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