Barbara Britton

Vivacious American actress Barbara Britton was active in student theatricals at Long Beach City College before signing with Paramount Pictures in 1941. Many of her film appearances were enjoyable but unmemorable, with a few exceptions like her comic turn as Ronald Colman's sister in Champagne for Caesar (1950). Barbara's chief claim to fame was her two-year tenure as inquisitive amateur sleuth Pam North on the Thin Man-like TV series Mr. and Mrs. North. Thereafter, Barbara was best known for her long tenure as commercial spokeswoman for Revlon Products. Perhaps the most intriguing assignment of Barbara Britton's post-North years was the 1959 TV sitcom pilot Head of the Family, in which she created the role of Laura Petrie--a role later essayed by Mary Tyler Moore when Head of the Family was retooled as The Dick Van Dyke Show.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide