Whatever Happened to the Barnstable Twins (the Doublemint Twins) From TV’s ’Quark’?

Does anyone else remember the Barnstable Twins for the TV series Quark? During the eight episodes of their short-lived NBC television show, Quark, Patricia Barnstable and Priscilla “Cyb” Barnstable played the space crew’s navigator and pilot, both named Betty (known to fans as just the Betties).

Quark wasn’t the first time that the Barnstable twins had gained notoriety. Patricia had the honor of being crowned Miss Kentucky in 1971, and a year later, the two began their showbiz career in earnest by singing and dancing in Bob Hope’s last USO Christmas tour in Vietnam. After that, the twins appeared in a series of commercials for Doublemint gum. The two became so well known that they started appearing on the covers of a handful of national magazines.

Getting back to Quark, which starred Richard Benjamin, the premise of that show is pretty simple. Adam Quark is the captain of a United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol cruiser, an interstellar garbage scow that goes around collecting gigantic space baggies. Of course, along the way, Quark and his crew have all sorts of crazy adventures only semi-related to their primary mission.

Everett Collection

The crew was a pretty darn interesting cast of characters. There was a transmute named Gene or Jean, who would alternate between being male and female. Then there was Ficus, who, although he had a human form, was plant-based, which allowed him to regrow body parts if he lost one. You also had Conrad Janis, who played Otto Palindrome, the commander from whom Quark received his assignments. And then there were the Bettys. One was human, the other a clone, and neither of them knew which was which.

Along with the obvious reasons why I was a fan of the Bettys, by the time the late 1970s rolled around, I was fascinated with the concept of cloning in any movie, TV show or theatrical film. Come to think of it, even music. Anyone else remember the Alice Cooper song “Clones” that he released right around the same time as Quark? Awesome stuff from one of rock’s all-time greats.

Quark only lasted eight episodes. Journalist and comedian Trav S.D. said it best when he wrote on his Travalanche blog, “The show (like all my favorite shows) was too good for television. I can assure you I watched each one.”

Everett Collection

After Quark was canceled, the Barnstable twins made a bunch of TV appearances, mostly on talk shows, but I do remember an episode of The Love Boat as well. And then, I must admit that they kind of fell off my radar. So, what happened?

After they stepped away from show business, life went on for both of them. Happily, I should say. Patricia got married and had a child. Cyb tied the knot at some point as well, but she did later divorce. While never completely out of the public eye, I think it’s fair to say that at that point in their lives, both Patricia and Cyb were happy with the road that they were each traveling down.

Credit: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Sadly, in 2003 tragedy struck when Patricia lost her husband due to complications from diabetes. A few years earlier, the Barnstable twins had started hosting a gala event each year during the Kentucky Derby, which raised funds for diabetes research. Their efforts resulted in the establishment of the Barnstable Brown Foundation in 2008. For almost 40 years now, Patricia and Cyb have hosted a one-of-a-kind, annual event that, to date, has raised over $21 million for the research conducted by the University of Kentucky’s Barnstable Brown Diabetic Center.

End of the day, I guess it just goes to show that sometimes the greatest impact our favorite classic TV stars can make happen long after the cameras stop rolling. Sure, Patricia and Cyb might have started out as Doublemint gum models and cloned space babes, but their real-life legacy is the thing that, I’ve got to say, is truly out of this world.