Priscilla Barnes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Priscilla Barnes
Barnes in 2006
Born	1953/1954 (age 70–71) Fort Dix, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	Antelope Valley High School
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1973–present
Known for	Three's Company Jane the Virgin
Spouse(s)	Ted Monte ​ ​ (m. 2003)​

Priscilla Barnes (born 1953/1954) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Terri Alden in the ABC sitcom Three's Company between 1981 and 1984. Barnes also has appeared in films, including A Vacation in Hell (1979), Licence to Kill (1989), Stepfather III (1992), The Crossing Guard (1995), Mallrats (1995), The Devil's Rejects (2005) and The Visitation (2006). From 2014 to 2019, Barnes played Magda Andel in the CW comedy-drama series Jane the Virgin.

Early life

Barnes was born December 7, 1954 (some sources list 1952 or 1955), in Fort Dix, New Jersey, the third of four children of a father who was a major in the United States Air Force and her mother a homemaker. Her childhood was marked by a series of moves across various military bases in the United States before her family settled in Lancaster, California. After graduating from Antelope Valley High School at age 17, she relocated to San Diego, working as a waitress and a dancer.

Career

Early career

1972 Miss World - Miss USA Lynda Carter; Miss San Diego, Priscilla Barnes; and Miss Maryland, Betty Jo Grove spread Christmas cheer with Bob Hope at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD.

Barnes's first break came when Bob Hope saw her in a local fashion show and invited her to join his troupe for a 1973 performance at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. She subsequently moved to Los Angeles to attempt a career in show business in earnest. She appeared as an Amazon in The New Original Wonder Woman alongside Lynda Carter as the title character. Her second break came at 19 when she met Peter Falk at Pips. Six months later he gave her a one-line part in an episode of Columbo, which led to a series of bit parts in films like The Seniors (1978) and Delta Fox (1979).

In 1976, she began studying acting with coach Sal Dano, whose students included Tom Selleck, Robert Hays and Catherine Bach. In 1978, she played a leading role in the CBS action series, The American Girls, which was canceled after seven weeks. Subsequent parts include the horror film Tintorera, and such television series as Starsky & Hutch, Vega$, Kojak, The Rockford Files, The Love Boat, the 1978 TV version of The Time Machine and the 1979 television film A Vacation in Hell. In 1980, Barnes landed a supporting role in the romantic comedy film Sunday Lovers.

Barnes with Joyce DeWitt in 2010

Three's Company

In 1981, Barnes was cast as Terri Alden on the ABC sitcom Three's Company after Jenilee Harrison served as interim replacement to Suzanne Somers, who had left the series as a result of contractual dispute with producers. The part, which is Barnes' most notable role, brought her instant public recognition. Barnes initially auditioned for the role of Chrissy Snow in 1976 but lost the part to Somers. She stayed with the show through the series finale in 1984, appearing in a total of 70 episodes.

In the 1998 TV program E! True Hollywood Story, Barnes called Three's Company the "three worst years" of her life. She revealed that after shooting the first few episodes, she felt "uncomfortable" on the set, mostly because of tension among the cast members, and unsuccessfully petitioned the producers to release her from her contract. Barnes has retained her friendship with costars Joyce DeWitt and Richard Kline, with whom she has made public appearances. Barnes was portrayed by actress Anne Ross in the 2003 television movie Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company.

Later career

In 1982, Barnes starred in the Aaron Spelling made-for-television film The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch. After Three's Company was canceled by ABC in 1984, Barnes accepted guest-starring roles on television shows such as Hotel, Murder, She Wrote and Highway to Heaven. In 1987, she starred in the pilot for the sitcom She's the Sheriff, playing the title role. Barnes later left the project and was replaced by Suzanne Somers. The following year, Barnes returned in a starring role in the action comedy Traxx opposite Shadoe Stevens.

In 1989, Barnes appeared in the James Bond film Licence to Kill as Della Churchill and in the underwater sci-fi/action thriller Lords of the Deep. In 1992, she starred in the NBC television movie Perry Mason and the Case of the Reckless Romeo with Raymond Burr and in the horror film Stepfather III. In 1995, she appeared in the cult comedy film Mallrats and in The Crossing Guard with Jack Nicholson. Barnes made a cameo appearance in the 1999 comedy-drama film Mumford and appeared in many other smaller independent and made-for-television movies during 1990s and 2000s. She appeared in the 2005 horror film The Devil's Rejects, directed by Rob Zombie. and the films Thr3e (2006), The Visitation (2006) and American Cowslip (2009). In 2012, she costarred as Vicey Hatfield in Hatfields and McCoys: Bad Blood. In 2013, she appeared in Disaster Wars: Earthquake vs Tsunami. In 2007, Barnes appeared at the annual New York International Fringe Festival as Hillary Clinton in Nick Salamone's play Hillary Agonistes.

In 2014, Barnes was cast in a recurring role as Magda Andel, the mother of Petra (played by Yael Grobglas), in the CW comedy-drama series Jane the Virgin. The series ended in 2019 after five seasons. Barnes appeared in a total of 41 episodes. In 2019, Barnes appeared in the Bloomington Playwrights Project's production of Christy Hall's To Quiet the Quiet.

Personal life

Barnes married actor Ted Monte.

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Priscilla Barnes para niños