Rona Barrett (born Rona Burstein, October 8, 1936) is an American
gossip columnist and businesswoman. She runs the Rona Barrett Foundation, a non-profit organization in
Santa Ynez, California, dedicated to the aid and support of senior citizens in need.
Early life and career
Barrett was born on October 8, 1936, into a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
As a teenager, she overcame a degenerative hip condition that made walking extremely difficult, and organized fan clubs for popular singers she admired, such as
Eddie Fisher and
Steve Lawrence.
She became a gossip columnist for the
Bell-McClure Syndicate in 1957, and soon went to work for
Bob Marcucci, the manager for teen idols
Frankie Avalon
Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American singer, actor and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including Record ...
and
Fabian.
In 1966, she began broadcasting
Hollywood gossip on the
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
television station
KABC-TV
KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station mai ...
. She could be seen on TV regularly, appearing on
ABC's five owned and operated stations around the country.
WABC-TV in New York put her pre-recorded gossip segment into its nightly local news, but anchor
Roger Grimsby generally introduced it by making disparaging comments about her.
Barrett made
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
's enemies list by criticizing his personal life, particularly his relationships with his children. Barrett also angered actor
Ryan O'Neal after she wrote some unflattering things about him. To retaliate, he supposedly sent her a box containing a live
tarantula
Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...
. She developed the first in-depth personal TV specials about film, television, music, sports and political celebrities, and she had a series of magazines on the entertainment industry that were top-rated at newsstands, including ''Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing but the Truth'', published by
Laufer Media. She also appeared on
''Jack Paar Tonite'', where she clashed with
Clement Freud
Sir Clement Raphael Freud (24 April 1924 – 15 April 2009) was a British media personality, broadcaster, writer, politician and chef. The son of Ernst L. Freud and grandson of Sigmund Freud, Clement moved to the United Kingdom from Nazi Germany ...
.
Barrett began appearing on ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' in 1975. In 1980, she moved to NBC's ''
Today Show'' and was signed to co-host NBC's ''
Tomorrow'' with
Tom Snyder, but a public feud with Snyder, who regarded her as a correspondent rather than a co-host and refused to allow her segment to lead the show even when she had a major interview, resulted in her quitting the program in June 1981. She attempted other projects at
NBC that either were rejected by the network as too costly or which, in the case of ''Television: Inside and Out'', were relegated to poor timeslots.
After leaving NBC, Barrett was senior correspondent for ''
Entertainment Tonight
''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...
'' from 1983 to 1986. In 1989, she briefly returned to NBC to host 10 episodes of the morning show ''At Rona's''. In 1990, she made a guest appearance as an interviewer at
WWF's
WrestleMania VI at
Skydome (now
Rogers Centre
Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a retractable roof stadium in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, it is home to t ...
) in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
.
In 1991, she retired from the media and moved to her ranch in Santa Ynez,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, where she devoted her time running the Rona Barrett Foundation, an advocacy group for underserved senior citizens.
Acting
Barrett also made occasional film appearances, playing cameo roles in ''
The Phynx'' (1970), ''
Sextette'' (1978) and ''
Mannix
''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that originally aired for eight seasons on CBS from September 16, 1967, to March 13, 1975. The show was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer ...
'' (Season 1, Episode 15; Season 8, Episode 12).
Books
In 1972, her novel titled ''The Lovo-maniacs'' was published. Her autobiography ''Miss Rona,'' was published in 1974. It began: "An ''inch'', Rona. Please, just let me put it in one inch!" as an unnamed famous actor pleaded to be allowed to experience a modicum of sexual intercourse with her. In the book, she acknowledged having a nose job and discussed details of her teenage fan club involvements and her work with Frankie Avalon's management. She wrote the book ''How You Can Look Rich and Achieve Sexual Ecstasy'' (1978).
Honors
In 2009, a Golden Palm Star on the
Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her.
Commercial ventures
Barrett founded the Rona Barrett Lavender Company in Santa Ynez, California, as a producer of lavender bath, beauty, food and
aromatherapy products. The company follows a model of using celebrity-branded consumer goods to generate funds and raise awareness of a non-profit cause. A portion of all company proceeds were donated to the Rona Barrett Foundation. According to the foundation's website, they have ceased selling lavender products and the company has been sold.
Barrett started The Rona Barrett Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the aid and support of senior citizens in need, that was supported by a 2% portion of the profits from her lavender business until it ceased production. The foundation only takes direct donations and is working on building a village named "the Golden Inn and Cottages" for seniors in need of proper housing and care facilities. As of May 2012, it was a pilot program that was still under development. Now, in 2025 the Golden Inn and Cottages is a thriving housing community for low-income seniors.
Personal life
Barrett was married to Bill Trowbridge from September 22, 1973, until their divorce on October 19, 1982. They later reconciled and remained together until his death in 2001.
In 1986, she bought a ranch at
Santa Ynez and began commuting to Los Angeles.
On February 14, 2008, she married Daniel Busby.
Barrett spent much of her life suppressing her Jewish heritage.
When she introduced herself at the agency, she switched her birth surname to the less Jewish-sounding Barrett.
Filmography
Film
Television
PPV
References
Sources
*
*
External links
* , official website of the Rona Barrett Foundation
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Rona
1936 births
Living people
20th-century American businesswomen
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American memoirists
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American women journalists
20th-century American women philanthropists
20th-century American philanthropists
20th-century people from California
20th-century people from New York (state)
21st-century American businesswomen
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American memoirists
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American women journalists
21st-century American women philanthropists
21st-century American philanthropists
21st-century people from California
21st-century people from New York (state)
ABC News people
American gossip columnists
American relationships and sexuality writers
American self-help writers
American women columnists
American women company founders
American women memoirists
American women novelists
American women television journalists
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Philanthropists from Los Angeles
Businesspeople from New York City
Jewish American memoirists
Jewish American novelists
Jewish women writers
Jews from California
Jews from New York (state)
Journalists from Los Angeles
Journalists from New York City
NBC News people
Novelists from Los Angeles
Novelists from New York City
People from Santa Barbara County, California
Philanthropists from New York City
Television personalities from Los Angeles
Television personalities from New York City