Barbara Barrie
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Biography
A versatile character actress, Barrie has a slightly wry, worried expression and some interesting credits, especially on stage and television. Often playing warm, mature, sometimes wisecracking comedic and dramatic roles, she acted regularly on early TV, Broadway and in theatre festivals in the early 1960s. After several small parts in features she landed a lead in the interracial love story, "One Potato, Two Potato" (1964), winning the Best Actress award at Cannes. Barrie acted less during the late 60s as she began to raise a family, but enjoyed a notable Broadway comeback as part of the landmark Stephen Sondheim-Harold Prince musical, "Company" (1970). Subsequent stage work included two Neil Simon comedies, "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (1972) and "California Suite" (1976), a stint in "Isn't It Romantic?" (1984) and Anne Meara's "After Play" (1995-96).
TV work picked up as well, and in 1975 Barrie essayed one of the roles for which she is best remembered, Hal Linden's sensible, quietly sardonic wife on the dry-witted ABC sitcom, "Barney Miller." After the first season the show moved into Barney's workspace, with Barrie only making the occasional appearance. She resumed her feature career with an Oscar-nominated turn as the bicyclist hero's witty, yet supportive, mother in the sleeper "Breaking Away" (1979), and enjoyed further success as Goldie Hawn's mother in "Private Benjamin" (1980). Barrie later reprised both roles in the TV spinoffs, and appeared in several other series during the 80s, though none turned into hits. She kept busy, bringing her smooth professionalism to the feature "After the Rain" (1988) and the TV-movies "The Execution" (1985), "My First Love" (1989) and "The Odd Couple: Together Again" (1993). She returned to series TV as Brooke Shields' wise, knowing grandmother in the sitcom "Suddenly Susan" (NBC, 1996-2000).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1955
Made New York stage debut in "The Wooden Dish"
1955
Played Edna, a nurse, on a number of episodes of "The Phil Silvers Show"
1956
Feature film debut, in a bit part in "Giant"
1957
Played a variety of roles regularly on the syndicated police drama series, "Decoy"
1963
Played first sizable feature film role in "The Caretakers", billed 11th
1964
First leading role in film, "One Potato, Two Potato"
1970
Starred on Broadway in the Stephen Sondheim musical, "Company"
1981
Reprised her role as Evelyn Stohler, the mother, from the feature "Breaking Away" for the short-lived ABC sitcom version
1987
Played Mrs. Amberville on the CBS romance miniseries, "I'll Take Manhattan"
1994
Underwent treatment for colon cancer
1999
Portrayed the mother of the title character in the independent "Judy Berlin"
1999
Played a Jewish mother in son Aaron Harnick's feature directorial debut "30 Days"
2000
Cast as a wheelchair-bound matriarch in the Off-Broadway play "Current Events"
2003
Received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series for her role in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
Videos
Movie Clip
Family
Companions
