1960s–1989 In the late 1960s, Barbeau moved to New York City and worked "for the mob" as a
go-go dancer. She made her Broadway debut in the chorus of
Fiddler on the Roof and later took the role of Hodel, Tevye's daughter;
Bette Midler played her character's sister Tzeitel. She left
Fiddler in 1971 to play the leading role of Cookie Kovac in the off-Broadway nudie musical
Stag Movie. Barbeau, as Cookie Kovac, and
Brad Sullivan, as Rip Cord, were "quite jolly and deserve to be congratulated on the lack of embarrassment they show when, on occasion, they have to wander around stark naked. They may not be sexy but they certainly keep cheerful," wrote
The New York Times theater critic
Clive Barnes in an otherwise negative review. Barbeau went on to appear in more than 25 musicals and plays, including
Women Behind Bars,
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and
Grease. She received a
Theater World Award and a 1972
Tony Award nomination for her portrayal of tough-girl Rizzo in
Grease. During the 1970s, Barbeau starred as Carol Traynor, the daughter of
Bea Arthur's title character, on the comedy series
Maude, which ran from 1972 to 1978 (actress
Marcia Rodd had originated the role of Carol in a 1972 episode of
All in the Family, also titled "Maude," alongside Arthur). In her autobiography,
There Are Worse Things I Could Do, Barbeau remarked: "What I didn't know is that when I said [my lines] I was usually walking down a flight of stairs and no one was even listening to me. They were just watching my breasts precede me." During the last season of
Maude, Barbeau did not appear in the majority of the episodes. In a 2009
Entertainment Tonight TV interview, Barbeau mentioned that she had good on- and off-camera chemistry with Arthur; she said that the two stayed close until Arthur's death on April 25, 2009. Barbeau and Arthur reunited on camera during a 2007 taping of
The View, reminiscing about their long-running friendship and their years as co-stars on
Maude. About her relationship with Arthur, Barbeau said in a 2018 interview with
Dread Central: "I was doing an interview for this one-woman show that I am doing and the interviewer asked, 'What do people usually ask you,' and I said, 'They always want to know what it was like working with Bea.' She was fantastic and, you know, I realized years later how much I took it for granted because it was my first experience on television. I just assumed that everyone was as giving as she was, as professional as she was, that everyone who was doing a TV show showed up knowing their lines and showed up on time and was willing to say to the writers, 'I think this line was funnier if Adie had said it or Conrad had said it or Bill had said it.' I mean, she was just the best, she was the best, very funny. She was not Maude when she wasn't saying those lines. I don't know if I'd say she was quiet. She was a homebody. She had her sons, her dog and her cooking and she wasn't into the celebrity scene and she was a great lady. I loved her dearly and we had a great cast and they were my family for six years. I loved each of them and all of them and it was the best experience anyone could've had, being introduced to television like that!" Barbeau made guest appearances in numerous television films and series such as
The Love Boat,
Fantasy Island,
Valentine Magic on Love Island, and
Battle of the Network Stars. In her autobiography, she claimed: "I actually thought
CBS asked me to be on
Battle of the Network Stars because they thought I was athletic. My husband clued me in: who cared if I won the race, as long as I bounced when I ran?" The popularity of Barbeau's 1978
cheesecake poster confirmed her status as a
sex symbol. Barbeau's popularity stemmed partly from what critic
Joe Bob Briggs referred to as the "two enormous talents on that woman," and her typecasting as a "tough broad". Despite her initial success, she said at the time that she thought of Hollywood as a "flesh market" and that she would rather appear in films that "explore the human condition" and "deal with issues". Barbeau's then-husband, director
John Carpenter, cast her in his horror film,
The Fog (1980), which was her first theatrical film appearance. The film was released on February 1, 1980, and was a theatrical success, grossing over $21 million in the United States alone, and establishing Barbeau as a genre film star. She subsequently appeared in a number of early-1980s horror and science fiction films, including
Escape from New York (1981) (also from Carpenter),
Creepshow (1982) and
Swamp Thing (1982). Of her screen work with Carpenter, Barbeau has stated: "John is a great director. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it. It's simple and it's easy [working with him]." She also appeared in the
Burt Reynolds comedy
The Cannonball Run (1981), and as the wife of
Rodney Dangerfield's character in
Back to School (1986). Barbeau also starred in the comedy
Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1989).
1990s–present In the 1990s, Barbeau mostly appeared in made-for-television films such as
Scott Turow's
The Burden of Proof (1992), as well as playing Oswald's mother on
The Drew Carey Show and gaining new fame among animation fans as
Catwoman on
Batman: The Animated Series and
Gotham Girls. She also worked as a television talk show host and a weekly book reviewer for
KABC talk radio in Los Angeles. In 1999, she guest starred in the
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" as
Romulan Senator Kimara Cretak. From 2003 to 2005, she starred on the
HBO series
Carnivàle. in 2007, Barbeau played a cameo role in
Rob Zombie's
Halloween, a "reimagining" of the 1978
film of the same name, written and directed by her first husband, John Carpenter. Her scene was cut from the theatrical version of the film but is included in the DVD version. In 2009, Barbeau was cast as "The Cat Lady" in the family comedy
The Dog Who Saved Christmas, and as a hospice patient in the love story
Reach for Me. Also in 2009, Barbeau had guest spots in the first episode of
Showtime's series
Dexter (Season 4). She appears in
Argo (2012), playing the former wife of
Alan Arkin's character. Barbeau reprised her role as Catwoman in an animated remake of the third trailer for
The Dark Knight Rises. This trailer was made to both celebrate the upcoming film as well as to promote Hub's ten episode marathon of
Batman: The Animated Series. In 2015, she assumed the role of Berthe in
Pippin with the Broadway Touring Company of the renowned musical. In 2021, Barbeau voiced the role of Queen Gehenna in the sci-fi musical audio series,
The World to Come. ==Personal life==