A perpetual starlet, she had a cameo playing herself in The Star (1952). At the end of the film, Bette Davis goes to a Hollywood party and a commotion breaks out among the guests and press when Lawrence arrives. She's supposed to represent the new Hollywood, Davis the old.
After dating for only a couple of weeks, she eloped at age 18 in January of 1947 with a young contract actor named John Fontaine, aka Jeffrey Stone. They both appeared in the Fox musical movie You Were Meant for Me (1948). The marriage was kept secret until June 28, 1947, when her mother gave Barbara a church wedding in Beverly Hills. The marriage was over a year later.
Born in Oklahoma, she was raised for a time in Kansas City, Missouri, before she and her mother moved to Los Angeles.
Direct descendant of Sir Francis Eaton, who arrived in America on the Mayflower.
Distant cousin to singer Nelson Eddy.
Has 4 children
In 1947 she was involved in an incident that seemed to foreshadow the stalking incidents that are so common today. While at the movies she was stabbed by an unknown assailant. The wound was so deep that she was treated at the Santa Monica Emergency Hospital. The assailant was never found.
Retired from acting in 1962 and eventually sold real estate.
Retired to sell real estate in Beverly Hills.
Signed a contract with 20th Century-Fox and attended the studio's school, where her classmates included Roddy McDowall and Peggy Ann Garner.
Was Little Miss Hollywood of 1942.
Wrote a novel in later years entitled "Welcome to the Jungle," which was drawn from her experiences when she lived in South America for five years in the 1960s after retiring from acting.