Career
In the series executive-produced by Hal Roach, Arthur Lake reprised the role of Dagwood, first essayed in the feature films produced by Columbia Pictures in the 1930s-1940’son “Blondie” was played in the television series by Pamela Britton. Barnes played the Bumsteads" daughter as a bright, precocious girl, full of worldly wisdom, and terribly fond of cake.
The energetic actress would often dance her way into and out of scenes.
When Blondie was cancelled after 28 episodes, Ann found part-time work as a bit player in other television series, with Leave it to Beaver and My Three Sons being two of the series in which the actress has been positively identified. Several other performances remain unverified.
When even these acting roles dried up, Barnes took a brief stab at a recording career, recording a bouncy popular ballad called "Whispering Wind," circa 1962. Recording under the name Dixie Ann Barnes, she sang about every teenage girl"s lament: puppy love.
"Whispering Wind" can be found on the popular Civil Defense anthologies Soda People’s Babies and Restless Doll.
Barnes is pictured on the cover of Soda People’s Babies. According to the liner notes in Soda People’s Babies, Barnes was crowned the "Princess of Hollywood" for April, 1962, by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. In her adult life, she rarely spoke about her years in show business, and reclaimed her birth name of Dixie Ann Cheney.
Barnes eventually returned to her birth town of Lansing, Michigan, to retire.
She died on September 13, 2005. According to Petersen, the body of this forgotten, exploited talent was not discovered for almost a week.
Entitled "When Sparrows Fall," Petersen recounts the tragic lives and obscure deaths of two underappreciated child actors, Ann Barnes and Tommy Bond.
