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Gene Barry

 
Actor: Gene Barry
  • Born: Jun 14, 1919 in New York, New York
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '50s-'80s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Mystery
  • Career Highlights: The War of the Worlds, Columbo: Prescription Murder, Forty Guns
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Atomic City (1952)

Biography

The son of a New York jeweler, American actor Gene Barry emerged from his pinchpenny Depression-era childhood with an instatiable desire for the finer things in life. The acting profession seemed to hold out promise for fame and (especially) fortune. Making the rounds of theatrical agents in the 1940s, Barry, no matter his true financial situation, showed up dressed to the nines; grim reality soon set in, however, and the actor found himself clearing little more than $2000 a year -- on good years. When stage work seemed to yield nothing but bits, Barry turned to early television, then signed a movie contract in 1951. The only truly worthwhile film to star Barry was 1953's War of the Worlds, but even with top billing he had to play second banana to George Pal's marvelous special effects. Finally in 1956, Herb Gordon of Ziv Productions asked Barry if he'd like to star in a western. The actor resisted -- after all, everyone was doing westerns -- until Gordon pointed out that role would include a derby hat, a cane, and an erudite Eastern personality. Barry was enchanted by this, and from 1957 through 1961 he starred on the popular series Bat Masterson. The strain of filming a weekly western compelled Barry to declare that he'd never star on a series again - until he was offered the plum role of millionaire police detective Amos Burke on Burke's Law. This series ran from 1963 through 1965, and might have gone on longer had the producers not tried and failed to turn it into a Man From UNCLE type spy show. Barry's next series, Name of the Game, was another success (it ran from 1969 through 1971), and wasn't quite as grueling in that the actor only had to appear in one out of every three episodes. Always the epitome of diamond-in-the-rough masculinity, Barry astounded his fans in the mid 1980s by accepting the role of an aging homosexual in the stage musical version of the French film comedy La Cage Aux Follies. Yet another successful run followed, after which Barry went into semi-retirement, working only when he felt like it. In 1993, Gene Barry was back for an unfortunately brief revival of Burke's Law, which was adjusted for the actor's age by having him avoid the action and concentrate on the detecting; even so, viewers had a great deal of difficulty believing that Burke (or Barry) was as old as he claimed to be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Gene Barry
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Gene Barry
Born Eugene Klass
June 14, 1919 (1919-06-14) (age 90)
New York City, New York
Occupation Film, stage, television actor
Years active 19502005
Spouse(s) Betty Barry (1944-2003) (her death)

Gene Barry (born June 14, 1919) is an American actor.

Contents

Early life

Barry was born Eugene Klass in New York City, New York, the son of Eva (née Conn) and Martin Klass;[1] all of his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia.[2] He exhibited early skills with his singing and violin playing.

Career

Barry adopted his professional name in honor of John Barrymore. He was trained in violin and voice and spent two years at the Chatham Square School of Music on a singing scholarship. He made his Broadway debut as Captain Paul Duval in the 1942 revival of Sigmund Romberg's The New Moon. He returned to Broadway numerous times over the next decade, portraying Falke in Rosalinda (1942), Nova Kovich in The Merry Widow (1943), Lieutenant Bunin in Catherine Was Great (1944), Dorante and Comte De Chateau-Gaillard in The Would-Be Gentleman (1946), The Doctor in Happy as Larry (1950), and a variety of roles in the musical revue Bless You All (1950). He later returned to Broadway twice more, the role of Paul in the 1962 play The Perfect Setup and his Tony Award nominated portrayal of Georges in the 1983 musical La Cage aux Folles with George Hearn as his life partner/spouse. The latter production was based on the French film of the same name about a gay couple with a straight son. For his contribution to live theater, Gene Barry has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6555 Hollywood Blvd.

In 1950 Barry began appearing in television, initially with the NBC Television Opera Theatre. He starred in his first film, the role of Dr. Frank Addison in The Atomic City, in 1952. The prominent role of Dr. Clayton Forrester in the sci-fi classic The War of the Worlds came the following year. Barry later made a cameo appearance in Steven Spielberg's 2005 War of the Worlds, along with his 1953 co-star Ann Robinson.

Known for his suave manner, Barry was featured on television in a recurring role in Our Miss Brooks and as the star of three of his own popular TV series -- Bat Masterson, The Name of the Game, and Burke's Law. He won the 1965 Golden Globe for Burke's Law. The series, featuring homicide investigations by a millionaire police captain, returned in 1993-94 with Barry once again in the title role.

He also starred in the 1973 ITV television series The Adventurer, with Barry Morse and Catherine Schell. He recreated the role of the debonair Wild West lawman Bat Masterson for two episodes of Guns of Paradise in 1990 alongside Hugh O'Brian as Wyatt Earp and again the following year in The Gambler Returns: Luck of the Draw, also with O'Brian as Earp. His most popular role that he will forever be identified with is that of "Bat Masterson" The series continues in circulation with great durability.

Barry portrayed the murderer in the original two-hour pilot for the television mystery series Columbo, a psychiatrist who kills his wife in Prescription: Murder.

Personal life

His wife of 58 years, Betty Clair Kalb, died in 2003. They met in 1944 while appearing on Broadway together in the musical Catherine Was Great with Mae West. He has two sons, Michael (b. 1946) and Frederick (b.1953), and adopted a daughter, Elizabeth in 1967.

References

  1. ^ Gene Barry Biography (1919?-)
  2. ^ Boxer, Tim (1987). The Jewish Celebrity Hall of Fame. New York: Shapolsky. 

External links


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gene Barry" Read more