“I Dream of Jeannie ”Star“ ”Barbara Eden Says She's 'So Grateful' as She Celebrates Her 93rd Birthday (Exclusive)

Eden also tells PEOPLE about how she's planning to celebrate her birthday and expresses gratitude to her friends and fans

Barbara Eden is celebrating her birthday the best way she knows how — surrounded by family and friends!

The TV and film icon, who turned 93 on Friday, Aug. 23, tells PEOPLE how she plans on spending her special day.

“I am so grateful to have completed another trip around the sun,” she says in a statement. “I’ll be spending my birthday having lunch with my husband and some dear friends. I will also be enjoying the weekend with my family, my sister Alison, her husband, and their children. I want to thank all my friends and fans around the world for their outpouring of love and well wishes on my special day.”

Related: 'I Dream of Jeannie' 's Barbara Eden, 90, on Her Amazing Hollywood Career — and Why She Won't Retire

Eden has much to celebrate. Since her big break in 1955 when she became a recurring sketch performer on The Johnny Carson Show, the actress has starred in more than 25 films, 19 TV movies and five TV series spanning nearly 70 years.

She is best known for portraying the role of Jeannie, a 2,000-year-old genie who falls in love with astronaut Major Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) on NBC’s I Dream of Jeannie, which ran for five seasons from 1965 to 1970. The beloved sitcom catapulted Eden to stardom and made her a household name.

Related: Barbara Eden's Life in Pictures

While fans continue to identify the actress with Jeannie, Eden shared with PEOPLE in August 2023 that viewers also approach her about smaller roles she’s played, too.

“Every time I make a personal appearance, someone comes up and asks me about the manicurist, which I did one episode as on The Andy Griffith Show,” she explained at the time. “I also did one episode of I Love Lucy, and fans remember that, too. When I was doing it, I just didn’t think about it, that it would ever live that long or people would remember it.”

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Longevity and a dedication to her craft have been key for Eden, who married her husband Jon Eicholtz in 1991.

“All through the years, I’ve noticed that many people don't realize what a joy it is and what a gift it is to be able to work in an arena that you really love,” she also told PEOPLE in 2023. “So many people have to work in jobs they hate, and they have to do it just for sustenance, but aren't we lucky when we can study for something, enjoy it and know that other people enjoy it? I think that's a gift that life gives us, if we are willing to work for it."

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