Don 'Red' Barry

Don 'Red' Barry (68)

1912-01-11 - 1980-07-17 | 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.

On Movies

  • Back Roads
  • Goldie and the Boxer
  • Undercover with the KKK
  • A Cry For Justice
  • Donovan's Kid
  • The Crash of Flight 401
  • Hooper
  • The Swarm
  • Hot Lead & Cold Feet
  • Buckstone County Prison
  • Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid
  • Doctor Dracula
  • Shame, Shame on the Bixby Boys
  • Orca
  • From Noon Till Three
  • The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West
  • Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
  • Hustle
  • Whiffs
  • Boss Nigger
  • Blazing Stewardesses
  • Starsky & Hutch
  • Punch and Jody
  • Partners in Crime
  • Incident on a Dark Street
  • Junior Bonner
  • The Eyes of Charles Sand
  • Johnny Got His Gun
  • One More Train to Rob
  • Rio Lobo
  • The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
  • Hunters Are for Killing
  • Shalako
  • The Shakiest Gun in the West
  • Bandolero!
  • Fort Utah
  • Hostile Guns
  • Red Tomahawk
  • Alvarez Kelly
  • The Magnificent Stranger
  • Apache Uprising
  • Town Tamer
  • Fort Courageous
  • War Party
  • Convict Stage
  • Law of the Lawless
  • Iron Angel
  • Twilight of Honor
  • Walk on the Wild Side
  • Buffalo Gun
  • Ocean's Eleven
  • Walk Like a Dragon
  • The Big Operator
  • Warlock
  • The Last Mile
  • Born Reckless
  • Frankenstein 1970
  • China Doll
  • Gun Duel In Durango
  • Seven Men from Now
  • I'll Cry Tomorrow
  • The Twinkle In God's Eye
  • Jesse James' Women
  • Untamed Heiress
  • Border Rangers
  • Train To Tombstone
  • Gunfire
  • I Shot Billy the Kid
  • Red Desert
  • Tough Assignment
  • Square Dance Jubilee
  • The Dalton Gang
  • Ringside
  • Train to Alcatraz
  • Lightnin' in the Forest
  • Madonna of the Desert
  • Slippy McGee
  • That's My Gal
  • The Plainsman and the Lady
  • The Last Crooked Mile
  • The Chicago Kid
  • Bells of Rosarita
  • My Buddy
  • Outlaws of Santa Fe
  • The Purple Heart
  • California Joe
  • Canyon City
  • The Man from the Rio Grande
  • The West Side Kid
  • Black Hills Express
  • Fugitive from Sonora
  • Days of Old Cheyenne
  • Carson City Cyclone
  • Dead Man's Gulch
  • The Sundown Kid
  • The Traitor Within
  • Outlaws of Pine Ridge
  • The Sombrero Kid
  • The Cyclone Kid
  • Jesse James, Jr.
  • Stagecoach Express
  • Arizona Terrors
  • Remember Pearl Harbor
  • A Missouri Outlaw
  • Death Valley Outlaws
  • Kansas Cyclone
  • Desert Bandit
  • The Apache Kid
  • Two Gun Sheriff
  • The Phantom Cowboy
  • Wyoming Wildcat
  • Texas Terrors
  • Frontier Vengeance
  • The Tulsa Kid
  • Sailor's Lady
  • One Man's Law
  • Adventures of Red Ryder
  • Ghost Valley Raiders
  • Jack Pot
  • Days of Jesse James
  • The Secret of Dr. Kildare
  • Saga of Death Valley
  • Calling All Marines
  • Wyoming Outlaw
  • S.O.S Tidal Wave
  • Only Angels Have Wings
  • Calling Dr. Kildare
  • Panama Patrol
  • The Duke of West Point
  • Young Dr. Kildare
  • The Crowd Roars
  • Think It Over
  • Sinners in Paradise
  • Saleslady
  • Navy Blue and Gold
  • Dead End
  • The Woman I Love
  • When's Your Birthday?
  • Beloved Enemy
  • Night Waitress
  • Bridal Bail
  • Flying Down to Rio

Movies as Director

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