Don 'Red' Barry
Biography
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.
Personal info
Gender
Male
Birthday
1912-01-11
Place of birth
Houston, Texas, USA
Images
Cast
Frankenstein 1970
1958
5.40
Warlock
1959
6.71
The Shakiest Gun in the West
1968
6.20
From Noon Till Three
1976
6.00
Lightnin' in the Forest
1948
3.00
Boss Nigger
1975
6.70
Seven Men from Now
1956
6.80
Orca
1977
6.20
The Crash of Flight 401
1978
7.50
Dead End
1937
6.98
Flying Down to Rio
1933
6.20
I'll Cry Tomorrow
1955
6.30
The Magnificent Stranger
1966
6.70
Blazing Stewardesses
1975
3.00
The Purple Heart
1944
6.00
Walk on the Wild Side
1962
6.60
Only Angels Have Wings
1939
7.30
Hooper
1978
6.31
Johnny Got His Gun
1971
7.50
Shalako
1968
5.70
Starsky & Hutch
1975
6.70
The Last Crooked Mile
1946
5.13
War Party
1965
5.50
The Last Mile
1959
6.30
Rio Lobo
1970
6.40
Apache Uprising
1965
6.25
Donovan's Kid
1979
6.00
Doctor Dracula
1978
4.00
Train to Alcatraz
1948
6.00
Tough Assignment
1949
6.00
Think It Over
1938
6.33
Gun Duel In Durango
1957
5.40
The Duke of West Point
1938
3.80
Sinners in Paradise
1938
5.30
The Twinkle In God's Eye
1955
7.00
One Man's Law
1940
0.00
Carson City Cyclone
1943
0.00
Born Reckless
1958
3.40
Iron Angel
1964
6.00
California Joe
1943
0.00
Days of Jesse James
1939
4.72
The Chicago Kid
1945
0.00
Convict Stage
1965
6.10
Saleslady
1938
0.00
Train To Tombstone
1950
1.00
Saga of Death Valley
1939
6.20
Buckstone County Prison
1978
0.00
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
1976
9.00
The Big Operator
1959
5.80
Jesse James' Women
1954
4.00
The Plainsman and the Lady
1946
3.00
Adventures of Red Ryder
1940
5.50
Panama Patrol
1939
5.00
Junior Bonner
1972
6.12
Hostile Guns
1967
5.10
When's Your Birthday?
1937
4.00
The Crowd Roars
1938
6.50
That's My Gal
1947
0.00
Remember Pearl Harbor
1942
6.00
The Woman I Love
1937
0.00
Hunters Are for Killing
1970
4.50
Back Roads
1981
5.40
S.O.S Tidal Wave
1939
5.70
Town Tamer
1965
6.40
Ocean's Eleven
1960
6.36
Night Waitress
1936
5.80
Fort Courageous
1965
5.10
Young Dr. Kildare
1938
6.50
Beloved Enemy
1936
6.10
Red Tomahawk
1967
6.40
I Shot Billy the Kid
1950
4.00
Navy Blue and Gold
1937
5.90
Calling Dr. Kildare
1939
6.10
Wyoming Outlaw
1939
5.60
Arizona Terrors
1942
0.00
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
1939
5.60
Death Valley Outlaws
1941
0.00
Dead Man's Gulch
1943
0.00
Jesse James, Jr.
1942
2.00
Canyon City
1943
0.00
Untamed Heiress
1954
6.00
Bandolero!
1968
6.52
Calling All Marines
1939
0.00
Days of Old Cheyenne
1943
0.00
Fugitive from Sonora
1943
0.00
A Missouri Outlaw
1941
0.00
The Apache Kid
1941
0.00
Goldie and the Boxer
1979
4.50
Undercover with the KKK
1979
3.25
Walk Like a Dragon
1960
5.00
The Swarm
1978
4.93
The Man from the Rio Grande
1943
0.00
Stagecoach Express
1942
5.70
Alvarez Kelly
1966
6.20
Madonna of the Desert
1948
6.00
Red Desert
1949
0.00
My Buddy
1944
0.00
The West Side Kid
1943
0.00
The Traitor Within
1942
0.00
Jack Pot
1940
6.40
Fort Utah
1967
3.60
The Phantom Cowboy
1941
6.00
A Cry For Justice
1979
8.00
Border Rangers
1950
0.00
Gunfire
1950
5.00
The Cyclone Kid
1942
0.00
Ghost Valley Raiders
1940
6.00
Texas Terrors
1940
5.00
The Tulsa Kid
1940
6.00
Black Hills Express
1943
6.00
Outlaws of Pine Ridge
1942
0.00
Wyoming Wildcat
1941
0.00
The Sombrero Kid
1942
3.00
The Sundown Kid
1942
0.00
Frontier Vengeance
1940
0.00
Two Gun Sheriff
1941
6.00
Desert Bandit
1941
0.00
Kansas Cyclone
1941
0.00
Bells of Rosarita
1945
5.40
Outlaws of Santa Fe
1944
0.00
The Dalton Gang
1949
3.00
Square Dance Jubilee
1949
4.00
Buffalo Gun
1961
0.00
Law of the Lawless
1964
6.10
Bridal Bail
1934
3.00
Incident on a Dark Street
1973
5.00
Hot Lead & Cold Feet
1978
5.92
Ringside
1949
4.25
Whiffs
1975
7.10
Sailor's Lady
1940
4.00
China Doll
1958
6.80
Slippy McGee
1948
0.00
Shame, Shame on the Bixby Boys
1978
0.00
The Eyes of Charles Sand
1972
5.30
Punch and Jody
1974
0.00
Partners in Crime
1973
2.00
Hustle
1975
5.70
Twilight of Honor
1963
6.80
One More Train to Rob
1971
5.40