What is Barbara Hershey's Net Worth?
Barbara Hershey is an American actress who has a net worth of $4 million. Barbara Hershey is known for her performances in such films as "Hannah and Her Sisters," "Shy People," "The Last Temptation of Christ," "Beaches," "The Portrait of a Lady," and "Black Swan." She has also acted on television, having had main roles on such shows as "The Monroes," "Chicago Hope," and "The Mountain." Additionally, Hershey has appeared in many television films, including 1990's "A Killing in a Small Town," for which she won Emmy and Golden Globe Awards.
Early Life and Education
Barbara Hershey was born as Barbara Herzstein on February 5, 1948 in Los Angeles, California as the youngest of three children of Melrose and Arnold. She is of Hungarian and Russian Jewish descent on her father's side, and of Scots-Irish Presbyterian descent on her mother's side. Hershey attended Hollywood High School, and dreamed of becoming an actress.
Film Career, 1968-1989
In 1968, Hershey made her film debut in the romantic comedy "With Six You Get Eggroll." The next year, she appeared in the Western "Heaven with a Gun" and the teen drama "Last Summer." In the early 1970s, Hershey had roles in such films as "The Liberation of L.B. Jones," "The Baby Maker," "The Pursuit of Happiness," "Love Comes Quietly," and "The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder." She also starred as the titular character in Martin Scorsese's romantic crime drama "Boxcar Bertha." Starting around 1973, she used the name Barbara Seagull. In the latter half of the decade, she appeared in "Diamonds," "You and Me," "The Last Hard Men," and "Trial by Combat," and began going by Barbara Hershey again. Kicking off the 1980s, she appeared in the Peter O'Toole action comedy film "The Stunt Man." Hershey's subsequent credits were "Americana," "Take This Job and Shove It," "The Entity," "The Right Stuff," and "The Natural."
In 1986, Hershey appeared in two major films: Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters" and the basketball drama "Hoosiers." For the former film, she earned a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Hershey continued earning significant acclaim for her performances during the remainder of the decade. In 1987, she won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in "Shy People"; she won the award again the very next year, alongside her costars Jodhi May and Linda Mvusi, for her work in "A World Apart." Hershey next appeared in Garry Marshall's "Beaches" and Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ," both in 1988. For her portrayal of Mary Magdalene in the latter film, she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
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Film Career in the 1990s and 21st Century
In the early 1990s, Hershey appeared in such films as "Tune in Tomorrow," "Defenseless," "The Public Eye," "Falling Down," "Splitting Heirs," and "A Dangerous Woman." She then starred alongside Tom Berenger in the 1995 Western "Last of the Dogmen." The year after that, Hershey played Madame Serena Merle in Jane Campion's "The Portrait of a Lady," for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She went on to appear in "Frogs for Snakes," "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries," "Breakfast of Champions," "Passion," and "Drowning on Dry Land" during the rest of the decade.
Hershey's first film role of the new millennium was in the 2001 Australian-German drama "Lantana." Her subsequent credits were "11:14" and the Stephen King adaptation "Riding the Bullet." Later in the decade, Hershey appeared in "The Bird Can't Fly," "Love Comes Lately," "Uncross the Stars," and "Childless." In 2010, she played the imperious mother of Natalie Portman's main character in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan," and received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The same year, Hershey appeared in James Wan's "Insidious"; she later reprised her role in the 2013 sequel "Insidious: Chapter 2." Her other credits include the mystery drama "Answers to Nothing," the drama "Sister," the supernatural thrillers "The 9th Life of Louis Drax" and "The Manor," and the action thriller "9 Bullets."
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Television Career
Hershey first appeared on television in a few episodes of "Gidget" in the mid-1960s. Shortly after that, she had a main role on the ABC Western series "The Monroes," which ran from 1966 to 1967. Hershey went on to appear in episodes of such shows as "Daniel Boone," "Run for Your Life," "The Invaders," "The High Chaparral," and "Insight." In 1974, she appeared in two episodes of "Kung Fu," starring her boyfriend David Carradine. Hershey then acted in a string of television films, including "Flood!," "Just a Little Inconvenience," and "A Man Called Intrepid." In the 1980s, she appeared in episodes of the anthology series "American Playhouse," "Faerie Tale Theatre," and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." Hershey began her television career in the 1990s with a lead role in the television film "A Killing in a Small Town," for which she won both Emmy and Golden Globe Awards. She subsequently starred in the television films "Stay the Night" and "Abraham," and appeared in three episodes of the miniseries "Return to Lonesome Dove." At the end of the decade, Hershey joined the cast of "Chicago Hope" for the show's sixth and final season, playing cardiac surgeon Francesca Alberghetti.
From 2004 to 2005, Hershey had a main role on the short-lived WB series "The Mountain." A few years after that, she appeared in the television film "Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning," the fourth and final film in Sullivan Entertainment's "Anne of Green Gables" series. Hershey went on to appear in an episode of "Agatha Christie's Poirot" in 2010. She had her next major role on the ABC fantasy series "Once Upon a Time," playing the villainous Queen of Hearts from 2012 to 2016. In the latter year, Hershey had a main role on the short-lived A&E series "Damien," based on the horror film "The Omen." She next appeared in three episodes of the rebooted "The X-Files" in 2018. Among Hershey's other notable television credits is a main role on the short-lived Spectrum Originals series "Paradise Lost," which aired in 2020.
Personal Life
From 1968 to 1975, Hershey was in a relationship with actor David Carradine, whom she had first met on the set of the film "Heaven with a Gun." The couple had a son named Free who eventually changed his name to Tom. Hershey and Carradine broke up amid the latter's affair with actress Season Hubley. During this time, Hershey's life was highly publicized, with her free-spirited sensibilities drawing ridicule from the media. She gradually became more of a private person, and in 1992 married artist Stephen Douglas in a small ceremony at her home in Oxford, Connecticut. The pair divorced the following year. In the late '90s, Hershey began dating actor Naveen Andrews; they remained together until late 2009.
