Barbara Ann Blakeley was born on March 10, 1927, in Bosworth, Missouri, the elder of two daughters of Charles Willis Blakeley (June 29, 1895 – October 5, 1989) and Irene Prunty (née Toppass) Blakeley (June 22, 1907 – December 15, 1993). At age 10, she moved with her parents and younger sister, Patricia, to Wichita, Kansas, where she was raised, and graduated from Wichita North High School in 1945. At age 18, she moved to Long Beach, California.