The theme tune for “I Dream of Jeannie” included words even though just the instrumental version was utilized for the show. They characterize the story’s main heroine as a magical entity with the power to perform miracles.” She beams, and instantly the rain stops. The song claims that when she blinks, rainbows appear (via Lyrics on Demand). Hugo Montenegro, the song’s lyricist, may have wanted to include “lion taming” on the list. It seems that Barbara Eden, the extraordinary real-life person who inspired the creation of the fictitious character Jeannie, was rather adept at enticing a large cat that frightened her male co-star Larry Hagman.
Barbara Eden Was Initially Terrified
Eden describes the event in her autobiography “Jeannie Out of the Bottle” (per ABC News). “The Americanization of Jeannie” was the name of the episode that included a lion on set. Zamba the African lion appeared in the episode as a very special guest star (according to IMDb). According to Eden’s memoir, Jeannie addresses Hagman’s Captain Nelson in the episode and requests permission to bring her pet inside. Nelson nods in agreement without realizing her pet is a pretty big cat.
Before “The Americanization of Jeannie,” Barbara Eden had experience dealing with lions. She revealed to Fox News in 2017 that she has appeared in two films with lion co-stars. She was confident they wouldn’t harm her as a result.
“They’re male lions, and they’re lazy,” she said to Fox. “If they’re well-fed, they don’t want to eat you.” She also understood how to coexist peacefully with dangerous predators. It’s necessary to maintain as much stillness as possible, let the lion smell you, and then gently pet him, she recalled in her memoir (via ABC News). She also told Fox that she learned to scratch the lion behind the ears rather than directly on the ears. The lion Zamba was a polished professional.
When “The Americanization of Jeannie” premiered, he was already a well-known actor making $75,000 a year, according to “What America Watched: Television Favorites from the Cornfields to the Cosmos, the 1960s-1990s.” He was brought to the United States from Zimbabwe when he was just four weeks old. He portrayed Kitty Kat in the television series “The Addams Family” and had an appearance alongside Tony Randall and Shirley Jones in the film “Fluffy” from 1965. According to KHQ, he also served as the MGM lion for a while.
