Nina Bara (born Frances Joan Baur
Early years
The daughter of an Italian mother and an American father,
George Baur,
Bara was born in
Buenos Aires.
[ ]
She was educated in Germany, Austria, and Italy.
[Staff, "Space Girl 'Tonga' to Appear At White-Barne Grand Opening," The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Wednesday 17 November 1954, Volume LXI, Number 67, page 8.]
Film
While acting in
The Gay Senorita (1945), Bara helped Brooklyn-born
Adele Jergens adopt a Latin accent for her role in that film. Concurrently, Bara worked to lose her own accent to make herself acceptable for a wider range of roles.
[ Her other films included Visa and Carnival in Rio.]
Radio and television
On radio, Bara portrayed Tonga, "...a former alien villain turned Space Patrol ally." in Space Patrol.[ ] Mr. President and The Adventures of Bill Lance.[ ] She also appeared on Retribution, and Meet the Missus.
In the mid-1950s, Bara was co-host of Familiar Faces, a game show on KABC-TV in Los Angeles.[ ]
In addition to co-starring in Personal Appearance Theater for ABC-TV, Bara was also the featured comedienne with the Allan Young Show in guest spots and participated in several Life with Elizabeth films for Guild Films.
Bara appeared as "Miss EMMY" for the Award Presentation of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Personal life
On July 10, 1952, Bara married Robert B. Sheldon, an assistant television director.[ ] On July 14, 1956, she married Richard Winslow Johnson, a musician. They separated on May 4, 1957, and divorced on April 14, 1958.[ ]
Later years
In the early 1960s, Bara made the dean's honor list at Los Angeles City College, where she majored in psychology.[ ] After leaving show business in the 1960s, she pursued a second career as a librarian, earning a master's degree in library science at the University of Southern California, and then established a corporate library at Blue Cross of Southern California. After retiring from there in 1985, she worked as a substitute in the city library system.
Death
On August 15, 1990, Bara died of cancer at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. She was 70.[ ]
