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Barbara Bach Biography
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Born Barbara Goldbach to Marjorie and Howard Goldbach on August 27, 1947 in the suburbs of Queens, New York. The eldest of five siblings from a family of mixed European heritages, her mother being an Irish Catholic, a Jewish policeman father from Austria and a Romanian grandmother if that wasn't enough. Although from a family of obviously varied heritages, principles, traditions, not to mention - diferent religious beliefs, she went and attended an All-girls Catholic Convent school in Long Island, that could have undoubtedly have been as strict, traditional and as conservative as those could get. Said school is rumored to have been Sarah Lawrence.
Her rise to success began sometime in 1963 at the tender age of sixteen. She dropped her books, her studies and her Catholic school girl uniform to pursue a career in modeling. Shortening her lastname to "Bach" from Goldblach, marked the start of her journey to what would eventually become a very succesfull and fruitfull career as a model with the Eileen Ford Agency. In less than a year of leaving behind all that she knew for what she wanted, her name, face and Ms. Bach's all together, literally, still "young", "just-starting-out" career quickly gained immence momentum that captured the attention of both the general public and the industry she now a part of, fuelling only a train, a few hundreds of hours earlier, was just only running on steam. Soon enough, Barbara Bach was considered and ranked amongst the top, leading American models of her time.
By age 18 she had already been on Seventeen magazine's cover and regulary graced almost every other magazine cover there is. These routine-like stints and bookings as the face on a certain publication's cover, opened up even bigger opportunities that would subsequently lead Ms.Bach to travell all throughout Europe on assignments that could'nt have possibly hurt her now, even more brighter career as a model and as an American Beauty.
In 1966, while back in her home town of New York, she met her soon-to-be firt husband, Italian businessman-producer Augusto Gregorino. Two years after they fisrt met, they got married and moved back to Rome, Italy in 1968. Augusto was ten years her senior and Mrs. Barbara Gregorino might have just been in her late teens or could just have recently turned twenty if she wasn't still eighteen or nineteen when they tied the knot.
Born to them were a daughter which they named Francesca on August 7, 1969. Francesca would later attend Brown University and is now a song-writer. Again blessed four years after their first born, this time it was a boy. Gianni arrived in 1973. Sadly, years later the boy was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Augusto had him treated and cared for with the best money could buy at the time and Gianni underwent a corrective operation in America.
Augusto came from a good family and Barbara had no trouble of adapting to her new environment and new way of life. In fact, she was so good at adapting to any given situation, it might very well be the reason for her acheiving everything that she has achieved in such a very short time. On the otherhand, adapting too well might also lead someone to actually be so complacent to forget who they are or were. - "He was 10 years older than me and he was from a wonderful family…Living in another country for 10 years, speaking their language, I almost had a completely different identity."
It was during those years in Rome that she got into acting. While walking the streets of Rome, she would regularly be asked if she would be interested in doing something on TV. One casual querry was of an Italian director, Franco Rossi, who saw her doing just that, walking. Walked over and casually asked if she'd do the Odyssey. Though she had little experience in acting save for the TV commercials she'd done before. Armed with only an understanding of the difference between a still camera, a motion camera and the only "training" she could ever consider she has for acting was six month's worth of collected observations from memory at an actor's studio while still busy modeling that she had to give it up all together and never saw it through the six months. Again, her ability to adapt, open-minded eagerness to learn or try new things and ultimately her courage to face anything, all lead her(as in the past)to conquer this task and pull through it successfully.
Barbara was back modeling again when she was again approached by another director who'd just seen her in Franco Rossi's film and thought, physically, she would be perfect for the film he was working on. This next film she had just agreed on doing could be considered her "acting boot camp" or a sort of"hands-on crash course in acting" if you may, moving even closer into acting. Just as luck would have it, the director also teaches drama, how convenient right? But that wasn't the end of it, wouldn't you have guessed it?! ... - cast in the same film with her were two young italians straight out of the theatre. "... I picked up so many things from those people."
Before she did any international films, Barabara mostly had roles or parts on Italian B-movies, where until today she remains an icon for cult followers and fans alike of Italian b-movies or b-movies in general for that matter. This was from the periods 1971 to 1975.
In 1975, the Gregorini's seperated, Barbara flew back home to America along with their children. By the time their divorce was finalized, she had now ammassed a body of work while in Italy that her B-movies now overshadowed her popularity as a model and she was now widely considered an actress. But no role is more iconic and forever etched onto pop culture as her portrayal of Anya Amasova in the 1977 film " The Spy who Loved Me", oppositte roger moore as James Bond. An arguement only for the Italian B-movie cult followers of her films but her appearance on this particular Bond franchise is widely considered her finest moment, thank god they got it on film! The film instantly cutupulted her to international sex symbol status, she was even featured on a very popular issue of Playboy Magazine.
- "I never felt I was a fantastic beauty and I did not want to be known as a sex symbol. I had different parts offered to me where I was to play attractive, sexy people, but I was not interested."
In 1978, she took on parts on films of the b-movie sort, small monster-mutant thriller flicks and on one of these sets she met her new love cinematographer, Roberto Quezada.
In 1965, at the Shea Stadium in New york, she chaperoned her younger sister to a beatles concert and she didnt really like them that much, musically, barbara was more on the soul side of it, prefferred Ray charles and Aretha Franklin over this Beatles music. They Officially meet on the set of Caveman in 1980 on which they were co-stars of. Although at the time of their first meeting" both parties were in a relationship, both couldn't hide what each other felt for the other. They go together some time after and really hit it off and some time soon after that on April 27,1981, weeks after the relase of their film Caveman's they got married. The ceremony was performed at the Marylebone Register Office by the same guy who had also performed and joined the McCartneys in marriage years earlier in the exact same building, Joseph Jevons.
Ringgo has three children from his previous marriage, two sons, Zak who was born on September the 13th, 1965,who would grown up to be a musician as well, playing for The Lighning Seeds and The Who, next is Jason, born on August 19, 1967, who is also a musician as well and lastly the youngest of the Starkey siblings is a daughter, Lee. She was born on NOvember 17, 1970 and she now works as a fashion designer.
Barbara Bach has seemingly given up on her acting or modeling career since then and has focused all of her energy and time on their promise to each other to do everything together and to not leave each others sight. Barbara is always with Ringgo on tours, keeping true to her vow. Although at times their being together has gotten them into trouble, it has too gotten them out of it more times than the later.
- "No work has been offered to me that is worth two or three months separation from my family ."
