Barbara Bain did not plan to become an actress when she was a college student trying to avoid gym class.
The Mission: Impossible star says one small decision at the University of Illinois pushed her toward dance, acting and a screen career that has now stretched across more than seven decades.
In a new interview with People, Bain, 94, looked back at the unlikely beginning of her life in the arts. She said she was academically focused as a young woman in the Midwest, but she disliked gym class and especially hated the required green gym uniform.
That frustration sent her down the hall and into a modern dance class. Bain described the experience as “magic,” and said her life changed from there.
A Dance Class Changed Her Direction
Bain told People that she was trying to get out of gym when she walked into the modern dance class. She said she knew nothing about the form before entering the room, but immediately fell in love with it.
The discovery sent her toward dance first, not acting. After college, Bain returned to Chicago and pursued dance seriously, studying with Martha Graham, one of the most influential figures in modern dance.
That training shaped how she later approached acting. Bain told People that being a dancer taught her she had to do the work before putting herself in front of casting directors.
Acting Came After Another Push
Bain said she initially resisted acting because she saw herself as a dancer. She told People that people kept encouraging her to try an acting class, but she kept saying she was not an actress.
She eventually went, and the same thing happened again. Bain said she fell in love with the discipline and studied for a year and a half before auditioning.
She did not want to go out too soon and be dismissed before she was ready. Once she began auditioning, the shift came quickly: Bain told People she booked work in film, television and a Broadway touring production in her first week, earning all three union cards.
She said she never went back to waitressing or any other non-acting job after that.
Her Career Became a Television Legacy
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Bain became best known to television audiences as Cinnamon Carter on the original Mission: Impossible. The Television Academy lists three Emmy wins for Bain in the leading dramatic actress category for Mission: Impossible, in 1967, 1968 and 1969.
She later starred as Dr. Helena Russell on the science-fiction series Space: 1999, another role that kept her closely tied to classic television fandom.
The new interview gives her career a charming starting point. Bain did not describe herself as a born actress, but as someone who found her path through training, patience and curiosity.
Looking back, she summed up the whole journey with a small, funny cause: “All because of a gym suit.”