Award-Winning Actress Barbara Rush Passes Away

Barbara Rush, the Golden Globe-winning actress best known for her roles in classics like the 1953 sci-fi horror film “It Came From Outer Space” and the 1960s “Peyton Place” drama series, has passed away at 97.

Rush’s death was announced by her daughter, Fox News senior correspondent Claudia Cowan, who did not mention a cause of death.

“My wonderful mother passed away peacefully at 5:28 this evening. I was with her this morning and know she was waiting for me to return home safely to transition,” Cowan said in a statement obtained by the Daily Caller. “It’s fitting she chose to leave on Easter as it was one of her favorite holidays and now, of course, Easter will have a deeper significance for me and my family.”

For over seven decades, Rush imprinted her legacy on Hollywood, working with titans of industry like Marlon Brando on 1958’s World War II epic “The Young Lions” and 1960’s “The Bramble Bush” opposite Richard Burton about the ethics of euthanizing a friend suffering from late-stage cancer. Her crowning achieve was a Golden Globe for promising female newcomer for 1954’s “It Came From Outer Space.”

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Other credit’s in Rush’s portfolio include “Taza, Son of Conchise,” “Magnificent Obsession,” “Captain Lightfoot,” “Robin and the 7 Hoods,” and “The Young Philadelphians,” “Hombre” and “Batman.” In addition to regularly appearing on “Peyton’s Place” between 1964 and 1969, Rush notched over three dozen appearances in the hit series “All My Children.”

RIP Barbara Rush, 1927-2024 pic.twitter.com/qiSU6r1gtl

— Old Hollywood (@TheOldHollywood) April 1, 2024

Other works include “Flight to Hong Kong,” “Oh Men! Oh Women!” “No Down Payment,” “Harry Black and the Tiger,” “Superdad” and “Can’t Stop the Music.”

Born in Denver in 1927, Rush lost her father during her teenage years and was raised by her mother Nora (Simonson) Rush, who took up acting later in life to support the family, according to the New York Times. Barbara honed her acting chops on campus at the University of California at Santa Barbara before landing a scholarship with Pasadena Playhouse Theater Arts College in 1950 at the age of 23. She made her theater debut under the Paramount Pictures banner with 1950’s “The Goldbergs.”

Her final on-screen appearances came on the hit series “7th Heaven” between 2007 and 2017. That final year, she participated in “Bleeding Hearts: The Arteries of Glenda Bryant,” her final film project.

In addition to her daughter of her second marriage, Rush is survived by Christopher Hunter, her son from her first, as well as four grandchildren.