# Barbara Colby

Barbara Colby (July 2, 1939 – July 24, 1975) was an American actress. She 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.

## Career

Colby started her acting career in the theater. Following a performance in Six Characters in Search of an Author in 1964, she moved to Broadway with a debut in The Devils the following year. Throughout the rest of the decade, she appeared in such plays as Under Milk Wood, Murder in the Cathedral, Dear Liar and A Doll's House and garnered fine reviews for her Portia in Julius Caesar in 1966.
Her first important television role was in the first season of Columbo in an episode titled "Murder by the Book" in 1971. She played many support/guest roles on such established shows as The Odd Couple, McMillan & Wife, The F.B.I., Medical Center, Kung Fu and Gunsmoke.
Colby was a leading actor in the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco for two years. She appeared in 1970s plays such as Aubrey Beardsley the Neophyte, House of Blue Leaves, Afternoon Tea and The Hot l Baltimore. She 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.
In 1974, Colby appeared in two films, California Split and Memory of Us. In 1975, she co-starred in Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins.
A role as a streetwise prostitute in an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show led to an appearance in a subsequent episode. In 1975, Colby appeared as a new regular player on the Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off Phyllis, starring Cloris Leachman. 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.

## Personal life

Colby was married to Robert Levitt Jr., whose mother was Ethel Merman.

## Death

On July 24, 1975, 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. The murders occurred some time after the first three episodes of the upcoming TV series Phyllis had been filmed.
Colby was killed instantly, but Kiernan was able to describe the shooting to police before he died of his wounds. Kiernan said that he did not recognize the two men who shot them and that the shooting had occurred without warning or provocation. It was normal for Colby and classmates to congregate in the parking lot after acting class and talk. Kiernan told investigators they were approached by two black men in a light-colored van and were each shot once.
Police said there was no attempt to rob the pair and concluded it was a random drive-by shooting or a targeted killing. The killers were never identified and the case remained an open cold case.
At the time of her death, Colby was separated from her husband, Bob Levitt, son of Ethel Merman. While the first three episodes of the first season of Phyllis were her final works, all released in September 1975, her final appearance to be released was in the TV movie The Ashes of Mrs. Reasoner, aired in January 1976. Colby's immediate survivors included her mother and half-sister.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1968 | Petulia | Patient | Uncredited |
| 1969 | N.Y.P.D. | Lila | Episodes: "Candy Man (Part 1) & (Part 2)" |
| 1971 | Columbo | Lilly La Sanka | Episode: "Murder by the Book" |
| 1971 | The Odd Couple | Monique | Episode: "Felix, the Calypso Singer" |
| 1972 | Look Homeward, Angel | Miss Brown | TV movie |
| 1973 | A Brand New Life | Jessica Hiller | TV movie |
| 1973 | The F.B.I. | Marti | Episode: "The Exchange" |
| 1973 | McMillan & Wife | Linda Comsack | Episode: "The Devil, You Say" |
| 1973 | ABC Afterschool Special | | Episode: "My Dad Lives in a Downtown Hotel" |
| 1974 | Judgment: The Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg | | TV movie |
| 1974 | Medical Center | Mrs. Polumbo | Episode: "The Conspirators" |
| 1974 | Kung Fu | Josie | Episode: "The Nature of Evil" |
| 1974 | Memory of Us | Iris | |
| 1974 | California Split | Receptionist | |
| 1974 | Gunsmoke | Kathy Carter | Episode: "The Iron Men" |
| 1974–1975 | The Mary Tyler Moore Show | Sherry Ferris | 2 episodes (season 5) |
| 1975 | Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins | Young Woman | |
| 1975 | Phyllis | Julie Erskine (original) | Main cast (season 1, episodes 1–3) |
| 1976 | The Ashes of Mrs. Reasoner | Muriel Fenton | TV movie |