Born in Kings Point, New York, Chase began formal dance lessons at age three, studying with the New York City Opera's ballet mistress.[2] She studied ballet, first with Adolph Bolm and later with Maria Bekefi.[2] She abandoned her intention to become a ballerina in New York to stay in Los Angeles and help support her mother, pianist Lee Keith, after her parents' divorce. She is the daughter of writer Borden Chase (Red River) and sister of screenwriter/actor Frank Chase.[3]
During the early 1950s, Chase danced on live television programs such as The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Chrysler Shower of Stars. While working as Jack Cole's assistant choreographer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, she was asked by Fred Astaire to be his dancing partner on An Evening with Fred Astaire. She made four appearances as Astaire's partner in his television specials between 1958 and 1968. The two danced on Hollywood Palace in 1966. During this period, she dated Astaire, a widower.[4]
Chase's other film roles included The George Raft Story (1961); the beating victim of a sadistic Robert Mitchum in the thriller Cape Fear (1962); and the dancing, bikini-clad paramour (restored footage revealed her character was in reality married) of Dick Shawn's dimwitted character in the 1963 comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. She is the last surviving cast member of the 1963 movie. Subsequently, she played Farida in the film The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), starring James Stewart and Richard Attenborough, in a dream sequence. In 1965, she appeared in the episode "The Ballerina" on the TV series Bonanza, playing saloon dancer Kellie Conrad, who longed to be a ballerina. In 1967, she appeared as a Soviet ballerina in the episode "Fly, Ballerina, Fly" on the television series Mr. Terrific.[5]
^Green, Paul (2006). A History of Television's The Virginian, 1962-1971. McFarland. p. 193. ISBN9780786457991.
^Levinson, Peter (March 2009). Puttin' On the Ritz: Fred Astaire and the Fine Art of Panache, A Biography. St. Martin's Press. pp. 250–287, 341–42. ISBN978-0-312-35366-7.
^Samuel Clemens (June 1, 2023). "Barrie Chase: A Brief Q&A". Quad-City Times. Quad-City Times. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.