Born and raised in a small bungalow in Hollywood, Barbara Hershey (born Barbara Herzstein) had dreams of being in movies as a little girl. Quiet and withdrawn, she acted out stories in her back yard. Her major acting debut was on "The Monroes" (1966), where she played Kathy. Her motion picture career began with With Six You Get Eggroll (1968). For the next few years, she was typecast as a "wild child" and tried to live up to that image. She had a rocky relationship with David Carradine, with whom she had a child they named Free. From 1972 to 1974 she changed her name from Barbara Hershey to Barbara Seagull. Her career was resurrected when she appeared in the miniseries "From Here to Eternity" (1979) (mini) and especially the feature The Stunt Man (1980). In that film she played an actress on the edge, which may have been influenced by her own life. Based upon her strong performance, other roles in quality films followed: The Right Stuff (1983); The Natural (1984); Hoosiers (1986) and Beaches (1988). A two-time winner of the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award, for her work in Shy People (1987) and A World Apart (1988), she also won an Emmy for her performance in A Killing in a Small Town (1990) (TV).

Turned down the role that eventually went to Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction (1987).

Member of the drill team and pom-pom squad in high school.

She has one child, a son she named Free. He later changed his name to Tom. His father is David Carradine.

Currently lives with her partner, actor Naveen Andrews from the TV series "Lost" (2004), who is 21 years her junior.

The first (and as of 2006 the only) performer to win back to back acting awards at the Cannes Film Festival.

Daughter of Arnold Herzstein.

Mother of Tom Carradine.

As of 2007, she is the only woman to be cast twice in a major role in a movie by Martin Scorsese. The two movies are The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Boxcar Bertha (1972).