Barbara Lang (film actress)
Barbara Lang (born Barbara Jean Bly, March 2, 1928 – July 22, 1982) was an American actress and singer. Early life. Lang was a student at Eagle Rock High School and acted in little theater. She worked a number of jobs prior to breaking into the entertainment industry. She sold jewelry in a Los Angeles department store and was a part-time fashion model at the age of seventeen. She was also a pianist and singer for a time in a cocktail lounge. Illness. Lang suffered an attack of poliomyelitis in late 1953. She spent three weeks  in the polio ward of Los Angeles General Hospital. Another eight months were required to convalesce. Lang was told that she might never walk again. She turned to the Bible during this time and credited faith for performing a miracle. Shortly after being stricken, her legs and facial muscles were paralyzed, and she had difficulty speaking. The lingering effect she experienced most was tiring easily. Lang began singing in night clubs to pay her medical debts. She was a self-taught vocalist who trusted her accompanist to select each song's key and pitch. She eventually began singing regularly in  Portland and San Francisco. Career. Film. She first came to the attention of Hollywood producers with appearances in six "Death Valley Days" episodes (1955–1956). Half a dozen motion picture studios vied to sign Lang thereafter. In 1957, she signed a contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer and was assigned to dramatic school. As a new star for MGM Lang played the feminine lead in "House of Numbers" (1957), co-starring with Jack Palance. It was filmed inside San Quentin Prison and in Mill Valley, California. Lang was at first named to star opposite Elvis Presley in "Jailhouse Rock". Before being cast  the movie was tentatively entitled "Jailhouse Kid". In the Joe Pasternak production of "Party Girl" (1958), Lang played "Ginger D'Amour", a Chicago showgirl of the 1930s. Television. After surviving and recovering from polio, Lang went into television work. Her TV credits are numerous. She is in episodes of "The Thin Man" (1957), the episode "Escape to Tampico" in "Maverick" (1958), "The Bob Cummings Show" (1958), "77 Sunset Strip" (1959), "Lawman" (1959), "Tightrope!" (1959), and "Outlaws" (1960), among others. Personal life. In November 1958, Lang won an annulment of her two-year marriage to actor Alan Wells. The decree was granted  on grounds that Wells had married Lang in Ensenada, Mexico, ten months before his divorce from actress Claudia Barrett was final. Lang and Wells met when she played in "Death Valley Days". Lang died at age 54 in 1982 reportedly from pneumonia.