Don 'Red' Barry

Don 'Red' Barry

Real name:
Donald Michael Barry DeAcosta

1910 or 1911 --- 1980

Was Don Barry's real name Donald Michael Barry DeAcosta ... or was it Milton Poimboeuf? Brothers Ken and Homer Dupuy provide photos and genealogical information on their family and famous relative. Click HERE.

I've always viewed Don Barry as pugnacious, a real scrapper, and a man with a short fuse. At around 5 foot 8 inches tall (probably less), Barry was relatively short ... but what he lacked in height, he made up in determination and energy ... and that vitality translated onto the screen. Born in Texas, Barry was in Hollywood in the mid 1930s doing traditional bit parts that were the norm for Tinseltown newcomers, and examples include minor roles in several of the MGM Dr. Kildare films.

He found his way to the new Republic Pictures where he landed several meaty roles: as Jesse James in the Roy Rogers' DAYS OF JESSE JAMES (Republic, 1939); a baddie again in the Rogers' SAGA OF DEATH VALLEY (Republic, 1939); and as the titled outlaw in the Three Mesquiteers' feature WYOMING OUTLAW (Republic, 1939).

The Republic brass must have been impressed. They had acquired the rights to the popular Red Ryder comic strip character by Fred Harman. Republic was planning a Red Ryder cliffhanger, and the legal arrangements included options for some features. Though Harman's creation was thin and tall, Republic hired Barry for the role. The story goes that Barry objected ... but Republic boss Herbert Yates said sumthin' like "you play Red Ryder or you're out". And as they say, the rest is history!

The Barry westerns kicked off in 1940 and ran for 29 films, concluding in 1944. The heroine in 16 was pretty blonde Lynn Merrick. The first entry, GHOST VALLEY RAIDERS (Republic, 1940) hit the screen in early Spring, 1940.

THE ADVENTURES OF RED RYDER (Republic, 1940) serial, released during the Summer of 1940, was a success with Barry in the lead, and Dave Sharpe doing most of the stunting and doubling for the star. This was also the time when Barry picked up the moniker of 'Red' which would stay with him for the rest of his life.

The Barry westerns were rock solid and exciting and the best ones include his initial entry, GHOST VALLEY RAIDERS, as well as THE TULSA KID (Republic, 1940), WYOMING WILDCAT (Republic, 1941), DEATH VALLEY OUTLAWS (Republic, 1941), SUNDOWN KID (Republic, 1942), and THE SOMBRERO KID (Republic, 1942). But toward the end, they seemed to lose steam ... and then Republic assigned the young Twinkle Watts to the series to add some juvenile appeal (when the Barry features ended, Watts would help Allan Lane). Bringing a youngster into a series had been done before. A little curly haired moppet named Sugar Dawn was added to the early 1940s series of Tex Ritter and Tom Keene at Monogram.

While Wally Vernon (with that "New Yawkish" accent) sticks in my mind as Barry's primary sidekick, he did have others --- many others --- including Dub Taylor, Syd Saylor, Al 'Fuzzy' St. John, Emmett 'Pappy' Lynn and Lloyd 'Arkansas Slim' Andrews.

Producer George Sherman was in charge of the Barrys and he directed seventeen of the first eighteen. Sherman was moved to other things, and 'musical chairs' occurred as various directors came and went on the last eleven films, beginning with OUTLAWS OF PINE RIDGE (Republic, 1942) --- helming these were William 'Bill' Witney, John English, Howard Bretherton, Spencer Gordon Bennet and Elmer Clifton. No negative implication here, as these were quality folks. My only reason for mentioning the director changes is that some pattern and consistency may have been lost because the boss kept changin'.

Circa 1943-1944, Republic was loaded with talent. They had Roy Rogers, Allan Lane and Sunset Carson. Bill Elliott had signed on with the studio and was doing a series of eight (and after that group, he would be the lead in the new Red Ryder features). Republic cancelled the Three Mesquiteers after the 1942-1943 season. Don Barry was the next to go, and his last starring oater at the studio was OUTLAWS OF SANTA FE (Republic, 1944), released in the Spring of 1944. Apparently this was OK with him, as he had hopes of doing other, higher grade filmwork. From what I've read, he was also tired of doing B grade westerns.

During the remainder of the 1940s, Barry occasionally returned to Republic and you can spot him in such films as: BELLS OF ROSARITA (Republic, 1945), the all-star extravaganza starring Roy Rogers; Bill Elliott's THE PLAINSMAN AND THE LADY (Republic, 1946); and OUT CALIFORNIA WAY (Republic, 1946) with Monte Hale.

Beginning in 1949, he began doing features of both western and non-western varieties for Robert L. Lippert (Lippert Pictures), and some of the titles are: THE DALTON GANG (Lippert, 1949), GUNFIRE (Lippert, 1950), TRAIN TO TOMBSTONE (Lippert, 1950) and I SHOT BILLY THE KID (Lippert, 1950). Barry's last starring movie role was in JESSE JAMES' WOMEN (UA, 1954). It was during this period that he dabbled behind the camera, trying his hand at script writing, directing and producing.

From the 1950s through the 1970s, he appeared in scores of TV shows such as GUNSMOKE, MAVERICK, COLT .45, THE VIRGINIAN, BONANZA, THE LAWMAN, PERRY MASON, KOLCHAK:THE NIGHT STALKER, F TROOP, more. In the mid 1970s, he had a brief but ongoing role in several episodes of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. Barry even did a villain role on the BATMAN TV show with Adam West. Bobby Copeland reminded me about SURFSIDE 6, one of many detective shows on TV which was produced by Warner Bros. (at the time, Warners was also doing MAVERICK, 77 SUNSET STRIP, lots of others). SURFSIDE 6 ran for two seasons, 1960-61 and 1961-62. Barry played Lt. Ray Snedigar in season one (Richard Crane was Lt. Gene Plehn for season two).

Some reference material on Barry notes that he was up for an Academy Award for his performance in THE PURPLE HEART (20th Century Fox, 1944), a movie he made on 'loan out' from Republic. This film is about a B-25 Mitchell bomber crew that was shot down during the Doolittle raid on Tokyo in the early days of World War II. The crew is being tried for war crimes in a Japanese military court, and Barry plays Lieutenant Peter Vincent who endures torture at the hands of his captors. I did check the Academy Awards database as I was researching this piece (see weblink at the end of this article), but could find no mention of Barry being among the Oscar nominees. Regardless of the Oscar situation, Barry did a nice job in the THE PURPLE HEART.

Barry was married several times, including a hitch to pretty B western leading lady Peggy Stewart. Despite published information, he was not married to Republic heroine Helen Talbot. There were also a variety of stories (rumors) about Barry's romantic escapades with Hollywood actresses, including several prominent leading ladies.

My memory may be a bit faulty on the following --- but I do recall that in the 1960s, Barry put out some flyers requesting donations so he could begin a new series of westerns or serials ... films that would have a clean cut hero figure that the kids of the time could look up to. Thought I had a copy of what he was advocating, but couldn't find it in my CFS (chaotic filing system). Perhaps an Old Corral visitor can confirm and provide further details.

Don Barry was a talented guy who did some good western films. Counting the bit parts and supporting roles on the big screen and TV, his overall career encompassed 40+ years.

But in real life --- or at least in his later life --- something was seriously wrong. Don Barry committed suicide on July 17, 1980. Sad ending.

The Motion Picture Herald and Boxoffice polls were conducted from about the mid 1930s through the mid 1950s. With a few exceptions, the annual results would list the 'Top Ten' cowboy film stars. In most cases, the winners were what you would expect --- Autry, Rogers, Holt, Starrett, Hoppy, etc. Barry was ranked in the Motion Picture Herald poll during his series at Republic Pictures.

Popularity Rankings of Don Barry
Year	Motion Picture Herald Poll Ranking
1942	9th
1943	8th
1944	7th
1945	8th

Most of the info on the Old Corral about the contracts and salaries at Republic Pictures has been gleaned from Jack Mathis' excellent Republic Confidential, Volume 2, The Players (Jack Mathis Advertising, 1992), and I've given Jack credit in the Acknowledgements & Thanks page. The Mathis book includes information on Barry's agreements with Republic, and following are some highlights:

signed a term contract in February of 1940
pay was initially at $150.00 per week, escalating to $225.00 weekly by the end of his series of 29 films in 1944
would be billed as Don 'Red' Barry in the westerns, and Donald Barry in other features

You may also want to visit the In Search Of ... page on the Old Corral. Then go to the California Death Records database and you will find a record for Donald Michael Barry, born 1/11/1911 in Texas, his Mother's maiden name was Barry, Father's name is not listed, and he passed away on 7/17/1980. There is also a record in the Social Security Death Index, and that shows his birth date as January 11, 1910.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

GHOST VALLEY RAIDERS (Republic, 1940) was the first of the 29 Republic oaters which starred Barry, and it was released in early Spring, 1940, several months before the release of THE ADVENTURES OF RED RYDER (Republic, 1940) cliffhanger.