Barbara Colby appeared in episodes of numerous television series before a 1974 appearance on The Mary Tyler Moore Show led to a main cast role on the new series Phyllis; after filming three episodes, she and a colleague were murdered outside an acting class, in an unsolved shooting.
10 Facts About Barbara Colby
2.
Barbara Colby was a leading actor in the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco for two years.
3.
Barbara Colby appeared in 1970s plays such as Aubrey Beardsley the Neophyte, House of Blue Leaves, Afternoon Tea and The Hot l Baltimore.
4.
Barbara Colby returned to the classics with an off-Broadway role as Elizabeth in Richard III and was back on Broadway with the plays Murderous Angels in 1971 and a revival of A Doll's House in 1975.
5.
In 1974, Barbara Colby appeared in two films, California Split and Memory of Us.
6.
In 1975, Barbara Colby appeared as a new regular player on the Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off Phyllis, starring Cloris Leachman.
7.
Barbara Colby, who had appeared with Leachman in the TV movie A Brand New Life in 1973, was cast as Leachman's boss, Julie Erskine, the owner of a commercial photography studio.
8.
On July 24,1975, Barbara Colby and acting colleague James Kiernan were walking to their car following an acting class in Palms, Los Angeles, California, when they were shot inside a parking area.
9.
Barbara Colby was killed instantly, but Kiernan was able to describe the shooting to police before he died of his wounds.
10.
At the time of her death, Barbara Colby was separated from her husband, Bob Levitt, son of Ethel Merman.