Barnes was born December 7, 1952 (some sources list 1954 or 1955), in Fort Dix, New Jersey, the third of four children of a father who was a major in the United States Air Force and her mother a homemaker. Her childhood was marked by a series of moves across various military bases in the United States before her family settled in Lancaster, California. After graduating from Antelope Valley High School at age 17, she relocated to San Diego, working as a waitress and a dancer.
Barnes's first break came when Bob Hope saw her in a local fashion show and invited her to join his troupe for a 1973 performance at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. She subsequently moved to Los Angeles to attempt a career in show business in earnest. She appeared as an Amazon in The New Original Wonder Woman alongside Lynda Carter as the title character. Her second break came at 19 when she met Peter Falk at Pips. Six months later he gave her a one-line part in an episode of Columbo, which led to a series of bit parts in films like The Seniors (1978) and Delta Fox (1979).
While working as a hostess at a Hollywood nightclub, Barnes posed nude for the "Pet of the Month" photo layout in the March 1976 issue of Penthouse magazine under the pseudonym Joann Witty. Penthouse later wanted to republish the photos under Barnes's real name in 1982 after she had become famous in Three's Company. The dispute ended up in court, as Penthouse wanted a judge to rule on the legality of publishing the pictures using her real name. At issue was a handwritten addendum to the standard model release contract that all models sign. When Penthouse lost the initial case, they appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal court mostly sided with Barnes and ruled that the handwritten addendum was legally binding and that Penthouse could not republish the photos using her real name.

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