Balin was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish parents. Her father, Sam Rosenberg, was a dancer, singer and comedian who worked the Borscht Belt. He later quit show business to join his family's furrier business. Her mother was a Hungarian-born professional dancer who escaped a troubled family life by marrying at age 15. Sam Rosenberg was her third husband by age 21. They too divorced when Ina and her brother, Richard Balin, were still quite young. The siblings were placed in boarding schools until their mother married a fourth time, then to shoe magnate Harold Balin, who later adopted Ina and Richard.
[unreliable source?]
Balin graduated from high school at age 15 after having spent five years at a boarding school in Pennsylvania.
Balin first appeared on television on The Perry Como Show. She guest-starred on dozens of television shows, including Wonder Woman; Adventures in Paradise; Bonanza; The Lieutenant; The Dick Van Dyke Show; The Six Million Dollar Man; Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea; Battlestar Galactica; Get Smart; It Takes a Thief; Ironside; Twelve O'Clock High; The Loner; Quincy, M.E.; The Streets of San Francisco; Magnum, P.I.; and Mannix.

Return to Ina Balin Autograph Profile