Barbara Barrie, 'Breaking Away' and 'Barney Miller' Star, Dies at 95
Barrie died at her home in Manhattan on Wednesday, her daughter Jane Harnick confirmed to The New York Times. Her death was medically assisted after a terminal cancer diagnosis. She was 95.
Barbara Barrie, the Oscar-nominated actress from Breaking Away and Barney Miller, has died. She was 95.
Barrie died at her home in Manhattan on Wednesday, her daughter Jane Harnick confirmed to The New York Times. Harnick said her mother's death was medically assisted after a terminal cancer diagnosis. Barrie had previously been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a degenerative lung disease.
Barrie was born Barbara Ann Berman in Chicago on May 23, 1931, and grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. She studied drama at the University of Texas at Austin and moved to New York after graduating in 1952. She made her Broadway debut in 1955 in The Wooden Dish.
Her stage career ran for more than six decades. She originated the role of Sarah in Stephen Sondheim's Company in 1970, earning a Tony nomination for best featured actress in a musical. Her final Broadway appearance came in 2017, in Significant Other.
Her film breakthrough came in 1964 with One Potato, Two Potato, about an interracial relationship, for which she won the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. She earned an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress for playing Evelyn Stoller, the mother in 1979's Breaking Away. She reprised the role in the television series based on the film and earned an Emmy nomination in 1981.
On television, she played Elizabeth Miller, the wife of Captain Barney Miller, on Barney Miller in the 1970s. Her later television work included Suddenly Susan, Law and Order, Nurse Jackie and Enlightened. She also worked as a singer and an author.
She is survived by her two children and three grandchildren.
