Barbara Hershey

I don't think I've ever done a fantasy before and I've always loved them. I always think they're essential, that's why they've lasted. I'm attracted to it and it seemed to be a juicy, fun role to be able to wave your hand flying away. I like this series a lot. Why wouldn't I do it?

—Barbara Hershey ^src

Barbara Hershey is the American actor who portrays Cora on ABC's Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.

Biography

Barbara Lynn Herzstein,^[3] professionally known as Barbara Hershey, was born on February 5, 1948 in Hollywood, California.^[1] Her parents are Arkansas native Melrose Moore of Presbyterian Irish background, and New York-born horse racing statistician Arnold Nathan Herzstein,^[3] who has Hungarian and Russian roots.^[4]

As the youngest of three siblings, Barbara was a quiet and fearful school girl^[5] with dreams of a career as an actor. During high school, a drama teacher helped her find an acting agent in Hollywood, and at age seventeen, she was cast in the television series, Gidget. After earning her diploma from Hollywood High School, she found work on another television series called, The Monroes, starring alongside of Michael Anderson Jr. Soon, Barbara was also working in the film industry on such films as, With Six You Get Eggroll, Heaven with a Gun, The Baby Maker, The Pursuit of Happiness and Boxer Bertha.^[6]

Her career has lasted over fifty years in the industry and many of her earlier roles filling the character of a wild child. As Barbara grew older, she regained some respect in Hollywood with her role on the miniseries, From Here to Eternity and was also on the big screen in such films as, The Stunt Man, The Right Stuff, The Natural starring Robert Redford, Hoosiers, Hannah and Her Sisters, Beaches, Shy People and A World Apart. For the last two film roles, she won two Best Actress Awards at the Cannes Film Festival.^[6]

Barbara regained popularity in the 1990s on the television miniseries, A Killing in a Small Town for which she was awarded an Emmy as well as a Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Lead Actress. In 1992, she was cast in another mini-series, Stay the Night, and again in 1993 for Return to Lonesome Dove. Following her appearance in The Portrait of a Lady, she received an Academy Award nomination and won a Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. Some of her later roles include on television films Daniel Deronda, Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, and Murder on the Orient Express. In movies, she made appearances in Drowning on Dry Land, Answers to Nothing,^[6] Black Swan as well as supernatural horror Insidious and its sequel.

She has one son, Tom, who was born with the name Free, from a long-term relationship with actor David Carradine.^[5]

Trivia

Although born under the last name Herzstein, and took on the name Hershey during her acting career, she has also been credited under the name Barbara Seagull.^[6]
Voiced the Queen of Hearts in "Hat Trick" although the role was played by Jennifer Koenig.^[2]
After the announcement that the seventh season would be the final season of the series, she wrote the following on Twitter:

I had a great time on this show, with all of the lovely people on it and behind it! So enjoyed being Cora. Love to Eddy, Adam, Lana, Rebecca, Colin and everyone. And the wonderful fans of the show.❤️^[7]

Appearances

Once Upon a Time: Season One
"Pilot":	"The Thing You Love Most":	"Snow Falls":	"The Price of Gold":	"That Still Small Voice":	"The Shepherd":	"The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter":	"Desperate Souls":	"True North":	"7:15 A.M.":	"Fruit of the Poisonous Tree":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Skin Deep":	"What Happened to Frederick":	"Dreamy":	"Red-Handed":	"Heart of Darkness":	"Hat Trick":	"The Stable Boy":	"The Return":	"The Stranger":	"An Apple Red as Blood":	"A Land Without Magic":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Voice Only	Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

Once Upon a Time: Season Two
"Broken":	"We Are Both":	"Lady of the Lake":	"The Crocodile":	"The Doctor":	"Tallahassee":	"Child of the Moon":	"Into the Deep":	"Queen of Hearts":	"The Cricket Game":	"The Outsider":
Absent	Appears	Appears	Appears	Archive	Absent	Absent	Appears	Appears	Appears	Absent
"In the Name of the Brother":	"Tiny":	"Manhattan":	"The Queen Is Dead":	"The Miller's Daughter":	"Welcome to Storybrooke":	"Selfless, Brave and True":	"Lacey":	"The Evil Queen":	"Second Star to the Right":	"And Straight On 'Til Morning":
Appears	Absent	Appears	Appears	Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

Once Upon a Time: Season Four
"A Tale of Two Sisters":	"White Out":	"Rocky Road":	"The Apprentice":	"Breaking Glass":	"Family Business":	"The Snow Queen":	"Smash the Mirror":	"Fall":	"Shattered Sight":	"Heroes and Villains":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Darkness on the Edge of Town":	"Unforgiven":	"Enter the Dragon":	"Poor Unfortunate Soul":	"Best Laid Plans":	"Heart of Gold":	"Sympathy for the De Vil":	"Lily":	"Mother":	"Operation Mongoose Part 1":	"Operation Mongoose Part 2":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Appears	Absent	Absent

Once Upon a Time: Season Five
"The Dark Swan":	"The Price":	"Siege Perilous":	"The Broken Kingdom":	"Dreamcatcher":	"The Bear and the Bow":	"Nimue":	"Birth":	"The Bear King":	"Broken Heart":	"Swan Song":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Archive	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Souls of the Departed":	"Labor of Love":	"Devil's Due":	"The Brothers Jones":	"Our Decay":	"Her Handsome Hero":	"Ruby Slippers":	"Sisters":	"Firebird":	"Last Rites":	"Only You":	"An Untold Story":
Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

Once Upon a Time: Season Seven
"Hyperion Heights":	"A Pirate's Life":	"The Garden of Forking Paths":	"Beauty":	"Greenbacks":	"Wake Up Call":	"Eloise Gardener":	"Pretty in Blue":	"One Little Tear":	"The Eighth Witch":	"Secret Garden":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"A Taste of the Heights":	"Knightfall":	"The Girl in the Tower":	"Sisterhood":	"Breadcrumbs":	"Chosen":	"The Guardian":	"Flower Child":	"Is This Henry Mills?":	"Homecoming":	"Leaving Storybrooke":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Archive

*Once Upon a Time in Wonderland*
"Down the Rabbit Hole":	"Trust Me":	"Forget Me Not":	"The Serpent":	"Heart of Stone":	"Who's Alice":	"Bad Blood":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Home":	"Nothing to Fear":	"Dirty Little Secrets":	"Heart of the Matter":	"To Catch a Thief":	"And They Lived...":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Appears	Absent	Absent

Once Upon a Time: Specials
"Magic is Coming":	"The Price of Magic":	"Journey to Neverland":	"Wicked is Coming":	"Storybrooke Has Frozen Over":
Archive	Archive	Archive	Archive	Archive
"Secrets of Storybrooke":	"Dark Swan Rises":	"Evil Reigns Once More":	"The Final Battle Begins":
Archive	Absent	Archive	Archive

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

External links

Barbara Hershey on Internet Movie Database
Barbara Hershey on Wikipedia
@BarbaraHershey8 (Barbara Hershey) on X, formerly Twitter

References

[barbarafilm-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 http://www.filmreference.com/film/40/Barbara-Hershey.html

[hat-2] 2.0 ^2.1 The Official ABC Once Upon a Time Podcast: "Queen of Hearts". ABC (2012). (At 04:04)

[tvguide-3] 3.0 ^3.1 http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/barbara-hershey/bio/141147

[4] ttps://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.2/92MX-JBR/p_585086622

[people-5] 5.0 ^5.1 http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20073752,00.html

[matinee-6] 6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 http://matineeclassics.com/celebrities/actors/barbara_hershey/details/

[7] ttps://twitter.com/BarbaraHershey8/status/960997185721544705

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