Barbara Bain Reveals How Her Desire to Get Out of Gym Class Launched Her Career as an Actress (Exclusive)
Barbara Bain Reveals How Her Desire to Get Out of Gym Class Launched Her Career as an Actress (Exclusive)
Angela AndaloroTue, June 16, 2026 at 10:59 AM UTC
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Barbara Bain in 1959Credit: CBS via Getty -
Barbara Bain began her career as a dancer before falling in love with acting
In a recent catch-up with PEOPLE, Bain talked about her early days honing her craft before getting into auditioning for roles
The actress, 94, became best known for her role as Cinnamon Carter in the Mission: Impossible television series
Barbara Bain fell in love with the arts while dodging another subject.
The Mission: Impossible actress, 94, looks back at her start in a catch-up with PEOPLE, revealing that she ended up getting into acting after avoiding gym class as a student.
"The interesting thing is, I was very academically streamed as a kid. I was a very smart and tall girl in the Midwest. Nobody was too excited about that, at the time, I must tell you. I went to the University of Illinois, downstate. I managed to get myself there. At that given moment, I did not want to take gym. I never did. The gym suit was so ugly, and it was a terrible color, green, and I hated it," she recalls.
Barbara Bain as Cinnamon Carter and Martin Landau as Rollin Hand (1967)Credit: CBS via Getty
"So I tried to get out of gym, and the way to get out of gym was I walked down the hall, and I walked into magic —a modern dance class," she continues. "I knew nothing about it, and that was it. I fell in love. My entire life just spun, and it spun to an exceedingly exciting, demanding, beautiful place."
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Bain returned to Chicago and pursued dance, studying with Martha Graham.
"Along the way, somebody kept saying, 'Come to an acting class.' And I would say, 'No, I'm not an actress. I am a dancer.' And one day I finally did go, and here it was," she shares.
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"I fell in love again twice! I was just so happy that I was finding myself. I didn't have a clue what to do in the acting class. So I didn't do anything except study for a year and a half. Being a dancer, you know you've got to do some work," she shares.
Barbara Bain in the 1980sCredit: Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch via Getty
"I was never a born actress, but with Graham as a dance master and Lee Strasberg as an acting teacher, I couldn't have wished for more for a young talent than to have those master teachers. And that is what happened to me."
It wasn't until over a year after she began studying acting that Bain began to audition. She wanted to make sure she was well versed in the craft before sharing her talents.
Barbara Bain in 2023Credit: David Livingston/Getty
"I did not go out and read because I didn't want to be dismissed too quickly. But that first week, I got all my union cards. I got a film, a television show and a tour of a Broadway play," she says.
"All three union cards. I never did another waitress job. I never did another anything job," she continues.
"I've acted since 1955. My union card came today, 1955. That's how long I have been a professional actress — always with joy and deep appreciation that I found the delightful thing. I've just enjoyed it beyond belief. All because of a gym suit."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
