Barnard Hughes

Barnard Hughes (July 16 1915 – July 11 2006), born Bernard Aloysius Kiernan HughesRobertson, Campbell (published July 12, 2006; correction appended July 14, 2006). Barnard Hughes, Character Actor, Dies at 90 New York Times, was an American character actor of theater and film.

Hughes became famous for a variety of roles; his most notable roles came after middle age, and he was often cast as a dithering authority figure or grandfatherly elder.

Personal life

Hughes was born in Bedford Hills, New York, to Irish immigrants Owen and Madge Hughes. Hughes attended Manhattan College in New York City. Hughes was married to actress Helen Stenborg. They married on April 19 1950 and remained married until his death. They had two children, Doug and Laura. Kuchwara, Michael (July 11, 2006).Theater and TV Actor Barnard Hughes Dies. Associated Press.

Career

According to his son Doug, Hughes changed the "e" in his first name to an "a" to help his acting career on the advice of a numerologist.

Through high school and college, Hughes worked a series of odd jobs, including a stint as a dockworker and as a salesman at Macy's. He auditioned for the Shakespeare Fellowship Repertory company in New York City on the advice of a friend, and ended up joining the company for two years.

Stage roles

Hughes played more than 400 theatre roles, including the one for which he was perhaps most famous, in Hugh Leonard's Da. He won Broadway's 1978 Tony Award as Best Actor for his portrayal of the title role; he recreated the role for film in 1988.

Among his other notable roles:

Polonius to Stacy Keach's Hamlet
Dogberry in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Much Ado About Nothing
An Off-Broadway performances in Uncle Vanya, directed by Mike Nichols
A Doll's House
Hogan's Goat
The Three Sisters
The Devil's Disciple, and
Translations.

Film roles

On screen, he appeared in Midnight Cowboy (1969) (which was the first (and only) X-rated film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture), and also appeared in such films as The Hospital (1971), Oh, God! (1977), First Monday in October (1981), Tron (1982), The Lost Boys (1987) and Doc Hollywood (1991).

Television roles

Hughes appeared on TV in such series as Naked City, Secret Storm, Blossom and Life on the Street. He had a notable appearance on All in the Family as a Catholic priest doing battle with Archie Bunker, and won an Emmy for his portrayal of a senile judge on Lou Grant. He was the central character in three short-lived sitcoms, Doc, where he played a physician, Mr. Merlin, in which he played Merlin the magician mentoring a 20th-century teenager, and The Cavanaughs, co-starring Christine Ebersole, where he played the family patriarch. He sang Danny Boy on one episode (as per ^*).

Hughes also made a number of recurring appearances on daytime dramas including Guiding Light and As The World Turns.

References

External links

Barnard Hughes via Internet Broadway Database

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