Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
142
Gender
Male
Birthday
January 11, 1912 ( 68 years old )
Place of Birth
Houston, Texas, USA
Also Known As
Donald Barry De Acosta
Donald Barry
Donald 'Red' Barry
Milton Poimboeuf
Donald M. Barry
Don 'Red' Barry
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.
Known For
Warlock
1959-05-15Frankenstein 1970
1958-07-20The Shakiest Gun in the West
1968-07-10From Noon Till Three
1976-08-01Lightnin' in the Forest
1948-03-25Boss Nigger
1975-08-177 Men from Now
1956-07-24Orca
1977-07-22The Crash of Flight 401
1978-10-29Dead End
1937-08-27