Barbara Read was an American actress, primarily active during the 1930s and 1940s. She achieved international fame for her role as Nan Taylor in the successful 1936 musical comedy *Three Smart Girls*, a film that received three Academy Award nominations and launched the career of Deanna Durbin. Read subsequently solidified her career with significant roles in films of various genres, including the crime film *The Shadow Strikes* (1937), the drama *Sorority House* (1939), in which she starred, and the acclaimed western *Western Union* (1941), directed by Fritz Lang. Despite a promising start, her film career gradually declined during the 1940s. After playing a few minor roles in the early 1950s, she permanently retired from acting.