster.

With Gene Autry in LOADED PISTOLS (1949):

I loved her in the title role of BANDIT QUEEN (1950), a minor yet highly enjoyable film for low-budget Lippert Pictures.

And she was part of a fine cast, including Rod Cameron, in RIDE THE MAN DOWN (1952):

My very favorite Britton film isn't a Western, but the small-town Christmastime mystery COVER UP (1949), seen here with Helen Spring, Art Baker, Ann E. Todd, and Dennis O'Keefe. I've seen it multiple times, and it's become favorite Christmas viewing.

Britton appeared opposite Richard Denning in TV's MR. AND MRS. NORTH from 1952 to 1954.  She also did considerable theatrical work in the latter part of her career.

Britton married Dr. Eugene Czukor in 1945, a union which lasted until her passing in 1980. Britton is said to have believed that physicians made the best husbands and cited the case of Irene Dunne, who married a dentist. Britton might have been correct about that, as several classic film actresses who wed doctors had successful marriages, including Ann Blyth, Joan Leslie, and Audrey Totter.

The Czukors had four children, of whom only two survived, Theodore (Teddy or Ted) and Christina Britton Conroy. Ted became an actor and yoga teacher, while Christina became an actress, music therapist, and novelist; there's an interesting interview with her from 2013 in the Juilliard Journal.

Barbara Britton was only 59 when she passed away due to cancer, dying in New York City on January 17, 1980. She was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York.

Reviews of Barbara Britton films at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings: REAP THE WILD WIND (1942) (bit role) (also reviewed here), WAKE ISLAND (1942), YOUNG AND WILLING (1943), SO PROUDLY WE HAIL! (1943) (also here), THE VIRGINIAN (1946) (also here), GUNFIGHTERS (1947), I SHOT JESSE JAMES (1949), COVER UP (1949), RIDE THE MAN DOWN (1952), and BWANA DEVIL (1952).

Reviews of Britton films for my Western RoundUp column at Classic Movie Hub: GUNFIGHTERS (1947) and BANDIT QUEEN (1950).

Additional notable films starring Barbara Britton include TILL WE MEET AGAIN (1944), THE RETURN OF MONTE CRISTO (1946), ALBUQUERQUE (1948), CHAMPAGNE FOR CAESAR (1950), DRAGONFLY SQUADRON (1954), and THE SPOILERS (1955).

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