Gene Barry (born Eugene 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 films The Atomic City (1952) and The War of the Worlds (1953) and for his portrayal of the title characters in the TV series Bat Masterson and Burke'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 in New York City and attended New Utrecht High School. Barry exhibited early artistic skills with singing and playing violin as a child and later spent two years at the Chatham Square School of Music in Greenwich Village on a scholarship awarded for his vocal ability.[citation needed]
When the situation comedy Our 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 star Eve 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]
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 on ABC-TV from September 20, 1963, to May 5, 1965. For his performance in it, Barry won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in 1965. In 1965–66, the final season of the series, the title of the show changed to Amos Burke, Secret Agent.[3][4] In 1994, a revival of the Burke's Law series returned to television for two seasons on CBS. Barry again played in the title role, this time as a widower working with his son Peter (Peter Barton).
Barry's third TV series was The 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 were Robert Stack and Tony 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 called People, several years before the actual People began publication.
Shortly before the filming of The Name of the Game series began, Barry played the villain—a wealthy psychiatrist—in Prescription: Murder, the two-hour TV movie that became the precursor of the TV series Columbo.
Barry returned to Broadway acting on two occasions—in 1962 in The Perfect Setup and in 1983 in the Broadway premiere of the musical La Cage aux Folles. Barry was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Georges in Cage.[6]
For his contribution to live theatre, Gene Barry received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6555 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1975 Barry bought a home in Palm Springs, California.[7] A Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to him in 1994.[8]
Personal life
On October 22, 1944, at age 25, Barry married Betty Claire Kalb (1923–2003), whom he met on the set of Catherine Was Great. Kalb was an actress known by the stage name Julie Carson.
Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which was a fictionalized account of real-life marshal, gambler, and journalist Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry, and the half-hour black-and-white series ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961. The show was produced by Ziv Television Productions. "Bat" is a nickname for Masterson's first name Bartholemew, although the fictional Masterson says that his name is William Barkley Masterson.
Burke's Law is an American detective series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1966. The show starred Gene Barry as millionaire captain of Los Angeles Police homicide division Amos Burke, who is chauffeured around to solve crimes in his 1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II complete with an early car phone.
David Wayne was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
George Peabody Macready Jr. was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.
Patrick Barry Sullivan was an American actor of film, television, theatre, and radio. In a career that spanned over 40 years, Sullivan appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s, primarily as a leading actor after establishing himself in the industry, and later as a character actor.
Edward Barry Kelley was an American actor on Broadway in the 1930s and 1940s and in films during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The heavy-set actor created the role of Ike in Oklahoma! on Broadway. His large size and acting range had him playing primarily judges, detectives, and police officers.
Jesse Kenneth Tobey was an American actor active from the early 1940s into the 1990s, with over 200 credits in film, theatre, and television. He is best known for his role as a captain who takes charge of an Arctic military base when it is attacked by a plant-based alien in The Thing from Another World (1951), and a starring role in the 1957-1960 Desilu Productions TV series Whirlybirds.
Ralph Meeker was an American film, stage, and television actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of Mister Roberts (1948–1951) and Picnic (1953), the former of which earned him a Theatre World Award for his performance. In film, Meeker is known for his portrayal of Mike Hammer in Robert Aldrich's 1955 Kiss Me Deadly and as condemned infantryman Cpl. Philippe Paris in Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory.
Robert Middleton was an American film and television actor known for his large size, beetle-like brows, and deep, booming voice, usually in the portrayal of ruthless villains.
John Larch was an American radio, film, and television actor.
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Robert Strauss was an American actor. He became most familiar in Hollywood films of the 1950s such as Stalag 17 (1953), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Supporting Actor.
Carl Benton Reid was an American actor.
Philip Nott Ober was an American screen and stage actor who later retired from performing to be a foreign service diplomat.
Patricia Paz Maria Medina was a British actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) and Mr. Arkadin (1955).
Jean Donahue was an American film and television actress. She appeared in approximately 65 films in her 38-year career.
William Tyler McVey was an American character actor of film and television.
Arthur Gould-Porter was an English actor who appeared in films and on television and stage. His film and TV career spanned from 1942 to 1977, and although mainly a character actor he is remembered for his part as Captain Greer in Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and for his reoccurring role as Ravenswood the butler in The Beverley Hillbillies. He was sometimes credited as Arthur E. Gould-Porter and A. E. Gould-Porter.
Paul Dubov was an American radio, film and television actor as well as screenwriter. He frequently appeared in the works of Sam Fuller.
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