Charles Donald Fegert was an American newspaper advertising and publishing executive who became widely known after marrying actress Barbara Eden in 1977. His own career, however, was already established in Chicago’s newspaper industry before the marriage. Contemporary records identify him as an advertising manager, later a vice president, and eventually executive vice president of the Chicago Sun-Times. His relationship with Eden remains the main reason his name appears in entertainment searches, but the strongest historical evidence concerns his professional career.
Quick Answer: Charles Donald Fegert was a Chicago newspaper executive associated with the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Daily News, and Field Enterprises. He married I Dream of Jeannie star Barbara Eden on September 3, 1977. Biography.com records their divorce in 1983, while some sources describe the separation as occurring in 1982. Public records place Fegert’s death in 2002, although detailed information about his final years and cause of death is limited.
Who Was Charles Donald Fegert?
Charles Donald Fegert was primarily a newspaper advertising and marketing executive, not an actor, television producer, or journalist.
His career was centered in Chicago, where he held senior positions connected with two major newspapers: the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Daily News. A February 1972 entry in the U.S. Congressional Record identifies Fegert as the advertising manager of both publications.
That contemporary government record is particularly valuable because it predates his marriage to Barbara Eden by more than five years. It shows that Fegert already held a significant position in the newspaper business before he became known outside Chicago.
Later records show his professional status rising further. A 1976 Chicago Sun-Times item identified him as a vice president, while contemporary 1977 material described him as a marketing executive and a vice president of Field Enterprises, the company associated with the two newspapers.
By 1980, The Washington Post was identifying Fegert as executive vice president of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Charles Donald Fegert at a glance
| Detail | What the available record supports |
|---|---|
| Full name | Charles Donald Fegert |
| Common reference | Charles Fegert |
| Profession | Newspaper advertising and publishing executive |
| Major professional connections | Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Daily News, Field Enterprises |
| Documented role in 1972 | Advertising manager |
| Documented role in 1976 | Vice president |
| Documented role in 1977 | Marketing executive / Field Enterprises vice president |
| Documented senior role by 1980 | Executive vice president, Chicago Sun-Times |
| Famous relationship | Married actress Barbara Eden |
| Marriage date | September 3, 1977 |
| Divorce | 1983 in Biography.com; some sources give 1982 |
| Death | 2002, according to public genealogical records |
Charles Fegert’s Newspaper Career
The most reliable way to understand Charles Donald Fegert is to follow the contemporary record of his career.
1972: Advertising manager
The U.S. Congressional Record provides one of the clearest pieces of evidence about Fegert’s work.
On February 9, 1972, Representative George E. Danielson referred to Charles Fegert as the advertising manager of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Daily News while discussing an advertising-policy decision made by the newspapers.
This is significant for two reasons.
First, it establishes his profession with a primary government source. Second, it shows that his responsibilities extended across two major Chicago newspapers.
Advertising was a central part of the economics of metropolitan newspapers at the time. An executive managing advertising was therefore working on the commercial side of a large publishing operation rather than in the newsroom.
1976: Vice president
By 1976, Fegert had advanced beyond the advertising-manager title.
A Chicago Sun-Times item reproduced in a Mike Royko column included Fegert among the recipients of a letter from Frank Sinatra and identified him as “Vice President.”
The surviving record does not establish his precise portfolio at that point, so it is better to use the documented title rather than assign him an elaborate job description that may not have been his formal position.
1977: Marketing executive and Field Enterprises vice president
Fegert’s professional profile was again documented around the time of his marriage to Barbara Eden.
A contemporary photograph from September 1, 1977, identified him as a marketing executive for the Chicago Sun-Times. Two days later, he married Eden.
Contemporary wedding coverage also identified Fegert as a vice president of Field Enterprises, the publisher associated with the Sun-Times and Daily News.
Taken together, these records show a senior business executive whose work was closely tied to newspaper advertising, marketing, and management.
1980–1981: Executive vice president
The clearest evidence of Fegert’s later seniority comes from The Washington Post.
In March 1980, the newspaper described him as the executive vice president of the Chicago Sun-Times. A March 1981 article used the same description.
That gives us a useful career progression:
1972 → Advertising manager
1976 → Vice president
1977 → Marketing executive / Field Enterprises vice president
1980–1981 → Executive vice president, Chicago Sun-Times
The surviving evidence does not document every promotion or job responsibility between those dates. Still, the overall trajectory is much clearer than many modern celebrity biographies suggest.
Charles Donald Fegert and Barbara Eden
Fegert’s public profile changed dramatically when he became involved with Barbara Eden.
Eden was already a major television star because of her role as Jeannie in the NBC sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, which ran from 1965 to 1970. Biography.com records that she married Charles Donald Fegert on September 3, 1977, after her first marriage to actor Michael Ansara had ended.
A contemporary newspaper photograph published around the wedding showed Eden with Fegert and identified him as a vice president of Field Enterprises.
The contrast between their professional worlds made the relationship particularly newsworthy. Eden was a nationally recognized entertainer, while Fegert was an established Chicago business executive whose career was largely outside the entertainment industry.
When did Charles Fegert and Barbara Eden marry?
Charles Donald Fegert and Barbara Eden married on September 3, 1977.
The date is supported by contemporary wedding coverage and by established biographical sources.
Eden’s marriage to Fegert was her second. She later married Jon Eicholtz in 1991.
How Long Were Barbara Eden and Charles Fegert Married?
The marriage lasted roughly five years.
The exact endpoint is one of the areas where sources differ. Biography.com records that Eden married Fegert in 1977 and divorced him in 1983. Other published accounts describe the relationship as ending or separating in 1982 before the divorce was finalized.
For an accurate biography, the safest wording is that the marriage ended around 1982, with the divorce recorded by Biography.com in 1983.
That distinction matters because many online biographies repeat one year without acknowledging the discrepancy.
Why Did Barbara Eden Divorce Charles Fegert?
This question requires more care than a simple one-line explanation.
Eden discussed her second marriage in her 2011 memoir, Jeannie Out of the Bottle, written with Wendy Leigh. The publisher’s description of the memoir refers to serious problems within the relationship, including verbal abuse and drug addiction.
Those descriptions should be presented as Eden’s account of her marriage, rather than as independently established findings about every event in Fegert’s private life.
The memoir is an important primary source for understanding Eden’s perspective because it is her own retrospective account. At the same time, readers should distinguish between what Eden reported and what can be independently confirmed through contemporary records.
The independently documented fact is straightforward: Eden and Fegert married in 1977 and their marriage ended several years later.
Did Charles Donald Fegert and Barbara Eden Have Children?
They did not have children together.
Biography.com notes that Eden’s son, Matthew Michael Ansara, was from her first marriage to Michael Ansara.
Some modern websites also publish detailed claims about children from Fegert’s earlier relationships. However, those claims are not as well established in the strongest sources reviewed for this biography.
For that reason, a fact-focused article should avoid presenting a detailed list of alleged children or grandchildren unless supported by a reliable primary or established biographical source.
What Happened to Charles Donald Fegert After the Divorce?
The public record becomes considerably thinner after the early 1980s.
Unlike Barbara Eden, Fegert did not remain a major entertainment figure. His name continued to appear occasionally in connection with Eden, but there is far less dependable public reporting about his later career, personal life, retirement, or activities.
That gap is important.
A biography should not fill missing historical evidence with assumptions. The fact that information is absent from easily accessible records does not establish what Fegert did—or did not do—during his later years.
The strongest surviving evidence remains concentrated around his Chicago newspaper career and his marriage to Eden.
When Did Charles Donald Fegert Die?
Charles Donald Fegert died in 2002, according to public genealogical records.
Some online biographies give a specific date of September 25, 2002, and an age of 71, but the accessible evidence is not as strong as the contemporary sources documenting his newspaper career.
The same caution applies to his cause of death. No dependable medical or official source identified in the available research establishes a specific cause. Claims that he died from a particular illness, in his sleep, or from “natural causes” should therefore not be presented as verified fact.
In other words, the responsible answer is simple: Fegert died in 2002, but detailed public documentation about the circumstances of his death is limited.
What Was Charles Donald Fegert’s Net Worth?
There is no reliably documented public figure for Charles Donald Fegert’s net worth.
Several modern celebrity and biography websites estimate that he was worth around $2 million to $3 million at the time of his death. However, these figures generally appear to be estimates derived from his career rather than calculations based on publicly documented financial records.
His senior executive positions demonstrate that he had a substantial professional career. They do not, by themselves, establish his personal wealth.
For that reason, an accurate biography should avoid stating a specific net worth as fact.
Why Is Charles Donald Fegert Still Searchable Today?
There are two main reasons.
First, Fegert had a notable career in Chicago newspaper publishing. Contemporary sources document his progression through advertising and executive positions at organizations connected with the Sun-Times and Daily News.
Second, his marriage to Barbara Eden connected him permanently to the history of classic American television.
Eden remains closely associated with I Dream of Jeannie, so searches about her personal life naturally surface information about her former husbands.
That creates an interesting imbalance in how Fegert is remembered. The reason most people encounter his name today is entertainment-related, while the strongest evidence about his own career comes from the newspaper industry.
Charles Donald Fegert: Career Timeline
- 1972: U.S. Congressional Record identifies Fegert as advertising manager for the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Daily News.
- 1976: Contemporary Chicago newspaper material identifies him as a vice president.
- 1977: Contemporary records describe him as a Sun-Times marketing executive and Field Enterprises vice president.
- September 3, 1977: Fegert marries Barbara Eden.
- 1980: The Washington Post identifies him as executive vice president of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- 1981: The Washington Post again identifies him as the newspaper’s executive vice president.
- 1982–1983: The marriage to Barbara Eden ends; established sources differ over the precise year of divorce versus separation.
- 2002: Public genealogical records place Fegert’s death in Chicago.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Charles Donald Fegert?
Charles Donald Fegert was an American newspaper advertising and publishing executive associated with the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Daily News, and Field Enterprises. He became widely known outside the newspaper industry because of his marriage to actress Barbara Eden.
What did Charles Fegert do for a living?
He worked in newspaper advertising, marketing, and executive management. The U.S. Congressional Record identified him as advertising manager for the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Daily News in 1972, while later reporting identified him as a senior executive of the Sun-Times.
When did Charles Fegert marry Barbara Eden?
Charles Fegert and Barbara Eden married on September 3, 1977. Contemporary wedding coverage identified Fegert as a vice president of Field Enterprises.
Why did Barbara Eden divorce Charles Fegert?
Eden later described serious problems in the marriage in her memoir Jeannie Out of the Bottle. Those accounts should be understood as Eden’s perspective. Biography.com records their divorce in 1983, while some accounts place the separation in 1982.
When did Charles Donald Fegert die?
Public genealogical records place Charles Donald Fegert’s death in 2002. A specific cause of death has not been reliably established in the strongest publicly accessible sources.
Final Takeaway
Charles Donald Fegert is often introduced simply as Barbara Eden’s second husband, but that description leaves out the clearest part of his documented professional history.
Before his 1977 marriage to the I Dream of Jeannie star, Fegert had already established himself in Chicago newspaper advertising. Contemporary records trace his career from advertising manager to vice president and ultimately executive vice president of the Chicago Sun-Times.
His marriage made him more recognizable to the general public, but the historical record shows a more complete picture: a senior newspaper executive whose career existed independently of Hollywood.
For anyone researching Charles Donald Fegert, the most useful approach is to separate contemporary evidence from unsupported biographical repetition. That produces a biography that is not only more accurate, but also more useful to readers looking for facts they can trust.
