Don "Red" Barry | |
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_1942.jpg) Film still of Barry inThe Traitor Within (1942) | |
| Born | Milton Poimboeuf (1910-01-11)January 11, 1910[a] Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | July 17, 1980(1980-07-17) (aged 70) |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park,Hollywood Hills, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Actor, writer |
| Years active | 1933–1980 |
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Don Barry (néMilton Poimboeuf; January 11, 1910[1] – July 17, 1980), also known asRed Barry, was an Americanfilm andtelevisionactor. He was nicknamed "Red" after appearing as the firstRed Ryder in the highly successful 1940 filmAdventures of Red Ryder withNoah Beery Sr.;[2] the character was played in later films by"Wild Bill" Elliott andAllan Lane. Barry went on to bigger budget films followingRed Ryder, but none reached his previous level of success. He played Red Doyle in the 1964Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Simple Simon".
Barry was bornMilton Poimboeuf inHouston, Texas[2] to parents Louis Leonce Poimboeuf and Emma Elizabeth (Murray) Poimboeuf. The year has been disputed, with estimates ranging between 1909 and 1912. However, his mother died of tuberculosis in March 1910 (one month shy of her 20th birthday), rendering subsequent years impossible.[1] He attendedAllen Academy[3] and theTexas School of Mines (now theUniversity of Texas at El Paso).[4] Prior to acting, Barry had been ahigh school andcollege football player. He went to Los Angeles to work in advertising.[5]
Barry's initial venture into acting was in a production ofTobacco Road on stage in New York in the late 1930s.[6]
Barry first entered films as an extra and in small roles. He was discovered byJohn Wayne during a football game with Wayne providing Barry introductions to producers.[7] He appeared in a variety of roles before he found his forte and nickname "Red" in theRepublic Pictures serialThe Adventures of Red Ryder (1940). Though Barry was short and stocky rather than the lean and lanky hero of theRed Ryder comic strip, studio headHerbert J. Yates demanded Barry play the role. Yates thought Barry's appearance similar toJames Cagney with Barry unsuccessfully asking Yates to cast him in gangster films.[8] Barry continued in Western roles and made two war filmsRemember Pearl Harbor (1942) for Republic as well as being loaned out to 20th Century Fox forThe Purple Heart (1944). He continued making Westerns for Republic and other studios.
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By the 1950s, Barry was a supporting actor instead of playing leads inWesterns. Early in 1955, he appeared as thebandit Milt Sharp in an episode of thesyndicated series,Stories of the Century.
Barry played "Clete" in the 1956 Western filmSeven Men from Now, starringRandolph Scott. In 1958 he appeared (credited as Donald Barry) on the TV WesternCheyenne in the episode "Dead to Rights". He guest starred as Tanner in the 1958 episode "Bullet Proof" of theABC/Warner Brothers seriesSugarfoot, starringWill Hutchins; he was cast as Arkansas in the 1959Sugarfoot episode "The Return of the Canary Kid". Barry appeared four times in the ABC/WB WesternColt .45. Barry was cast as black-cladgunfighter in a 1961 episode, "Last Stop: Oblivion", of the ABC/WB Western series,Maverick withJack Kelly and fellow guest starBuddy Ebsen, as well as an even larger titular role in aJames Garner episode set in New Orleans titled "The Resurrection of Joe November." In 1961 Barry appeared as Dusty McCade in the TV WesternLawman in the episode titled "Hassayampa."
Barry's voice in the television Westerns sounded much like that of the character actorDub Taylor. About this time, he also guest starred on two other ABC/WB dramas,Bourbon Street Beat andThe Roaring 20s. He appeared as well in the syndicatedcrime drama,U.S. Marshal, starringJohn Bromfield, and theNBC education drama series,Mr. Novak, starringJames Franciscus. Barry continued making Westerns as part of the ensemble casts ofA.C. Lyles Paramountsecond feature Westerns in the mid 1960s. In 1966, Barry playedConfederate soldier "Lt. Farrow" in the Western filmAlvarez Kelly withWilliam Holden and a one-eyedRichard Widmark. Barry played a supporting role in the 1968 film,Shalako withSean Connery, as well as in the television seriesDragnet.[9]
Barry played supporting roles in dozens of television series, particularly Westerns. He appeared eight times on the long-running NBC series,The Virginian, in the 1960s. He appeared in six episodes ofMichael Landon'sLittle House on the Prairie as racist farmer Judd Larrabee,[10] and was a recurring character, Lt. Ray Snedigar, on the 1960s detective showSurfside 6. He also appeared in all-star TVminiseries, such asRich Man, Poor Man Book II andThe Dream Merchants.
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In addition to acting, Barry was also a writer, writing the stories upon which the filmsRed Light (1949) starringGeorge Raft andVirginia Mayo,Train to Tombstone (1950), andConvict Stage (1965) were based, and co-writing the screenplay as well as directing and playing the leading role ofJesse James inJesse James' Women (1954).[11]
Barry and actressPeggy Stewart were married in 1940 and divorced on April 12, 1944. They had a son, Michael, born on November 18, 1943.[12] He married Ona-Dell Ward on October 6, 1947. They had one son but divorced around 1952.[citation needed]
In early November 1955,Susan Hayward got into a physical altercation with another woman who caught her visiting Barry's apartment reportedly for an early morning coffee, which made the tabloids and became the source of insider jokes.[13]
On July 17, 1980, Barry shot himself in the head at his home, shortly after police had left the residence after investigating a domestic dispute.[6] He was estranged at the time from his third wife, Barbara, with whom he had two daughters. He is interred atForest Lawn Memorial Park in theHollywood Hills ofLos Angeles.[14]
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