Barbara Trentham
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Barbara Trentham (born Barbara Lynn Schilling; August 27, 1944August 2, 2013) was an American model and actress. In the early 1970s, her photo appeared on many prominent magazine covers, including the British edition of ''Vogue''. As an actress, she starred in the 1975 film '' Rollerball'', and had supporting roles in numerous other 1970s films. Trentham was married to actor-comedian
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...
.


Early life

Trentham, who was born Barbara Lynn Schilling in 1944 in the
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
borough of New York City, moved with her parents as a child to Connecticut. She attended
Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...
in
South Hadley, Massachusetts South Hadley (, ) is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,150 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts. South Hadle ...
, from which she graduated in 1966 and then moved to England to study at the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. At Oxford she met fellow student Giles Trentham; they married in 1967 and she retained his name after their divorce in 1970.


Career

In the early 1970s, Trentham worked as a model in London. Her photo appeared several times on the cover pages of British magazines including '' Seventeen'' and '' Vogue''. In 1972 she landed a supporting role in the horror thriller '' The Possession of Joel Delaney''. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career. She starred in the science fiction film '' Rollerball'' in 1975. In 1976 she performed in the action drama '' Sky Riders'' and had a cameo in the British-German television series ''The Girl from Outer Space''. In 1978, she appeared in the produced-for-television horror film ''Death Moon'' and 1979 in an episode of the adventure series '' A Man Called Sloane''.


Personal life

In 1980, while working in Los Angeles as a reporter and producer of '' Those Amazing Animals'', she met English actor and comedian
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...
at a
Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...
performance. They married in 1981; their daughter Camilla was born in 1984. In 1987, the couple separated and three years later they divorced. During her marriage to Cleese her love for art was reawakened and she began a third career as a painter, her preferred medium being
oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. Oil paint also has practical advantages over other paints, mainly because it is waterproof. The earliest surviving ...
. In 1993 she moved to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, where she met the lawyer George Covington. The two married in 1998 and lived in Lake Bluff, Illinois. She built up an art studio which became the meeting place and source of inspiration for local artists. She was also co-founder of Artists on the Bluff, a non-profit organization for artists. She was a member of the Art Association of
Jackson Hole Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre Range, Gros Ventre and Teton Range, Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, Wyoming, T ...
, and organized events and art fairs there. From watercolor and acrylic to oil painting, Trentham produced pieces featuring both figures and landscapes.


Death

Barbara Trentham died on August 2, 2013, at
Northwestern Memorial Hospital Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) is a nationally ranked academic medical center located on Northwestern University's Campus of Northwestern University, Chicago campus in Streeterville, Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship campus for Nort ...
in Chicago, aged 68, from complications from
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
.


Selected filmography

* 1972: '' The Possession of Joel Delaney'' – Sherry * 1975: '' Rollerball'' – Daphne * 1976: '' Sky Riders'' – Della * 1976: ''The Girl from Outer Space'' (Star Maidens) (TV series, one episode) – Theda * 1978: ''Wolf Moon'' (Death Moon) (TV movie) – Diane May * 1979: '' A Man Called Sloane'' (TV series, one episode) – Reporter (final television appearance)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trentham, Barbara 1944 births 2013 deaths Alumni of the Ruskin School of Art American film actresses 20th-century American women painters 20th-century American painters 21st-century American women painters 21st-century American painters Deaths from leukemia in Illinois Mount Holyoke College alumni Actresses from Brooklyn 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Connecticut Painters from New York (state) People from Weston, Connecticut People from Lake Bluff, Illinois Staples High School alumni