Article from: "Celebrity; WHERE
ARE THEY NOW?; Taking the role of 99 was a very Smart move." by Paul
Sullivan. Boston Herald, October 4, 1999.
"He missed by that much, 99."
As Agent 99, Barbara Feldon often heard that line
from Don Adams in "Get Smart", a TV spy spoof that ran to big rating
between 1965 and 1970.
Born Susan Hilton, 99 had a traditional upbringing
in Pittsburgh, in the '40s and '50s.
"The sense of your role growing up was 'You
stand by your man and support him,'" she recalled.
But Barbara, now 59, had other ideas and took off
for New York, where she landed as a chorus girl at the famed Copacabana night
club. She had some acting roles and even appearance on the TV show, "The
$64,000 Question."
But, her big break came in a commercial for men's
cologne, when the sexy Feldon urged the boys to "Sic 'em,
Tiger."
Then, she landed the role of her lifetime in
"Get Smart", where she traded quips with Adams, CONTROL Agent 86.
With "Get Smart" long gone, Barbara has
rolled along since 1970, with 20 films to her credits, including the 1989
revival of her Agent 99 role in "Get Smart, Again!"
In recent years, Feldon has guest-starred in a
number of TV shows, including "Mad About You," and
she has distinguished herself as an expert voice-over artist.
Even though 86 and 99 were almost cartoonish,
Feldon says 99 was "a whole person. Although in many shows she just kind
of stood around, there was a bigger impression created on the screen about her
than was actually on the page."
She also says that not a day goes by when somebody
doesn't yell, "Hey, 99" out a cab window or smile and say hello to
her on the street.
The recognition from fans, she says, "is the
most extraordinary gift in life."
A Big Tip O' The Hat to Ryan Schroer for
sending me this! Thanks, Ryan! J
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