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Don Barry

Don Barry

Birthday: 1912-01-11 | Place of Birth: Houston, Texas, USA

Donald Barry went from the stage to the screen. After four years of playing villains and henchmen at various studios, Barry got the role that changed his image: Red Ryder in the Republic Pictures serial Adventures of Red Ryder (1940). Although he had appeared in westerns for two years or so, this was the one that kept him there. He acquired the nickname "Red" from his association with the Red Ryder character. After the success of "Red Ryder" Barry starred in a string of westerns for Republic. Studio chief Herbert J. Yates got the idea that Barry could be Republic's version of James Cagney, as he was short and had the same scrappy, feisty nature that Cagney had. Unfortunately, while Barry could in fact be a good actor when he wanted to be -- as he showed in the World War II drama The Purple Heart (1944) -- his "feistiness", combative nature and oversized ego caused him to alienate many of the casts and crews he worked with at Republic (ace serial director William Witney detested him, calling him "the midget", and director John English worked with him once and refused to ever work with him again). Barry made a series of westerns at Republic throughout the 1940s, but by 1950 his career had pretty much come to a halt, and he was reduced to making cheaper and cheaper pictures for bottom-of-the-barrel companies like Lippert and Screen Guild. Barry continued to work and still appeared in westerns up through the 1970s, but they were often in small supporting roles, sometimes unbilled. In 1980 he committed suicide by shooting himself.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1981
Back Roads

as    Pete

1978
Buckstone County Prison

as    Warden Coley

1976
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

as    (archive footage)

1975
Boss Nigger

as    (as Don Red Barry)

1975
Whiffs

as    Sgt. Post

1972
The Eyes of Charles Sand

as    Trainer

1971
Johnny Got His Gun

as    Jody Simmons

1970
Hunters Are for Killing

as    Hank Phillips

1965
Fort Courageous

as    Captain Harvey

1965
Convict Stage

as    Marshal Jethro Karnin

1964
Iron Angel

as    Reb

1958
Born Reckless

as    Bill Okie

1958
Frankenstein 1970

as    Douglas Row

1956
7 Men from Now

as    Clete

1954
Jesse James' Women

as    Jesse James

1950
Train To Tombstone

as    Len Howard (as Don Barry)

1950
I Shot Billy the Kid

as    William H. Bonney / Billy the Kid (as Don Barry)

1949
Tough Assignment

as    Dan Reilly

1949
The Dalton Gang

as    Larry West

1948
Train to Alcatraz

as    Doug Forbes (as Donald Barry)

1948
Madonna of the Desert

as    Tony French (as Donald Barry)

1946
The Plainsman and the Lady

as    Feisty

1945
The Chicago Kid

as    Joe Ferrill

1944
My Buddy

as    Eddie Ballinger (as Donald Barry)

1944
The Purple Heart

as    Lt. Peter Vincent

1943
Carson City Cyclone

as    Gilbert Phalen

1943
The West Side Kid

as    Johnny April (as Donald Barry)

1943
Dead Man's Gulch

as    Tennessee Colby

1942
Arizona Terrors

as    Jim Bradley

1942
Remember Pearl Harbor

as    Pvt. Steve 'Lucky' Smith