Barbara Rush (born January 4, 1927 in Denver, Colorado) is an American stage, film, and television actress.

A student at the University of California, Barbara Rush performed on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse before signing with Paramount Pictures. She made her screen debut in the 1951 movie The Goldbergs and went on to star opposite the likes of James Mason, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Richard Burton, and Kirk Douglas. In 1954 she won the Golden Globe Award for "Most Promising Newcomer - Female" for her performance in It Came from Outer Space.

Barbara Rush married actor Jeffrey Hunter in 1950 with whom she had a son, Christopher. They divorced in 1955 and in 1959 she married publicist Warren Cowan. Their daughter, Claudia Cowan, is a journalist with Fox News television channel.

Ms Rush began her career on stage and it has always been a part of her professional life. In 1970, she earned the Sarah Siddons Award for dramatic achievement in Chicago theatre for her leading role in Forty Carats and brought her one-woman play A Woman of Independent Means to Broadway in 1984. She began working on television in the 1950s and during the 1970s became a regular performer in made for TV movies, miniseries, and a variety of other shows including Peyton Place and the soap opera, All My Children. She also portrayed the devious Nora Clavicle in the TV series Batman. Barbara looked youthful and pretty in the 1980 diso-themed Can't Stop the Music, but the thankless role precipitated her return to television work. She was a regular cast member on the early 1980s soap opera Flamingo Road as Eudora Weldon. Frequently described as the epitome of class, Ms Rush continues to make guest appearances on television as recent as 2005 in the recurring role of Ruth Camden on the series, 7th Heaven.

The epitome of poise, charm, style and grace, beautiful brunette Barbara Rush was born in Denver, Colorado in 1927 and enrolled at the University of California before working with the University Players and taking acting classes at the Pasadena Playhouse. It didn't take long for talent scouts to spot her and, following a play performance, Paramount quickly signed her up in 1950, making her debut with Goldbergs, The (1950). Just prior to this, she had met fellow actor Jeffrey Hunter (I), an incredibly handsome newcomer who would later become a "beefcake" bobbysoxer idol over at Fox. The two fell in love quickly and married in December of 1950. Soon, they were on their way to becoming one of Hollywood's most beautiful and photogenic young couples. Their son Christopher was born in 1952. While at Paramount, she was decorative in such assembly-line fare as When Worlds Collide (1951), Quebec (1951), First Legion, The (1951), Flaming Feather (1952) and Prince of Pirates (1953). Universal picked up her option where she continued to provide love interest angles amid the action and derring-do with It Came from Outer Space (1953), Taza, Son of Cochise (1954) and Black Shield of Falworth, The (1954). She finally got her break with the second lead femme role in the popular Jane Wyman tearjerker Magnificent Obsession (1954), the movie that certified Rock Hudson as a top star. From there, Barbara's own star began to ascend in more quality pictures. She co-starred opposite some of Hollywood's top leading males in such glossy dramas as Bigger Than Life (1956) starring James Mason (I), No Down Payment (1957) with ex-husband Jeffrey Hunter (I) (they had divorced in 1955), Young Lions, The (1958) starring Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando and Dean Martin (I), Young Philadelphians, The (1959) alongside Paul Newman (I), Bramble Bush, The (1960) with Richard Burton (I) and Strangers When We Meet (1960) with Kirk Douglas (I). In most cases, she played brittle wives, conniving "other women" or socialite girlfriend types. Despite the "A" list movies Barbara was piling up, the one single role that could put her over the top never showed its face. By the early 60s, her film career started to decline. She married publicist Warren Cowan in 1959 and bore a second child, Claudia Cowan, in 1964. TV became a viable source of income for Barbara, appearing in scores of guest parts on the more popular shows of the time ("Peyton Place" (1964), "Medical Center" (1969), "Ironside" (1967)) while co-starring in standard mini-movie dramas. She even had a bit of fun playing a "guest villainess" on the "Batman" (1966) series as temptress "Nora Clavicle". The stage also became a strong focus for Barbara, earning the Sarah Siddons Award for her starring role in "Forty Carats". She made her Broadway debut in the one-woman 1980s showcase "A Woman of Independent Means", which also subsequently earned her the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award during its tour. Other showcases included "Private Lives", "Same Time, Next Year", "The Night of the Iguana" and "Steel Magnolias". The still-beautiful Ms. Rush occasionally graces the big and small screen these days, more recently in a recurring role on TV's "7th Heaven" (1996).