Barbara Cason

Barbara Cason (November 15, 1928 – June 18, 1990) was an American character actress born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Helen Louise (Phebus) and Charles Carroll Cason. She began her professional life in Memphis during the 1950s, working in theatre and local television and co-founding the Front St. Theatre, which she also helped operate.

In 1967, Cason relocated to New York City and established herself in both Broadway and off-Broadway productions through the early 1970s. Her Broadway credits included Jimmy Shine, The Persecution and Assassination of Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade, An Enemy of the People, and In the Night Watch, spanning the years 1967 to 1972. Among her most prominent New York stage work was her role in the original production of Noël Coward's Oh, Coward!, a critically acclaimed show that ran in 1972–73.

During this same period, Cason appeared in several films that have since developed cult followings, including The Honeymoon Killers (1969), Cold Turkey (1971), and House of Dark Shadows (1970), in which she played Mrs. Johnson. She later appeared in Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977). She also had a credit on the summer replacement variety television series Comedy Tonight.

Following the early 1970s, Cason shifted her base of operations to Los Angeles, where her career became concentrated primarily in television. She is particularly remembered for playing Cloris Phebus on Carter Country from 1977 to 1979 and Ruth Shandling on It's Garry Shandling's Show from 1986 until her death in 1990. She had been married to actor Dennis Patrick since 1970. Cason died in Los Angeles on June 18, 1990, following a heart attack, at the age of 61.