Midway through the semi-autobiographical film 20, 000 Days On Earth, Nick Cave waxes about the women that fuelled his desires as a young man. They ranged from the girls at the Wangarrata Pool to Julie Newmar and Barbara Eden. Ms Newmar played Catwoman in Batman, while Ms Eden became a TV icon as the lead in the popular 1960’s comedy, I Dream Of Jeannie. Ms Eden was recently in Australia to appear at Supanova. The entire five seasons of I Dream Of Jeannie has been released locally in a DVD box set. Sean Sennett caught up with Ms Eden for a brief chat. Just out of ear shot was Barbara Feldon (Get Smart’s ’99’) which made the encounter more surreal. The brief encounter ended as the publicist poked the interviewer with the soft end of a sharp biro.

I’ve recently been watching episodes of I Dream Of Jeannie. There was a big change in your character over the five seasons – Jeannie was far less subservient as the show went on. When you get to the fifth and final season the episodes are wonderful four-hander character plays largely between yourself (Jeannie), Larry Hagman (Major Nelson) and Haydn Rorke and Emmaline Henry (Doctor and Mrs. Bellows respectively). Did you feel the tone of the character and the scripts were changing at the time?

I think it was organic. It just happened, but it does happen that way, especially since we were all actors. We’re all acting. We were so lucky we had so many good actors there. People do grow in their characters.

I thought that fifth season, where the characters have grown and developed, there is a terrific on screen rapport between the players. Your timing must have been impeccable by that stage.

Again, I think because they were good, really good. It was so easy to work with people who are that good.

When you look back at the episodes now, can you watch them almost as if you weren’t in them, or do you still see the weaving and the craft involved?

No, it looks like another person when I watch it.

Can you enjoy them now?

I do. Whereas, when I was doing it, I did not enjoy it at all. I didn’t like to watch it because I didn’t want to become too self-conscious. If you see yourself doing something, I feel anyway,  every actor is different, but for me, the next day after seeing the shot, I’ll try to change things. I’d rather it just be true and be there. If it’s not right someone else can tell me.

How good were the directors during that period? Did you feel some people were better than others?

Of course, some were better than others, but they were all good. They all had strong points. Gene Nelson, the first 13 shows were very physical because he was athletic. He was a dancer, a gymnast, so he had us doing things that we shouldn’t be doing, actually.

Apart from the bottle, did you take anything else from the set when the series ended?

Just the bottle.

Is it heart-warming for you when children in 2015 still enjoy the show?

Oh, my, it’s beyond heart-warming. It’s a lovely gift that I never expected. So many times a whole family has watched it and then tells me about it. It makes me feel very good.

When you went on with other work in your career, how many years did you need before you came back to Jeannie and could appreciate it? Or did you always have a warmth for the character?

Oh, I always had a warmth for the character and I missed her a lot when we stopped. I really did. I missed the whole group, the group of actors I was working with, the crew members. Even though while I was doing Jeannie I was working on other things, I’d go back and come back. But they were always there. There was an empty space for a while.

You didn’t expect the show to end on the fifth season, is that correct?

No, we didn’t, except that Larry (Hagman) and I had a feeling. We knew (the characters) shouldn’t have married. It was the marriage that killed it.

I enjoyed that episode?

You did? The one show was fun and good. I had a good time playing the robot, walking down the aisle.

Bob Hope was a good friend of yours, wasn’t he? You did a ton of his shows.

Oh, yeah. I did like 25 or 26 specials. I travelled with him playing live and singing. I went to the Persian Gulf with him.

It must have been a great learning experience when you have that kind of comic timing with somebody?

The thing I learned from Bob Hope was how professional he was. I hope some of it rubbed off on me. He e never allowed his personal feelings to intrude upon the job he was doing at the time. So many, especially comics, become very self-centred, and so upset about the littlest things. Bob never did. He was always, always, a pro, and always doing his job. If there was something to be done that wasn’t right, it would be done out in back. Never on stage, and never in front of people.

How was it working with Paul Newman on From The Terrace (1960)?

That was when I was first at Fox Studios, and he was a delight. The reason I was in that movie is because Mark Robson, who directed it, had seen me in a play at the Laguna Playhouse. And then Fox tested me because Mark wanted to put me in a film he was doing at that time. I’ve forgotten what it was. But they did not allow him to have me in the film because they had Terry Moore under contract. But they did put me under contract and put me in a television series, How to Marry a Millionaire. Then Mark put me in From the Terrace, in that part, because he was really upset that I didn’t do the other one.

The five-season I Dream Of Jeannie box set is out now through Shock.