Actor Barbara Barrie, known for her roles as Mother, including her Oscar nomination for “Breaking Away” (1979), died Wednesday at her home in Manhattan. He was 95 years old.
Barrie’s death was confirmed to the LA Times by the actor’s representatives, who said it was medically assisted. Her daughter, Jane Harnick, told the New York Times that her mother’s death followed a diagnosis of terminal cancer.
Barrie’s representatives said in a statement to the LA Times that the actor is an advocate and supporter of New York’s Medical Assistance in Dying Act, which went into effect on August 5.
Born Barbara Berman in Chicago in 1931, Barrie and her family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, where she attended Del Mar College. He would later transfer to the University of Texas, where he received many awards in drama.
After graduation, she took her acting dreams to the Big Apple, where she made her Broadway debut in the 1955 play “The Wooden Dish.” Throughout her career, Barrie appeared in several Broadway productions, including “The Sell of the President” (1972), “California Suite” (1976), and most notably Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 musical “Company,” for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for featured actress in a musical.
Her last role on Broadway was the original role of Helene Berman in Joshua Harmon’s “Significant Other” in 2017.
But Barrie took his acting expertise beyond the stage, making his first television appearance in 1955 on “Kraft Television Theatre.” A year later, he made his film debut in the western epic “Giant”, although he was uncredited while visiting family in Texas.
With more than 120 credits to his name, Barrie began appearing in popular TV shows in the 1950s and ’60s, such as “The Naked City,” “The Twilight Zone,” “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” “Nurses” and more. Her later TV credits included “Barney Miller” and “Sudden Susan,” in which she played Brooke Shields’ on-screen grandmother.
She earned her first major film role in 1964, playing divorcee Julie Cullen Richards in “One Potato, Two Potato.” She played a white woman who falls in love with a black man, Frank Richards (played by Bernie Hamilton). The film was released at a time when interracial marriage had not yet been legalized nationwide. Barrie won the Cannes Film Festival Award for this performance.
In 1979, the actor played the role of mother Evelyn Stroller in the coming-of-age comedy-drama “Breaking Away”; this earned her an Academy Award nomination for supporting actress, and she later reprized her role in the 1980 television series, earning an Emmy nomination.
Her other films include 1980’s “Private Benjamin,” 1997’s “Hercules” (in which she voiced Hercules’ mortal mother Alcmene) and 1999’s “Judy Berlin.” According to his IMDb profile, his last credit was for the gay romantic comedy “Things Like This” in 2025.
In 1994, Barrie was diagnosed with rectal cancer, which led him to raise awareness about the disease. He published two books on the subject; these included “The Second Act,” a 1997 memoir about determined optimism and acceptance, and “Dying of Shame: Life and Other Adventures After Colostomy,” a 1999 memoir in which she delved into her diagnosis and experience with the colostomy procedure.
Barrie married actor, director and producer Jay Harnick in 1964. Harnick died in 2007. The two are survived by their children, Jane and Aaron.