Joanna Barnes, The Parent Trap and Tarzan Star, Dies at 87

By Nicole Drum

Joanna Barnes, veteran film and television actress best known to many for her roles in both the classic 1961 film The Parent Trap and for its 1998 remake, has died. She was 87 years old. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Barnes died on Friday at her home in Sea Ranch in California with her friend Sally Jackson telling the outlet that Barnes had been dealing with "multiple health problems".

In the original 1961 The Parent Trap, Barnes played gold digger Vicky Robinson who planned to send Susan Evers (Hayley Mills) off to boarding school upon marrying Susan's father, though her plan is thwarted when Susan and her identical twin sister Sharon (Mills) — who have switched identities — plot to break things up by getting their parents back together. Barnes ended up playing Vicki Blake, the mother of Meredith Blake who fits the Vicky Robinson role in the Lindsay Lohan-starring 1998 remake.

In addition to her roles in The Parent Trap, Barnes' extensive film credits also include Home Before Dark, Spartacus, and The War Wagon. Barnes also played Jane in 1959's Tarzan, the Ape Man. She also appeared in numerous television projects as well, including the series 21 Beacon Street, The Trials of O'Brien and Dateline Hollywood, as well as appearances on The Beverly Hillbillies, Fantasy Island, Benson, Hart to Hart, The Millionaire, Mannix, Murder She Wrote, and Cheers. 

Outside of her work in film and television, Barnes was also regular book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times as well as wrote "Touching Home," a syndicated column about interior design. Barnes was also the author of several novels, including 1970's The Deceivers which told the story about a young actress growing up alienated in Hollywood and 1980's Pastora which has been described as California's Gone With the Wind.

Barnes is survived by two sisters, Lally Barnes Freeman and Judith Barnes Wood, as well as her stepchildren from her marriage to Jack Lionel Warner, John, Laura, and Louise.

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