Barbara Dutton Henrickson

Jeanne Tripplehorn

Big Love

Born into a traditional Mormon family, Barb met Bill soon after she started college at the University of Utah. It wasn't long before the two were married, and Barb headed into adulthood armed with a teaching degree and hope for a baby.

She ended up having three with Bill - Sarah, Ben, and Teenie - and for nearly a decade they shared a fairly conventional family life together. But when Barb was battling breast cancer she needed help caring for the kids. Bill turned to the compound where he was raised, and Nicki Grant was sent to live with the family. Over time the nature of Nicki and Bill's relationship changed, and Bill and Barb agreed to invite Nicki to be Bill's second wife. The pattern was repeated when they added the new babysitter Margene as their third wife. Though she'd felt certain she had enough sister-wives, another health scare made her rethink her stance when Bill was enticed by a fourth, Ana, and it was Barb who ended up wanting to bring Ana in the fold. (That marriage ultimately failed.)

Barb's new family arrangement has led to strained relationships with her mother, Nancy, and sister, Cindy, who are still active in the Mormon Church. Barb herself has mixed feelings about her complicated family life and the sacrifices she's had to make, most notably her religion. And of late, she has started to question Bill, including his decision to take the family's polygamous lifestyle public.

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