American actor (1912–1994)For the Australian stage actor, see Barry Sullivan (stage actor).

Patrick Barry Sullivan (August 29, 1912 – June 6, 1994) was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s, notably The Bad and the Beautiful opposite Kirk Douglas.

The Guardian wrote in 1994: "Second division Hollywood actors like Barry Sullivan ... are usually faintly praised for being reliable or solid. However, when given the chance, Sullivan was a powerful, often baleful presence on screen, providing more pleasure than many more touted stars. "

Contents

• 1 Biography
  • 1.1 Early years
• 2 Career
  • 2.1 Broadway stage, film shorts and radio
  • 2.2 Movies
  • 2.3 Television
• 3 Personal life
• 4 Death
• 5 Partial filmography
• 6 Radio appearances
• 7 References
• 8 External links

Biography

Early years

Born in New York City, Sullivan was a law student at New York University and Temple University. He fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football. He was later a department store buyer. During the later Depression years, Sullivan was told that because of his 6:ft 3 in (1.9 m) stature and rugged good looks he could "make money" simply standing on a Broadway stage.

Career

Broadway stage, film shorts and radio

Sullivan's first appearance on Broadway was in I Want a Policeman in 1936. That year he was also in R.C. Sheriff's St Helena.Sullivan appeared in shorts such as Strike! You're Out (1936), Broker's Follies (1937), Dime a Dance (1937) (alongside Imogene Coca, June Allyson and Danny Kaye), Dates and Nuts (1937), and Hi-Ho Hollywood (1937). He returned to Broadway with roles in All That Glitters (1938) and Eye on the Sparrow (1938) (with a young Montgomery Clift). He received attention when he joined the cast of the long running The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939) as Bert Jefferson. He was also in Mr Big (1941), Ring Around Elizabeth (1941) and Johnny 2 X 4 (1942). Sullivan appeared with Bette Davis on stage in 1960 in The World of Carl Sandburg as a subs*ute for her husband Gary Merrill.In 1950, Sullivan replaced Vincent Price in the role of Leslie Charteris' Simon Templar on the NBC Radio show The Saint. Sullivan lasted only two episodes before the show was cancelled.

Movies

Sullivan had a small role in the Universal serial The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1941).

Sullivan had a supporting part in High Explosive (1943) for Pine-Thomas Productions, who released through Paramount, and he was the second male lead in The Woman of the Town (1943) with Claire Trevor.

He was signed to a long term contract by Paramount, who gave him a good support role in an "A" film, the musical Lady in the Dark (1944) with Ginger Rogers. He supported Dorothy Lamour in Rainbow Island (1944) and Alan Ladd and Loretta Young in And Now Tomorrow (1944), and was one of many Paramount names in Duffy's Tavern (1945). He supported Dennis O'Keefe and Marie McDonald in the comedy, Getting Gertie's Garter (1945).

Then he went to Monogram Pictures for Suspense (1946), the most expensive film that studio had made to date, produced by the King Brothers; Sullivan was second billed to Belita. Monogram were delighted with his work; Sullivan obtained a release from his Paramount contract and signed a three picture deal with Monogram. Sullivan supported Brian Aherne and Constance Bennett in Smart Woman (1948) for Bennett's company, releasing through Monogram (as Allied Artists). He received top billing for a Western from the King Brothers and Monogram, Bad Men of Tombstone (1949).

MGM signed Sullivan to a contract, and he played supporting roles in Tension (1950), The Outriders (1950), Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), A Life of Her Own (1950), and Grounds for Marriage (1951). He was upped to leading man for Cause for Alarm! (1951) with Young and Payment on Demand (1951) with Bette Davis at RKO but was back down the cast list for Three Guys Named Mike (1951), Mr. Imperium (1951), and Inside Straight (1951). He was given top billing in No Questions Asked (1951), a role originally meant for Gable.

Sullivan played the lead in a series of lower budgeted films noir: Loophole (1954) for Allied Artists, Playgirl (1954) at Universal, and The Miami Story (1954) for Sam Katzman. He went back to MGM for a support role in Her Twelve Men (1954).

In June 1954 he returned to Broadway to replace Henry Fonda in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. He went to Paramount to support James Stewart in Strategic Air Command (1955) and guested on shows like General Electric Theater, Studio One in Hollywood, Climax! and Ford Star Jubilee (reprising his Caine Mutiny performance).

Sullivan was leading man to Joan Crawford in Queen Bee (1955), Claudette Colbert in Texas Lady (1955), Barbara Stanwyck in The Maverick Queen (1956) and Doris Day in Julie (1956).

In 1956 he was in Too Late the Phalarope on Broadway which had a short run.

He had the lead in a low budget Western Dragoon Wells M*acre (1957), The Way to the Gold (1957), and Sam Fuller's Forty Guns (1957) with Stanwyck. He was Lana Turner's leading man in Another Time, Another Place (1958) and played star roles in some films for Allied Artists, Wolf Larsen (1958), an adaptation of The Sea Wolf where Sullivan played the *le role, and The Purple Gang (1959), a gangster film.

His last film was The Last Straw in 1987.

Television

In the 1953-1954 television season, Sullivan appeared with other celebrities as a musical judge on Jukebox Jury. His first starring television role was a syndicated adaptation of the radio series The Man Called X for Ziv Television in 1956-1957 as secret agent Ken Thurston. In the 1957-1958 season, Sullivan starred in the adventure/drama television series Harbormaster. He played a commercial ship's captain, David Scott, and Paul Burke played his partner Jeff Kittridge in five episodes of the series, which aired first on CBS and then ABC under the revised *le Adventure at Scott Island. He directed some episodes as well as episodes of Highway Patrol, which was made by Ziv, who did Harbourmaster. He continued to make guest appearances on shows like Alfred Hitch* Presents, Pursuit, Playhouse 90, The DuPont Show with June Allyson, The United States Steel Hour and Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, and he was in a TV adaptation of My Three Angels. Barry Sullivan starred in a western TV show, The Tall Man ...(1960-1962) Sullivan starred in the television series The Road West, as family patriarch Ben Pride. He guest starred on Mission: Impossible, Bonanza, Garrison's Gorillas, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., That Girl, and It Takes a Thief. Barry Sullivan also appeared in the first season of Barnaby Jones; episode *led, "A Little Glory, A Little Death" which initially aired April 29, 1973.

He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one at 1500 Vine St. for his work in television, and another at 6160 Hollywood Blvd. for motion pictures.

Personal life

Sullivan was a Democratic Party activist and an advocate for the mentally disabled. He was married three times and had three children. Marie Brown (married 1937, divorced 1957), a Broadway actress, was mother to both Jenny and John Sullivan.

In June 1961, he was divorced by model and actress Gita Hall. The couple's daughter, Patsy, became the youngest model ever, at 12 years old, to sign a contract with a cosmetic company. Patsy provided her parents with six grandchildren via her romance and marriage to songwriter Jimmy Webb. Sullivan's third marriage to Desiree Sumara produced no children and ended in divorce in 1965. Sullivan's last public romance was with actress Irene Kelly.

His daughter Jenny Sullivan wrote the play J for J (Journals for John) after she found a packet of unsent letters (in 1995) written by Barry decades earlier to her older brother Johnny, who was mentally disabled. The play premiered on October 20, 2001. John Ritter, who in real life had a handicapped brother, played Johnny, Jenny played herself, and actor Jeff Kober portrayed Sullivan.

Death

Sullivan died at age 81 of respiratory failure on June 6, 1994.

Partial filmography

• The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1940) as Thug in Back Seat
• High Explosive (1943) as Mike Douglas
• The Woman of the Town (1943) as King Kennedy
• Lady in the Dark (1944) as Dr. Brooks
• Rainbow Island (1944) as Ken Masters
• And Now Tomorrow (1944) as Jeff Stoddard
• Duffy's Tavern (1945) as Danny Murphy
• Getting Gertie's Garter (1945) as Ted Dalton
• Suspense (1946) as Joe Morgan
• Framed (1947) as Steve Price
• The Gangster (1947) as Shubunka
• Smart Woman (1948) as Frank McCoy
• Bad Men of Tombstone (1949) as Tom Horn
• Any Number Can Play (1949) as Ty*
• The Great Gatsby (1949) as Tom Buchanan
• Tension (1950) as Lt. Collier Bonnabel
• The Outriders (1950) as Jesse Wallace
• Nancy Goes to Rio (1950) as Paul Berten
• A Life of Her Own (1950) as Lee Gorrance
• Grounds for Marriage (1951) as Chris Bartlett
• Payment on Demand (1951) as David Anderson Ramsey
• Three Guys Named Mike (1951) as Mike Tracy
• Inside Straight (1951) as Johnny Sanderson
• Mr. Imperium (1951) as Paul Hunter
• Cause for Alarm! (1951) as George Z. Jones
• No Questions Asked (1951) as Steve Keiver
• The Unknown Man (1951) as Joe Bucknor
• Skirts Ahoy! (1952) as Lt. Cmdr. Paul Elcott
• The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) as Fred Amiel
• Jeopardy (1953) as Doug Stilwin
• Cry of the Hunted (1953) as Lt. Tunner
• A Slight Case of Larceny (1953) as Radio Stock Quoter (voice, uncredited)
• China Venture (1953) as Cmdr. Bert Thompson
• Loophole (1954) as Mike Donovan
• Playgirl (1954) as Mike Marsh
• The Miami Story (1954) as Mick Flagg aka Mike Pierce
• Her Twelve Men (1954) as Richard Y. Oliver, Sr.
• Strategic Air Command (1955) as Lt. Col. Rocky Samford
• Queen Bee (1955) as Avery Phillips
• Texas Lady (1955) as Chris Mooney
• The Maverick Queen (1956) as Jeff Younger
• Julie (1956) as Cliff Henderson
• Forty Guns (1957) as Griff Bonell
• The Way to the Gold (1957) as Marshal Hannibal
• Dragoon Wells M*acre (1957) as Link Ferris
• Another Time, Another Place (1958) as Carter Reynolds
• Wolf Larsen (1958) as Wolf Larsen
• The Purple Gang (1959) as Police Lt. William P. Harley
• Seven Ways from Sundown (1960) as Jim Flood
• Light in the Piazza (1962) as Noel Johnson
• A Gathering of Eagles (1963) as Col. Bill Fowler
• Pyro... The Thing Without a Face (1964) as Vance Pierson
• Man in the Middle (1964) as Gen. Kempton
• Stage to Thunder Rock (1964) as Sheriff Horne
• My Blood Runs Cold (1965) as Julian Merriday
• Harlow (1965) as Marino Bello
• Planet of the Vampires (1965) as Capt. Mark Markary
• The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966) as Chasen
• That Girl (1966, TV Series) as Himself
• Intimacy (1966) as Walter Nicholson
• An American Dream (1966) as Police Lt. G. Roberts
• Mission: Impossible (1967) as Alex Lowell
• Buckskin (1968) as Chaddock
• How to Steal the World (1968) as Dr. Robert Kingsley
• It Takes All Kinds (1969) as Orville Benton
• Shark! (1969) as Prof. Dan Mallare
• Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) as Ray Calvert
• The Arrangement (1969) as Chet Collier (uncredited)
• The Immortal (1969–1970, TV Series) as Jordan Braddock
• The High Chaparral (1970) as Dan Ca*t
• Kung Fu (1972) pilot movie, as Dillon
• Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) as Chisum
• Hurricane (1974) as Hank Stoddard
• Earthquake (1974) as Stockle
• Take a Hard Ride (1975) as Kane
• The 'Human' Factor (1975) as Edmonds
• Violent Naples (1976) as 'O' Generale
• Survival (1976) as Barry
• Grand Jury (1976) as Don Bentine
• Oh, God! (1977) as Bishop Reardon
• The Washington Affair (1977) as Walter Nicholson
• The * (1978) as Abraham Ware
• Caravans (1978) as Richardson
• The Last Straw (1987) (final film role)

Radio appearances

In 1950 Barry Sullivan filled in for Vincent Price (delayed in Paris) as The Saint (The Ghost that Giggled, Sept 17, 1950)

References

External links

• Biography portal

• Barry Sullivan at IMDb
• Barry Sullivan at the Internet Broadway Database
• Barry Sullivan at Find a Grave
• Barry Sullivan as The Saint