Don 'Red' Barry

(From Old Corral image collection)

Above - Wally Vernon and Barry. They paired up in two different western series - the first was at Republic during the 1940s and the second effort was around 1950 at Lippert Pictures where Barry did GUNFIRE (1950), I SHOT BILLY THE KID (1950), more. Wally Vernon was struck and killed by a hit and run driver in 1970.

The bay horse with a narrow face stripe is "Banner" and was ridden by Barry in most, if not all, of his Republic oaters. After Barry's series ended, Banner became the mount used by Allan Lane (before he assumed the Red Ryder role from Wild Bill Elliott). John Wayne rode Banner in the late 1940s and early 1950s (in ANGEL AND THE BADMAN, for example), and Andy Devine rode him in the movies he made with Roy Rogers. Don't recall Lane riding Banner - click HERE for a photo of Lane, Linda Stirling and Banner from TOPEKA TERROR.

(From Old Corral image collection)

At the conclusion of Roy Rogers' BELLS OF ROSARITA (1945), when the Republic stars entered the circus, Barry is introduced as riding "Cyclone". The above still appears to be from BELLS.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is the pressbook cover for SQUARE DANCE JUBILEE (Lippert, 1949). Though the film starred Don 'Red' Barry and the blonde-tressed Mary Beth Hughes (shown in upper right corner), it featured Spade Cooley and his western swing band, Cowboy Copas, Max Terhune, the Tumbleweed Tumblers, former Hoppy sidekick Britt Wood, more. The producer was Ron Ormond who also did the 'Western Adventures Productions' with Lash LaRue in the late 1940s. This was a 'Donald Barry Production' released through Lippert Pictures, and the storyline has talent agents Don Barry and pal Wally Vernon running into cattle rustlers while searching for performers to appear on Cooley's TV show.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Left is a pressbook ad for Barry's RINGSIDE (Screen Guild/Lippert, 1949) which featured pretty Sheila Ryan (lower left), and was another from producer Ron Ormond.

One of the fighters in this boxing tale was lefty John L. "Bob" Cason (as the brutal "Tiger Johnson"). Prior to his Hollywood career playing no goods, Cason was a real boxer. Note the upper right drawing of Barry vs. Cason, the curly haired opponent.

In the photo right are Don Barry and county-western entertainer, singer, and DJ Jimmy Swan (1912-1995). Barry, along with his production crew, actors and actresses, went on location in Mississippi for the filming of the Technicolor JESSE JAMES' WOMEN (Panorama/United Artists, 1954), which was Barry's finale as a leading man. In addition to the photo, Tyrone Roberts provided some info about Jimmy Swan, Barry and the film: film production was around Silver Creek and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and many of the supporting players were locals from the area. Tyrone recalls that the movie premier was at the Saenger Theatre in Hattiesburg. Swan, who at the time was doing records for Trumpet Records, assisted Barry in cutting a record about the Korean War on Trumpet. In return for the help, Barry gave Swan a small role in the film (as a fight manager).		(Image courtesy of Tyrone Roberts)
Don Barry sings for Trumpet Records! Bob O'Brien provided additional information on the Trumpet recordings that Barry did circa 1953. He did two songs, "White Cross In Korea" and "Give Me Back The Love I Gave". Barry doesn't talk or recite on these. He actually sings with accompaniment by a gal vocal group. Trumpet Records was a small independent label set-up and owned by Lillian McMurry in Jackson Mississippi. The Trumpet company records are archived at the Trumpet Records Collection (MUM00136) in the Blues Archive, Department of Archives and Special Collections, J. D. Williams Library, the University of Mississippi: http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM00136/ Scroll about a third of the way down that webpage and you'll find Don "Red" Barry with some listings for ledger pages, cancelled checks, royalty statements, etc. for the years 1953 - 1956.

Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on Don Barry: http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0057983/

There's a website on theater owner and movie producer Robert L. Lippert, and there's mention of the Don Barry films: http://robertllippertfoundation.com/

There's a profile on Lynn Merrick in the Heroines/Leading Ladies section of the Old Corral. And there's a bit more on Wally Vernon is in the Saddle Pals-Sidekicks-Kids-2nd Leads section.

Bill Ruehlmann did an interview in 1999 with Peggy Stewart for Classic Images, and in the interview Peggy talks about meeting Don Barry, their three year marriage, Barry's friendship with Mickey Rooney, his suicide, more : http://www.classicimages.com/1999/july99/stewart.html

It's always interesting to click through excerpts of newspaper headlines and clippings at the Google news archives at: http://news.google.com/archivesearch
Be aware that most of the links provided in the Google news archive go to newspaper websites where you have to pay to retrieve the full article. There are many articles about Don Barry and following are a few headlines from the Google newspaper archive search. Some had obvious spelling errors and I corrected those.

(Courtesy of Minard Coons)		(Courtesy of Minard Coons)
Above photos - Don Barry at a 1972 film convention, and on the right, with Max Terhune of the Three Mesquiteers and Range Busters. Same height for both men - I wonder how tall Max Terhune was.