Rona Barrett
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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
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. 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
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television station
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. 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 ''
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'' 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 ''
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'' 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
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) in
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. 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