Barbara Barrie, Oscar-Nominated Actress of Stage and Screen, Dies at 95
Barbara Barrie, the actress nominated for an Academy Award for playing the mother in Breaking Away (1979), has died at the age of 95. She died on a Wednesday at her home in Manhattan, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Her daughter, Jane Harnick, told The New York Times that Barrie had terminal cancer. Harnick also told the paper that her mother's death was medically assisted. The Hollywood Reporter attributed its account of the death to that newspaper.
Barrie was born Barbara Ann Berman in Chicago on May 23, 1931. She built a career across the stage, film and television, and she worked steadily for more than half a century.
On Broadway, she played Sarah in the original 1970-72 production of Stephen Sondheim's Company. Her performance earned her a Tony nomination. The musical received 14 Tony nominations in total.
Her film work included One Potato, Two Potato (1964), for which she was named best actress at the Cannes Film Festival. Years later, Breaking Away brought her the Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
On television, she became a familiar face to American viewers. From 1975 to 1982, she played the wife of Hal Linden's police captain on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller. Later, from 1996 to 2000, she had a recurring role on the NBC comedy Suddenly Susan as the grandmother and confidant of Brooke Shields' character.
Barrie's career moved between the theatre, cinema and the living room, and she is remembered by colleagues and audiences across all three.
