Barbara McNair
Biography
Barbara McNair was an American singer and actress whose career encompassed music, television, stage, and film. She studied music at Chicago's American Conservatory and spent one year at UCLA before leaving. In the late 1950s she began performing on the nightclub circuit, and her Coral Records debut single, Till There Was You, became a commercial success in 1958. She toured with Nat King Cole and later appeared with him on Broadway in I'm with You and The Merry World of Nat King Cole during the early 1960s. In 1969 she started hosting The Barbara McNair Show, a syndicated variety series that ran until 1971 and was among the first led by a Black woman. Around that time she moved into screen acting, taking the role of Sidney Poitier's character's wife in the 1970 film They Call Me Mister Tibbs! and its 1971 follow-up The Organization. In her later years she resumed singing in clubs and on cruise ships.
72years old at death
- Born Chicago
- Died Los Angeles
- Star sign: PiscesThe sign runs February 19 to March 20
- Barbara Jean McNair (birth name)
Movie Career
- Films
- 6
- Career span
- 27 years1963 to 1990
First and latest
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A first
McNair started The Barbara McNair Show in 1969. The syndicated television variety show was among the first of its kind to be hosted by a Black woman.
A role that slipped away
McNair helped launch the "Four Girls Four" act in the late 1970s alongside Rose Marie, Rosemary Clooney and Margaret Whiting. The group deemed her too young to fit in, so Helen O'Connell took her place.
Early training
McNair studied music at Chicago's American Conservatory of Music after high school. She briefly attended UCLA too, but left after a year, feeling college had nothing to do with her goals.
Barbara McNair movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Worked with
Barbara McNair shares two films with Edward Asner, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Edward Asner's page
Sidney Poitier's page
Henry Fonda's page
James Remar's page
Martin Landau's page
Whit Bissell's page
All films by Gordon Douglas
Delmer DavesDirector, 1 film, 1963
All films by Delmer Daves
William A. GrahamDirector, 1 film, 1969
All films by William A. Graham
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.