Barbara Lang (film actress)

After having poliomyelitis[2] Lang was told that she might never walk again. She turned to the Bible during this time and credited faith for performing a miracle.[2] 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.[2]

She first came to the attention of Hollywood producers with appearances in six Death Valley Days episodes (1955–1956). In 1957, she signed a contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer[3] 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.[3] 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.

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.