Don 'Red' Barry(1910-1980)
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
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.