Barbara Baldavin Is Dead at 85

Image: Paramount Global

She was perhaps best known as Nurse Holmby on 51 episodes of CBS’s Medical Center. After 85 years and lots of other television appearances and casting work, Barbara Baldavin died Sunday of congestive heart failure at her home in Manhattan Beach, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Star Trek fans, though, know her from three appearances in Star Trek: The Original Series. She was Angela in “Balance of Terror” and “Shore Leave,” and a communications officer in “Turnabout Intruder.” In a deleted scene, Baldavin played Yeoman Baker in “Space Seed.”

Baldavin was born in Quincy, Massachusetts and attended El Camino College in Torrance, California. She also studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute.

Baldavin married Star Trek casting director Joseph D’Agosta and became a casting director herself, including shows such as Matt Houston and Trapper John, M.D.

Quoted in Marc Cushman’s These Are the Voyages, Joseph D’Agosta said, “I never used my position to force [Barbara] on anybody. In fact, just the opposite; I always resisted casting [her]. But all of my producer and director friends, including Gene and Bruce [Geller], always encouraged me to hire her. All of these producers and directors seemed to have wives who were a little on the straight side, kinda just upright-types. Barbara was playful and sexy and fun…. So I’d make suggestions for parts and they’d say, ‘What about Barbara?’ And I’d say, ‘Look, are you sure you don’t want to hire this one over here?’ They’d say, ‘No, let’s just get Barbara.’

Her other acting roles include were in such shows as Rawhide, The Fugitive, Columbo, Mannix, Adam-12, Toma, The F.B.I., McMillan & Wife, Baretta, Barnaby Jones, Charlie’s Angels, and Fantasy Island.

For more on the life and career of Barbara Baldavin, head over to The Hollywood Reporter, then go watch her episodes and join us in offering our condolences to her friends and family.