Barbara Luna
Encyclopedia
BarBara Ann Luna is an American actress with an extensive list of roles in film, television, and shows. Notable roles included Five Weeks in a Balloon and Lt. Marlena Moreau in the classic Star Trek
episode "Mirror, Mirror". She has also appeared during 2004 and 2010 in the first and sixth episodes of Star Trek: New Voyages
, a fan-created show distributed over the Internet.(Star Trek: New Voyages which is now called "Phase II").
of Italian, Hungarian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Filipino descent, BarBara Luna (as spelled on her official site), was introduced to Broadway
shows early in life. She was tapped by Rodgers and Hammerstein
to play the daughter of Ezio Pinza
in the original Broadway production of South Pacific
, in which she sang the show's opening song, Dites-Moi. She next appeared in The King and I
as one of the Siamese children, advancing to the more important role of "Royal Dancer" by the time the show closed on Broadway. Not wishing to drop out of school to go on the road, she auditioned for and won the understudy role of Lotus Blossom in Teahouse of the August Moon
. A few months later, after graduating from high school, she was given the starring role of Lotus Blossom in Teahouse and toured with the show's company for three years.
Director Mervyn LeRoy
saw her performance as Lotus Blossom in Los Angeles
and cast her to play Camille, the blind girl who was Frank Sinatra
's love interest in The Devil at 4 O'Clock
. This led to roles in other films including Meli in Firecreek
, as Amparo in Ship of Fools
, as Cat in The Concrete Jungle
, and as Makia in Five Weeks in a Balloon
.
Opportunities in television came as well. Luna has appeared in some 500 television shows, including Walt Disney's Zorro, where she was a recurring character in the "Joaquin" arc as Theresa, the Tamale Peddler, The Wild Wild West
as Gatita, The Big Valley
as Miranda, Gunsmoke
as Chavela, Overland Trail
as Estrelita (in episode "Mission to Mexico"), Bonanza
as Cayetena Losaro, The Outer Limits
as Gaby Christian, The Invaders as Lisa, Hawaii Five-O
in three episodes "The Koa Man" as Susan Chang, "Sword of the Samurai" as Michiko and "Payoff" as Tia Kuno, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
as Koori, Dallas
as Carmen Esperanza, Charlie's Angels
as Cynthia Weaver and on Mission: Impossible
as Emilia Berezan. One of her better-known roles was Lt. Marlena Moreau in the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of Star Trek: The Original Series
(1967) — a role she still commemorates as a guest of Star Trek conventions worldwide. She has also had roles in the television soap opera
s Search for Tomorrow
and One Life to Live
. The actress also appeared as Marnya on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
episode "The Man from THRUSH Affair".
Between film commitments, Luna remained active in musicals
. She appeared as Anita in five companies of West Side Story, including a revival at Lincoln Center in New York City. Her last Broadway show was A Chorus Line
in the role of Diana Morales (in the "New" New York cast in 1976). This performance led to the preparation of a cabaret act for her. Its opening night, at Freddie's in New York City, drew rave reviews and led to engagements at the Concord Hotel in the Catskills
and at clubs in Atlantic City
and Los Angeles.
Within the past few years, Luna has hosted the Ms. Roanoke Beauty Pageant, entertained at Arci's Supper Club on Park Avenue in New York City, and performed for the Richard Rodgers 100th Anniversary celebration at Town Hall in New York City. Currently Luna is a member of The Thalians, a charity foundation at Cedars Sinai Hospital
, and she supports other charitable causes. She is an avid sports fan; she roller-skates and plays golf and tennis.
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
episode "Mirror, Mirror". She has also appeared during 2004 and 2010 in the first and sixth episodes of Star Trek: New Voyages
Star Trek: New Voyages
Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II is a fan-created science fiction series set in the Star Trek universe. The series was created by James Cawley and Jack Marshall in April 2003...
, a fan-created show distributed over the Internet.(Star Trek: New Voyages which is now called "Phase II").
Biography
Born in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
of Italian, Hungarian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Filipino descent, BarBara Luna (as spelled on her official site), was introduced to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
shows early in life. She was tapped by Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
to play the daughter of Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza was an Italian basso opera singer with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas...
in the original Broadway production of South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, in which she sang the show's opening song, Dites-Moi. She next appeared in The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
as one of the Siamese children, advancing to the more important role of "Royal Dancer" by the time the show closed on Broadway. Not wishing to drop out of school to go on the road, she auditioned for and won the understudy role of Lotus Blossom in Teahouse of the August Moon
The Teahouse of the August Moon (play)
The Teahouse of the August Moon is a 1953 play written by John Patrick adapted from the 1951 novel by Vern Sneider. It was later adapted for film in 1956, and the 1970 Broadway musical, Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen.-Plot summary:...
. A few months later, after graduating from high school, she was given the starring role of Lotus Blossom in Teahouse and toured with the show's company for three years.
Director Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
saw her performance as Lotus Blossom in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and cast her to play Camille, the blind girl who was Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's love interest in The Devil at 4 O'Clock
The Devil at 4 O'Clock
The Devil at 4 O'Clock is a 1961 disaster film with elevated themes, starring Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Based upon an eponymous novel by Max Catto, film was a precursor to the disaster movies of the 1970s, such as The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, and The...
. This led to roles in other films including Meli in Firecreek
Firecreek
Firecreek is a 1968 western movie directed by Vincent McEveety and starring James Stewart and Henry Fonda in his second role as an antagonist that year. The film is similar to High Noon in that it features an entire town refusing to help a peace officer against outlaws, showing no backbone...
, as Amparo in Ship of Fools
Ship of Fools (film)
Ship of Fools is a 1965 film drama which tells the overlapping stories of several passengers aboard an ocean liner bound to Germany from Mexico in 1933...
, as Cat in The Concrete Jungle
The Concrete Jungle (film)
The Concrete Jungle is a 1982 American women in prison film directed by Tom DeSimone and featuring Jill St. John and Tracey E. Bregman.-Plot:...
, and as Makia in Five Weeks in a Balloon
Five Weeks in a Balloon
Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, Journeys and Discoveries in Africa by Three Englishmen is an adventure novel by Jules Verne.It is the first Verne novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of his later work, skillfully mixing a plot full of adventure and twists that hold the reader's interest with...
.
Opportunities in television came as well. Luna has appeared in some 500 television shows, including Walt Disney's Zorro, where she was a recurring character in the "Joaquin" arc as Theresa, the Tamale Peddler, The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969....
as Gatita, The Big Valley
The Big Valley
The Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman...
as Miranda, Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
as Chavela, Overland Trail
Overland Trail (TV series)
Overland Trail is a short-lived American Western series which aired on NBC from February 7 to June 6, 1960. The series starred William Bendix and Doug McClure,-Synopsis:...
as Estrelita (in episode "Mission to Mexico"), Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
as Cayetena Losaro, The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
as Gaby Christian, The Invaders as Lisa, Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
in three episodes "The Koa Man" as Susan Chang, "Sword of the Samurai" as Michiko and "Payoff" as Tia Kuno, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series ran for two seasons between 1979–1981, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film several months before the series aired....
as Koori, Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
as Carmen Esperanza, Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
as Cynthia Weaver and on Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
as Emilia Berezan. One of her better-known roles was Lt. Marlena Moreau in the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
(1967) — a role she still commemorates as a guest of Star Trek conventions worldwide. She has also had roles in the television soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s Search for Tomorrow
Search for Tomorrow
Search for Tomorrow is an American soap opera which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS to NBC on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the...
and One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
. The actress also appeared as Marnya on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
episode "The Man from THRUSH Affair".
Between film commitments, Luna remained active in musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. She appeared as Anita in five companies of West Side Story, including a revival at Lincoln Center in New York City. Her last Broadway show was A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
in the role of Diana Morales (in the "New" New York cast in 1976). This performance led to the preparation of a cabaret act for her. Its opening night, at Freddie's in New York City, drew rave reviews and led to engagements at the Concord Hotel in the Catskills
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
and at clubs in Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
and Los Angeles.
Within the past few years, Luna has hosted the Ms. Roanoke Beauty Pageant, entertained at Arci's Supper Club on Park Avenue in New York City, and performed for the Richard Rodgers 100th Anniversary celebration at Town Hall in New York City. Currently Luna is a member of The Thalians, a charity foundation at Cedars Sinai Hospital
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Originally established as Kaspare Cohn Hospital in 1902, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary 958-bed hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre located in Los Angeles, California, US. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over...
, and she supports other charitable causes. She is an avid sports fan; she roller-skates and plays golf and tennis.
Filmography
- Tank BattalionTank Battalion (film)Tank Battalion is a 1958 War film directed by Sherman A. Rose, starring Don Kelly, Leslie Parrish and Edward G. Robinson Jr. Four men in their tank, during the Korean War in 1951, find themselves behind enemy lines.-Cast:* Don Kelly as Sgt. Brad Dunne...
(1958) - Cry Tough (1959)
- The Blue Angel (1959)
- Elmer GantryElmer Gantry (film)Elmer Gantry is a 1960 drama film about a con man and a female evangelist selling religion to small town America. Adapted by director Richard Brooks, the film is based on the 1927 novel of the same name by Sinclair Lewis and stars Burt Lancaster and Jean Simmons.Lancaster won an Academy Award for...
(1960) - The Devil at 4 O'ClockThe Devil at 4 O'ClockThe Devil at 4 O'Clock is a 1961 disaster film with elevated themes, starring Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Based upon an eponymous novel by Max Catto, film was a precursor to the disaster movies of the 1970s, such as The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, and The...
(1961) - Five Weeks in a BalloonFive Weeks in a BalloonFive Weeks in a Balloon, or, Journeys and Discoveries in Africa by Three Englishmen is an adventure novel by Jules Verne.It is the first Verne novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of his later work, skillfully mixing a plot full of adventure and twists that hold the reader's interest with...
(1962) - Dime with a Halo (1963)
- Mail Order BrideMail Order Bride (1964 film)Mail Order Bride is a 1964 western film starring Buddy Ebsen, Keir Dullea and Lois Nettleton. An old man who pressures the wild son of a dead friend into marrying a mail-order bride in an attempt to settle him down.-Cast:*Buddy Ebsen as Will Lane...
(1964) - Synanon (1965)
- Ship of FoolsShip of Fools (film)Ship of Fools is a 1965 film drama which tells the overlapping stories of several passengers aboard an ocean liner bound to Germany from Mexico in 1933...
(1965) - FirecreekFirecreekFirecreek is a 1968 western movie directed by Vincent McEveety and starring James Stewart and Henry Fonda in his second role as an antagonist that year. The film is similar to High Noon in that it features an entire town refusing to help a peace officer against outlaws, showing no backbone...
(1968) - Che!Che!Che! is an American Biographical film starring Omar Sharif as Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. It follows Guevara from when he first landed in Cuba in 1956 to his death in Bolivia in 1967, although the film does not portray the formative pre-Cuban revolution sections of Che's life as...
(1969) - Gentle Savage (1973)
- The Gatling Gun (1973)
- Woman in the Rain (1976)
- The Concrete JungleThe Concrete Jungle (film)The Concrete Jungle is a 1982 American women in prison film directed by Tom DeSimone and featuring Jill St. John and Tracey E. Bregman.-Plot:...
(1982) - Fool's Paradise (1997)
Television work
- Zorro 4 episodes: "The New Order" (11/13/1958); "An Eye for an Eye" (11/20/1958); "Zorro and the Flag of Truce" (11/27/1958); "Ambush" (12/04/1958);
- The UntouchablesThe Untouchables (1959 TV series)The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
episode: "Mexican stake-out" (1959) - BonanzaBonanzaBonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
episode: "El Toro Grande" (1960) - The Outer LimitsThe Outer Limits (1963 TV series)The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
episode: "It Crawled Out of the Woodwork" (1963) - Calhoun: County Agent (1964) (unsold pilot)
- The Wild Wild WestThe Wild Wild WestThe Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969....
episode: "The Night of the Deadly Bed" (1965) - Mission: ImpossibleMission: ImpossibleMission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
episodes: "Elena" (12/10/1966) and "Time Bomb" (12/21/1969) - Cimarron StripCimarron StripCimarron Strip is an American Western television series that aired on CBS from September 1967 to March 1968. Starring Stuart Whitman as Marshal Jim Crown, the series was produced by the creators of Gunsmoke...
episode: "The Legend of Jud Starr" (9/14/67) - The InvadersThe InvadersThe Invaders, a Quinn Martin Production , is an ABC science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that ran in the United States for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968...
episode: "Storm" (1967) - Winchester '73 (1967)
- Star TrekStar Trek: The Original SeriesStar Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
episode: "Mirror, Mirror" (1967) - The High ChaparralThe High ChaparralThe High Chaparral is a Western-themed television series starring Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell which aired on NBC from 1967 to 1971. The show was created by David Dortort, who had previously created the hit Bonanza for the network...
episode: "The Firing Wall" (1967) - Hawaii Five-OHawaii Five-OHawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
episode: "A Thousand Pardons -- You're Dead!" (1969) - Two Boys (1970) (unsold pilot)
- Women in Chains (1972)
- The Hanged Man (1974)
- They Only Come Out at Night (1975)
- Brenda StarrBrenda Starr (comic strip)Brenda Starr, Reporter was a comic strip about a glamorous, adventurous female reporter. It was created in 1940 by Dale Messick for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate....
(1976) - Pleasure Cove (1979)
- Buck Rogers in the 25th CenturyBuck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series ran for two seasons between 1979–1981, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film several months before the series aired....
episodes: "Time of the Hawk" (1/15/1981) and "The Guardians" (1/29/81) - Search for TomorrowSearch for TomorrowSearch for Tomorrow is an American soap opera which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS to NBC on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the...
(cast member in 1985) - TJ Hooker episode: "Outcall" (1985)
- One Life to LiveOne Life to LiveOne Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
(cast member from 1986–1988) - Lady Against the Odds (1992)
- Sunset BeachSunset Beach (TV series)Sunset Beach was an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on January 6, 1997, and last airing on December 31, 1999. The show followed the loves and lives of the people living in a fictional coastal city named Sunset Beach, on the coast of California...
(cast member in 1998) - Noriega: God's Favorite (2000)
- Star Trek: New VoyagesStar Trek: New VoyagesStar Trek New Voyages: Phase II is a fan-created science fiction series set in the Star Trek universe. The series was created by James Cawley and Jack Marshall in April 2003...
episode: "In Harm's Way" (2004), episode: "Enemy: Starfleet" (2010)