Veteran TV character actress Barbara Colby was cast and appeared as the title character’s’ boss, Julie Erskin, on the 1970s sitcom Phyllis for only the first three episodes of the show, before the role was taken over by Liz Torres. Barbara didn’t quit or get fired. Tragically, she only lived long enough to film the first three episodes of the show. She was shot to death, along with a fellow actor friend, on July 24, 1975 as they were walking to their car after an acting class. The murders, seemingly a random shooting without motive, remain unsolved to this day. Read the details at FindaDeath.com. Above is Barbara in the debut episode of Phyllis, which was a spinoff of the then-top-rated Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Rather than write Barbara’s character out of the show and introduce a new character to fill the role of Phyllis’ boss, the producers simply choose to “pull a Darrin on Bewitched” and cast a different actress to play the role of Julie Erskin for the remainder of the character’s run. I suppose they simply found that easier than explaining Julie Erskine’s sudden and early departure. Ironically, after the show’s ratings slumped toward the end of its first season, it was reworked for the second season, with the Julie Erskin character being dropped. It was explained that she suddenly married, sold the photography studio and moved, which left Phyllis to carry on, find a new job, and eventually drive the final nail into the show’s coffin.
Phyllis ran on CBS from 1975-77. Had Barbara lived, it’s this writer’s opinion that she would have stayed in the role of Julie Erskin for the second season and perhaps even carried the show to at least a third season.
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About the author
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Chris flirted with the music business there and in Nashville before joining the U.S. Army and serving in South Korea. He remained in Asia for several years afterwards, teaching English, traveling, and covering the regional entertainment scenes. Currently in a mindset between Seoul and San Francisco, besides Idol Features, you can also catch his writings in the print edition of the monthly magazine, Effective.
I remember hearing of her murder on the TV news when I was in jr. high school. I was a big fan of the Mary Tyler Moore show so I also watched her spinoffs, Rhoda and Phyllis. I agree Phyllis would have continued longer had Barbara lived. So tragic. Wasn’t there speculation that her ex may have had her killed?
To this day, there are “armchair detectives” who suspect Barbara’s ex-husband, who is the son of singer Ethel Merman, may have been involved, but it was reported their divorce was amicable and, assuming the police still investigated that angle, he was never publicly named as a suspect.
She played a store owner who ends up getting murdered in my favorite episode of Columbo, “Murder by the Book.”