Barbara Eden “Hid Away” In Dressing Room When Larry Hagman Threw Tantrums On ‘I Dream Of Jeannie’

Be very careful what you wish for. It’s not uncommon to want a job that’s exciting, but sometimes the set of I Dream of Jeannie got far too intense, and according to the titular genie Barbara Eden, her co-star Larry Hagman was a big source of drama in the studio, to the point she hid in her dressing room when things got tense because of him.

Eden starred in NBC’s I Dream of Jeannie from 1965 to 1970. Also appearing in all 139 episodes was Hagman as Major Anthony Nelson, the man a bit in over his head after letting the genie out of the bottle. The two mastered a natural chemistry that viewers loved to watch each week, but like many couples before and after the fictional pair, their respective actors also had a few conflicts, reportedly fueled by Hagman’s temperamental nature.

Larry Hagman brought chemistry and conflict to the ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ set

92-year-old Eden has told her magical story in her book Jeannie Out of the Bottle, which was released back in April 2011. It details her illustrious – and sometimes very unexpected – career milestones and grants readers an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at filming I Dream of Jeannie.

RELATED: Barbara Eden Celebrates 92nd Birthday With Husband, Friends, And Fans

“For Larry Hagman, the I Dream of Jeannie years were not happy ones,” claimed Eden in her book. “To this day, I believe he prefers to be remembered for his role as J.R. Ewing in Dallas rather than for his role as Major Tony Nelson.”

She continued, “In many ways, Larry was like a very talented, troubled child whose tantrums sometimes got the better of his self-control. But when it came to [director] Gene Nelson… Larry hit hard and often.”

Barbara Eden recalls how she hid in her dressing room when Larry Hagman started to stir up conflicts

Nelson, who died in 1996, was a director, actor, dancer, and screenwriter. He directed the whole first season of I Dream of Jeannie and was responsible for several episodes of the original Star Trek as well as Gunsmoke. Although Nelson and Eden were actually good friends, working on I Dream of Jeannie would come with some unique problems.

“I tried to avoid becoming involved in their clash,” recalled Eden of the way Hagman would butt heads a lot with Nelson in particular; the sharp retorts were exchanged with equal zeal from Nelson. “It was patently obvious that there was a lot of nastiness flying back and forth between the two of them.”

“Whenever a battle between Larry and Gene appeared to be on the horizon, I just hid away in my dressing room,” Eden revealed. “This was the only way I could survive the storms and conflicts that regularly raged on set. In fact, I retreated to my dressing room so often that many times I honestly didn’t know what was brewing on the set.” Sometimes, she did a proper vanishing act, minus the pink smoke, that would make Jeannie proud, and she would be missing in action for long stretches of time.

She didn’t have to resort to hiding for the entirety of the show’s run, however. “It was clear that a showdown between Gene and Larry was imminent,” her memoir outlined. “Unbeknownst to me, Larry decided to precipitate that showdown by issuing an ultimatum to [show creator] Sidney [Sheldon]: ‘Either Gene goes or I do.’ … Then, without putting it into so many words, [Sheldon] threw the gauntlet at my feet.”

Sheldon asked Eden outright how she would feel if Hagman were replaced. She answered honestly, “Sidney, I feel it would be a big mistake to replace Larry. He really does his job, once the camera is rolling.” Faster than blinking, Nelson was let go of. Unfortunately, “[Nelson] never forgave me for siding with Larry, which was how he saw it. He never talked to me again. Larry had gotten what he wanted.”

However, Eden would have few words of resentment for her volatile colleague and even sang his praises as a talented actor whenever the occasion arose.