Don 'Red' Barry

Special thanks to the brothers Ken and Homer Dupuy for these great photos and information on their relative, Don 'Red' Barry. Following are a variety of tidbits, photos and family tree information which have been consolidated from several Homer and Ken e-mails that were received in the Fall of 2003. Ken provided the photos and ALVAREZ KELLY material, and Homer (who missed the September, 1965 family reunion because he was in the Navy) furnished the family background and history.

The film ALVAREZ KELLY was filmed north of Baton Rouge in 1965, and starred William Holden and Richard Widmark. Our distant cousin, Don 'Red' Barry, had a supporting role, and our uncle, 'Boone' Dugas was given a role as an extra in the movie. On the day that I took some photos they were shooting the same scene over, several times. There were many extras, and Don Barry and Harry Carey, Jr. were there also, with little or no involvement in the shooting. It was interesting to see William Holden get sprayed on his back and under his arms to give the impression that he had been sweating. There was little or no interaction between the stars, once the scene was shot, if I recall correctly. I was too star struck to approach Holden or Widmark, and no one else seemed to be doing so. Therefore, I simply shot from a distance without a zoom lens. Such an attachment would have been great, but I made do with my Agfa.

I was always told that Don Barry's real name was Milton Poimboeuf. My Mom's Grandmother (Theresa Acosta) and Don's Grandmother (Regina Acosta) were sisters. Family members who knew and visited Don in California said that this is correct. I have included family photos that were taken while Don was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana filming ALVAREZ KELLY. Don came to Scott, Louisiana where he met with many long lost relatives.

Don Barry ... and the Family Tree Narcisse Bernard Acosta (born: August 20, 1837) and Marie Pamela Domingue (born: May 3, 1845) were married May 24, 1865 and had three children who lived: Therese Josephine Acosta (born: March 18, 1866), Marie Regina Acosta (born: May 29, 1867) and Marcis Raimond Blaze Acosta (born: February 3, 1869). Narcisse Bernard Acosta died November 30, 1868 at the age of 30 after being married just over 3 years. Pamela married Narcisse's third cousin Julian Acosta. They had 11 Children, 3 who lived to adults, Eva, Adam, and George. When Pamela divorced Julian she moved to Morgan City, LA with her children from the second marriage. Julian remarried and had another family with his new wife. Later, Pamela left Morgan City, LA and moved to Houston, Texas where Eva and Regina were living. Marie Regina Acosta is the grandmother of Don 'Red' Barry.
Theresa Acosta Therese Josephine Acosta married Alcee Dugas and they had 14 children, 11 who lived to adulthood. This is how the Dugas connection came about. Two of Theresa's children are in the family group picture with Don at the top of the page. You see Mitchell with Don and there is Mrs. Cecile (Dugas) Bonin who is also in the picture.	Marie Regina Acosta Grandmother of Don 'Red' Barry Marie Regina Acosta (born: May 29, 1867) married Jules Francois Poimboeuf (born: July 19, 1864) on April 23, 1885 and they are the grandparents of Donald 'Red' Barry. Regina Acosta and Jules Poimboeuf had 6 children: (1) Louis Leonce "Leon" Poimboeuf (born May 15, 1887; died October 11, 1936) (Don Barry's father? See obituary below) (2) Julius "Jules" Poimboeuf (born: May 16, 1893; died January 28, 1916) (3) Louise Poimboeuf (born: February 23, 1889); married Frank Wilkins (4) Auguste "Gus" Joseph Poimboeuf (born: March 19, 1891); married Belle Julian; married twice (5) Lillie Anne Poimboeuf (born: October 14, 1896); married George Nickalis (6) Joseph Luis Poimboeuf (born: February 3, 1886, died: March 12, 1886 at age 1 month)
Homer has contacted two of Mitchell Dugas' sons and they both are almost positive that the father of Don Barry was Leonce Poimboeuf. Mitchell Dugas was 7 or 8 when Don was born, and one of his sons told Homer that his dad used to tell him how he would carry Don on his shoulders when Don was young. In summary, is Don 'Red' Barry's real name Milton Poimboeuf? We'll learn more as Ken and Homer uncover new information in their family tree investigations. The generally accepted real name for Barry is Donald Michael Barry DeAcosta, and that name is on Barry's grave marker (Find A Grave link below). However, the last name of "DeAcosta" appears to be incorrect. Looks like Barry adapted/modified the surname of his grandmother, Regina Acosta Poimboeuf. Another possibility is that a friend or relative furnished wrong information at the time of Barry's death. You may 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. Jim Tipton's Find A Grave website has a picture of the grave marker for Donald Michael Barry DeAcosta at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5151 March, 2004 update from Homer Dupuy: "I spoke with a Granddaughter of Louise Poimboeuf, but she was unable to answer the question of Don’s parents. She is in her 70’s and like she said all of the old timers who knew the answers are no longer with us. She said she did visit Don in California when he was in his prime. She said when Don would come to Louisiana they would go to Houston to visit Lillie Anne Poimboeuf. I’m working to find someone who has access to records from Texas. I’ll keep you informed of any information that I uncover." A geneology researcher friend was able to find 1910 Houston, Texas census records on Regina: Regina Poimbouef (age 41, born in LA); living with her were her children: Leon, 23, Gus, 19, Julius, 16, and Lillie, 13. May, 2004 update from Homer Dupuy who credits friend Anna Marie Hayes with discovering lots of additional info on the Poimboeuf genealogy. Two bits of info relate to our search for Don Barry: Obituary from the Houston POST, 13 OCT 1936, sec. 2, page 8: POIMBOUEF---Louis Leonce Poimbouef, 50, of 1602 [?] Brooks, died at midnight Sunday in a hospital. He had been a resident of Houston for 50 years. Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Louis Leonce Poimbouef of Houston; three daughters, Mrs. Ruth King of Houston, Mrs. Juanita Sands of Corpus Christi, Miss Janet Poimbouef of Houston, one son, Milton Poimbouef of Hollywood, Cal; one sister, Mrs. George Nicholas of Houston; two brothers, Julius Poimbouef of Weslaco and J. A. Poimbouef of Mexia; four stepchildren and three grandchildren. Services will be held at the Fogle-West chapel at 4 p. m. Tuesday with Rev. D. L. Griffith officiating. Burial will be in the Forest Park cemetery. Active pallbearers: Hugh Booker, J. Gaber, William J. Goode, J. C. Pullen, J. E. Bock and O. R. Spencer. Fogle-West company directing. Anne Marie writes about census data: "I finally found Milton in 1920. He was listed as Milton PINEBLUFF. He was age 10 (making him born in 1909 or 1910). He was living with his adopted father, John B. FANE(?) (not sure of this last name....bad copy) and Virginia, age 50, b. LA (who might be Regina ACOSTA, ex-wife of Julian POINBOUEF (sic)." Later in her report, Anne Marie notes that it is not John B. FANE, but FAAE.