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Barbara Barrie, a character actress best known for playing boisterous moms in “Breaking Away” and “Private Benjamin,” has died. She was 95.
Barrie’s daughter, Jane Harnick, told The New York Times that her mother had terminal cancer and said her death was “medically assisted.”
Barrie was an inveterate stage director and frequent presence on stage and screen. On Broadway, she appeared in the original cast of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company,” a revolutionary musical that explored relationships and commitment. Barrie earned a Tony Award nomination for her role in the 1970 production. Other Broadway credits included Neil Simon’s “California Suite.”
For her film work, Barrie won the best actress award at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival for “One Potato, Two Potato”, an interracial romance, in which her character faces prejudice while falling in love with a Black man. But it was “Breaking Away” and her role as a blue-collar mother of a bike enthusiast, that put Barrie on the map. She was nominated for best supporting actress for the 1979 coming-of-age classic, and then reprized the role in the 1980 TV series based on “Breaking Away,” earning an Emmy nomination.
Barrie was also known to audiences for her turn on the 1970s detective sitcom “Barney Miller,” portraying the title character’s wife. Other credits included the Disney films “Judy Berlin,” “The Bell Jar,” and “Hercules,” as well as appearances on “Law & Order” and “Suddenly Susan.”
Barrie was a published author. She wrote children’s books, as well as “Second Act” and “Don’t Die of Embarrassment,” which explored her battle with colorectal cancer.
