Don 'Red' Barry

Known for ActingBorn 1912-01-11Died 1980-07-17Houston, 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.Read more

Movies & web series

That's My Gal

The Chicago Kid

Days of Old Cheyenne

The Traitor Within

Outlaws of Pine Ridge

Kansas Cyclone

One Man's Law

Calling All Marines

A Cry For Justice

Shame, Shame on the Bixby Boys

Punch and Jody

Buffalo Gun

Border Rangers

My Buddy

The Sundown Kid

Death Valley Outlaws

The Apache Kid

Desert Bandit

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

The Crash of Flight 401

Barbary Coast

Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II

Arrest and Trial

Little House on the Prairie

Emergency!

The Munsters

Hawkins

Madonna of the Desert

Outlaws of Santa Fe

The Wonderful World of Disney

California Joe

Canyon City

The Man from the Rio Grande

The Phantom Cowboy

Wyoming Wildcat

Ghost Valley Raiders

Saleslady

Kolchak: The Night Stalker

The Rockford Files

Donovan's Kid

Perry Mason

Quincy, M.E.

Pistols 'n' Petticoats

The Wild Wild West

Johnny Got His Gun

Ghost Story

Iron Angel

Bonanza