 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Gene Barry" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Gene Barry | |
|---|---|
 Barry in 1959 | |
| Born | Eugene Klass (1919-06-14)June 14, 1919 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | December 9, 2009(2009-12-09) (aged 90) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, singer |
| Years active | 1942–2005 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Gene Barry (bornEugene Klass; June 14, 1919 – December 9, 2009) was an American stage, screen, and television actor and singer. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the filmsThe Atomic City (1952) andThe War of the Worlds (1953) and for his portrayal of the title characters in the TV seriesBat Masterson andBurke's Law, among many roles.
Barry was born Eugene Klass on June 14, 1919, in New York City, the son of Eva (née Conn) and Martin Klass;[citation needed] all of his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Latvia and Poland.[1] Barry grew up inNew York City and attendedNew Utrecht High School in the borough of Brooklyn. Barry exhibited early artistic skills with singing and playing violin as a child and later spent two years at theChatham Square School of Music inGreenwich Village on a scholarship awarded for his vocal ability.[citation needed]
Barry chose hisprofessional name in honor ofJohn Barrymore[2] and made hisBroadway debut as Captain Paul Duval in the 1942 revival ofSigmund Romberg'sThe New Moon. He later portrayed Falke inRosalinda (1942), Nova Kovich inThe Merry Widow (1943), Lieutenant Bunin inCatherine Was Great (1944), Dorante and Comte De Chateau-Gaillard inThe Would-Be Gentleman (1946), The Doctor inHappy as Larry (1950), and played a variety of roles in the musical revueBless You All (1950).[citation needed]
In 1950 Barry began appearing on television with theNBC Television Opera Theatre. In 1955 he appeared on theCBS Televisionanthology seriesAppointment with Adventure.
In 1951 Barry was hired for his first movie, in the role of Dr. Frank Addison inThe Atomic City (1952). In 1953 he was cast as Dr. Clayton Forrester in the science fiction filmThe War of the Worlds (1953). (Much later, Barry also made acameo appearance inSteven Spielberg's remake ofWar of the Worlds (2005), along with his co-starAnn Robinson from the film of 1953.)
When the situation comedyOur Miss Brooks was given a change of format in 1955, Barry was cast in a recurring role as the physical education teacher Gene Talbot, the new romantic interest of series starEve Arden. The show was canceled in 1956, but Barry's character—a ladies' man with expensive tastes—served as the model for three shows in which he later starred.[citation needed]
Bat Masterson, a fictionalized recounting of the life of the real-lifeU.S. Marshal, gambler, and gunman (Masterson's life as a writer and bon vivant occurred long after the time-frame featured in the series) was broadcast byNBC-TV from 1958 to 1961. (In 1990 Barry recreated the role ofBat Masterson for two episodes ofGuns of Paradise along withHugh O'Brian asWyatt Earp and the following year inThe Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, also with O'Brian asWyatt Earp.)
In his next TV series,Burke's Law, Barry played a millionaire homicide investigator who was chauffeured in his Rolls-Royce as he solved crimes. This series was broadcast onABC-TV from September 20, 1963, to May 5, 1965. For his performance in it, Barry won theGolden Globe Award for Best Actor in 1965. In 1965–66, the final season of the series, the title of the show changed toAmos Burke, Secret Agent.[3][4] In 1994, a revival of theBurke's Law series returned to television for two seasons onCBS. Barry again played in the title role, this time as a widower working with his son Peter (Peter Barton).
Barry's third TV series wasThe Name of the Game, in which he played the sophisticated publisher of a family of magazines, and was one of three lead characters. The other two lead actors wereRobert Stack andTony Franciosa, who rotated with Barry week by week as the primary character in each week's program. This series was shown by NBC from 1968 to 1971. One of the magazines that Barry's character published was calledPeople, several years before the actualPeople began publication.
Shortly before the filming ofThe Name of the Game series began, Barry played the villain—a wealthy psychiatrist—inPrescription: Murder, the two-hour TV movie that became the precursor of the TV seriesColumbo.
In 1972, Barry starred in theITV television seriesThe Adventurer, along withBarry Morse andCatherine Schell. He played Gene Bradley, a government agent of independent means who posed as a glamorous American movie star. Also in 1972, Barry acted inThe Second Coming of Suzanne, anavant-garde drama directed by his son Michael and starringSondra Locke andPaul Sand. He co-financed the film with private backers.[5]
Barry returned to Broadway acting on two occasions—in 1962 inThe Perfect Setup and in 1983 in the Broadway premiere of the musicalLa Cage aux Folles. Barry was nominated for aTony Award for his portrayal of Georges inCage.[6]
For his contribution to live theatre, Gene Barry received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 6555 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1975 Barry bought a home inPalm Springs, California.[7] A Golden Palm Star on the Palm SpringsWalk of Stars was dedicated to him in 1994.[8]
On October 22, 1944, at age 25, Barry married Betty Claire Kalb (1923–2003), whom he met on the set ofCatherine Was Great. Kalb was an actress known by the stage name Julie Carson.
Barry died on December 9, 2009, at Sunrise Senior Living[9] inWoodland Hills, California, at the age of 90.[10] He was buried at theHillside Memorial Park Cemetery inCulver City, California, with his wife Betty, who died in 2003.[11][12]
