1912-01-11 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.
 |
Back Roads | Pete | 1981-03-13 |
 |
Goldie and the Boxer | Radio Announcer | 1979-12-30 |
 |
A Cry For Justice | Virgil Hall | 1979-05-23 |
 |
Undercover with the KKK | Ben Wright | 1979-10-23 |
 |
Donovan's Kid | Sheriff at Stagecoach | 1979-01-07 |
 |
Shame, Shame on the Bixby Boys | 1978-02-01 | |
 |
Doctor Dracula | Elliot | 1978-03-02 |
 |
Hot Lead & Cold Feet | Bartender | 1978-07-05 |
 |
Hooper | Sheriff | 1978-07-28 |
 |
The Crash of Flight 401 | Helicopter Pilot | 1978-10-29 |
 |
The Swarm | Pete Harris | 1978-07-14 |
 |
Buckstone County Prison | Warden Coley | 1978-07-01 |
 |
Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid | Devery's Foreman | 1978-05-26 |
 |
Orca | Dock Worker | 1977-07-22 |
 |
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch | (archive footage) | 1976-05-01 |
 |
From Noon Till Three | Red Roxy | 1976-08-01 |
 |
The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West | Marshal | 1976-08-01 |
 |
Starsky & Hutch | Doctor in Morgue | 1975-04-30 |
 |
Blazing Stewardesses | Mike Trask | 1975-06-01 |
 |
Hustle | Airport Bartender | 1975-12-25 |
 |
Whiffs | Sgt. Post | 1975-10-15 |
 |
Boss Nigger | 1975-08-17 | |
 |
Punch and Jody | Franz Butz / Delbert Clyde Butz | 1974-11-26 |
 |
Partners in Crime | Bartender | 1973-03-24 |
 |
Incident on a Dark Street | Miles Henderson | 1973-01-12 |
 |
Junior Bonner | Homer Rutledge | 1972-07-21 |
 |
The Eyes of Charles Sand | Trainer | 1972-02-29 |
 |
Johnny Got His Gun | Jody Simmons | 1971-08-04 |
 |
One More Train to Rob | Charlie | 1971-02-19 |
 |
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County | Rusty | 1970-04-01 |
 |
Hunters Are for Killing | Hank Phillips | 1970-03-12 |
 |
Rio Lobo | Feeny - Bartender (uncredited) | 1970-04-01 |
 |
Shalako | Buffalo | 1968-09-26 |
 |
Bandolero! | Jack Hawkins | 1968-06-01 |
 |
The Shakiest Gun in the West | Rev. Zachary Gant | 1968-07-10 |
 |
Hostile Guns | Ed Johnson | 1967-07-01 |
 |
Fort Utah | Harris | 1967-09-01 |
 |
Red Tomahawk | Bly | 1967-01-01 |
 |
El magnifico extranjero | Grist | 1966-08-26 |
 |
Alvarez Kelly | Lt. Farrow | 1966-10-06 |
 |
Town Tamer | Tex | 1965-07-07 |
 |
Fort Courageous | Captain Harvey | 1965-05-01 |
 |
Convict Stage | Marshal Jethro Karnin | 1965-01-01 |
 |
War Party | Sgt. Chaney | 1965-03-01 |
 |
Apache Uprising | Henry Belden | 1965-12-29 |
 |
Law of the Lawless | Red | 1964-05-13 |
 |
Iron Angel | Reb | 1964-02-01 |
 |
Twilight of Honor | Judson Elliot | 1963-11-13 |
 |
Walk on the Wild Side | Dockery | 1962-02-21 |
 |
Buffalo Gun | Murdock | 1961-07-01 |
 |
Ocean's Eleven | McCoy (uncredited) | 1960-08-10 |
 |
Walk Like a Dragon | Cabot | 1960-06-01 |
 |
The Last Mile | Drake | 1959-02-18 |
 |
The Big Operator | Detective Sergeant | 1959-08-01 |
 |
Warlock | Edward Calhoun (uncredited) | 1959-05-15 |
 |
Born Reckless | Bill Okie | 1958-11-02 |
 |
Frankenstein 1970 | Douglas Row | 1958-07-20 |
 |
China Doll | MSgt. Hal Foster | 1958-06-06 |
 |
Gun Duel in Durango | Larry | 1957-05-01 |
 |
Seven Men from Now | Clete | 1956-07-24 |
 |
I'll Cry Tomorrow | Jerry | 1955-12-25 |
 |
The Twinkle In God's Eye | Dawson | 1955-10-13 |
 |
Untamed Heiress | Mike Lawrence | 1954-03-31 |
 |
Jesse James' Women | Jesse James | 1954-09-04 |
 |
I Shot Billy the Kid | Billy the Kid | 1950-07-27 |
 |
Train To Tombstone | Len Howard | 1950-09-16 |
 |
Gunfire | Frank James / Bat Fenton | 1950-08-12 |
 |
Border Rangers | Bob Standish | 1950-10-05 |
 |
Ringside | Mike O'Hara, "King Cobra" | 1949-07-14 |
 |
Square Dance Jubilee | Don Blake | 1949-11-11 |
 |
Red Desert | Pecos Jones | 1949-12-17 |
 |
The Dalton Gang | Larry West | 1949-10-20 |
 |
Tough Assignment | Dan Reilly | 1949-11-15 |
 |
Madonna of the Desert | Tony French | 1948-02-23 |
 |
Lightnin' in the Forest | Stan Martin | 1948-03-25 |
 |
Slippy McGee | Slippy McGee | 1948-01-15 |
 |
Train to Alcatraz | Doug Forbes | 1948-06-28 |
|
That's My Gal | Benny Novak | 1947-05-15 |
 |
The Last Crooked Mile | Tom Dwyer | 1946-08-09 |
 |
The Plainsman and the Lady | Feisty | 1946-11-11 |
 |
Bells of Rosarita | Don Barry | 1945-06-19 |
 |
The Chicago Kid | Joe Ferrill | 1945-06-29 |
 |
The Purple Heart | Lt. Peter Vincent | 1944-02-25 |
 |
My Buddy | Eddie Ballinger | 1944-10-12 |
 |
Outlaws of Santa Fe | Bob Conroy | 1944-04-04 |
 |
The Man from the Rio Grande | Lee Grant | 1943-10-18 |
 |
Carson City Cyclone | Gilbert Phalen | 1943-03-03 |
 |
The West Side Kid | Johnny April | 1943-08-23 |
 |
Fugitive from Sonora | Dave Winters / Ted Winters | 1943-06-30 |
 |
Dead Man's Gulch | Tennessee Colby | 1943-02-12 |
 |
Canyon City | Terry Reynolds posing as the Nevada Kid | 1943-11-24 |
 |
California Joe | Joe Weldon | 1943-12-29 |
 |
Black Hills Express | Lon Walker | 1943-08-15 |
 |
Days of Old Cheyenne | Clint Ross | 1943-03-15 |
 |
The Cyclone Kid | Johnny "Cyclone Kid" Dawson | 1942-05-31 |
 |
Outlaws of Pine Ridge | Chips Barrett | 1942-10-27 |
 |
The Sundown Kid | Red Tracy | 1942-12-28 |
 |
The Traitor Within | Sam Starr | 1942-12-16 |
 |
Stagecoach Express | Dave Gregory | 1942-03-06 |
 |
Remember Pearl Harbor | Pvt. Steve 'Lucky' Smith | 1942-01-02 |
 |
Arizona Terrors | Jim Bradley | 1942-01-13 |
 |
Jesse James, Jr. | Johnny Barrett | 1942-03-25 |
 |
The Sombrero Kid | Jerry Holden | 1942-07-31 |
 |
Death Valley Outlaws | Johnny Edwards | 1941-09-26 |
 |
A Missouri Outlaw | Cliff Dixon | 1941-11-25 |
 |
Wyoming Wildcat | Bill Gannon | 1941-01-06 |
 |
The Apache Kid | Pete Dawson aka The Apache Kid | 1941-04-11 |
 |
Desert Bandit | Bob Crandall, Texas Ranger | 1941-05-24 |
 |
Two Gun Sheriff | Jim "Sundown Kid" McKinnon / Sheriff Bruce McKinnon | 1941-04-09 |
 |
The Phantom Cowboy | Jim Lawrence | 1941-02-14 |
 |
Kansas Cyclone | Jim Randall | 1941-06-24 |
 |
Adventures of Red Ryder | Red Ryder | 1940-06-28 |
 |
Sailor's Lady | Second Paymaster | 1940-07-05 |
 |
One Man's Law | Jack Summers | 1940-06-29 |
 |
Frontier Vengeance | Jim Sanders | 1940-10-10 |
 |
Ghost Valley Raiders | Tim Brandon | 1940-03-23 |
 |
Jack Pot | Bryan (uncredited) | 1940-03-09 |
 |
The Tulsa Kid | Tom Benton aka Tulsa Kid | 1940-08-16 |
 |
Texas Terrors | Bob Millbourne aka Robert Mills | 1940-11-22 |
 |
Calling All Marines | 'Blackie' Cross | 1939-09-20 |
 |
Wyoming Outlaw | Will Parker | 1939-06-27 |
 |
Saga of Death Valley | Jerry | 1939-11-17 |
 |
Calling Dr. Kildare | Collins | 1939-04-28 |
 |
S.O.S Tidal Wave | Curly Parsons | 1939-06-02 |
 |
Days of Jesse James | Jesse James | 1939-12-20 |
 |
The Secret of Dr. Kildare | Collins - Intern (uncredited) | 1939-11-24 |
 |
Only Angels Have Wings | Tex | 1939-05-15 |
 |
Panama Patrol | Loring | 1939-03-20 |
 |
Think It Over | Henchman | 1938-07-24 |
 |
Saleslady | Babcock | 1938-01-27 |
 |
Sinners in Paradise | Jessup | 1938-05-19 |
 |
The Duke of West Point | Grady | 1938-12-29 |
 |
Young Dr. Kildare | Dr. Collins (uncredited) | 1938-10-14 |
 |
The Crowd Roars | Pete Mariola | 1938-08-06 |
 |
When's Your Birthday? | Marty - Gunman (uncredited) | 1937-02-19 |
 |
Navy Blue and Gold | Mason (Southern Institute football player) (uncredited) | 1937-11-19 |
 |
Dead End | Dr. Flynn, Intern (Uncredited) | 1937-08-27 |
 |
The Woman I Love | Michel | 1937-04-15 |
 |
Night Waitress | Mario Rigo | 1936-12-18 |
 |
Beloved Enemy | Mike, I.R.A. Patriot (Uncredited) | 1936-12-25 |
 |
Bridal Bail | Movie Usher | 1934-02-09 |
 |
Flying Down to Rio | Dancer (uncredited) | 1933-12-22 |
