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IMDbPro

Barnard Hughes(1915-2006)

  • Actor
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See rank
Doreen Hepburn and Barnard Hughes in Da (1988)
Trailer
Play trailer0:57
The Fantasticks (2000)
11 Videos
13 Photos
Emmy and Tony Award-winner Barnard Hughes forged a career as one of American's most successful character actors, equally at home and successful on stage, the silver screen, and television. Most of his success came after middle-age. He made his Broadway debut in 1939 in Mary McCarthy's "Please, Mrs. Garibaldi", a flop that lasted only four performances. He appeared in another 22 Broadway shows, his last being Noël Coward's "Waiting in the Wings, which closed in the year 2000. His Broadway career lasted spanned 61 years and eight decades. Along the way, he won the 1978 Tony Award as best Actor in a play for Da (1988), his most famous role, which also brought him the Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Actor in a Play. (He won a lifetime achievement Drama Desk Award in 2000.) He also was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1973 for Much Ado About Nothing (1973), which was fitting, as it was in Shakespeare repertory that he honed his craft. Hughes was born Bernard Aloysius Kiernan Hughes on July 16, 1915, in Bedford Hills, New York, to Irish immigrants Marcella "Madge" (Kiernan) and Owen Hughes. Bedford Hills is a hamlet lying 41 miles north of the heart of Broadway in Times Square (He changed the spelling of his Christian name on the advice of a numerologist; thespians are very superstitious). After graduating from the La Salle Academy and attending Manhattan College, he joined New York City's Shakespeare Fellowship Repertory Co. He was a member of the company for two years. He did not actually appear on Broadway in Shakespeare until 1964, when he played Marcellus to Richard Burton's Hamlet (1964). Off-Broadway, he played Polonius to Stacy Keach's Obie Award-winning Hamlet in 1972. His only other Shakespearean turn on the boards of the Great White Way was as Dogberry in "Much Ado About Nothing" in the 1972-73 season, which brought him his first Tony nomination. Off-Broadway, he also appeared as the Chorus in "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" and Sir John Falstaff in "The Merry Wives of Windsor". Back on Broadway, his most prominent role other than "Da" (which he also played in the roadshow tour) was as the Old Man opposite Alec Baldwin in Prelude to a Kiss (1992). Hughes had a 54 year-long screen career, equally adept in television as in movies. He was a regular on the soap opera Guiding Light (1952) from 1961-66. Though Hughes was a highly effective dramatic actor, he had a flair for comedy and appeared on such sit-coms as _"The Phil Silvers Show" (TV series) and _"Car 54, Where Are You?" (1962)_ before having recurring roles on "All In the Family" (1971) as a priest and on The Bob Newhart Show (1972) as Bob's father in the 1970s. He eventually headlined his own sit-com in the mid '70s, Doc (1975), which had a successful first season but was canceled early into its second after the network demanded changes to boost ratings. Instead, the ratings sank. His break-through performance in the movies arguably was a the messianic doctor who was a victim of malpractice and turned avenger in Paddy Chayefsky's The Hospital (1971) in 1971. It came two years after a small but memorable part in Best Picture Oscar winner Midnight Cowboy (1969), as he middle-aged gay mamma's boy who picks up self-styled "hustler" Joe Buck with disastrous consequences. Hughes married actress Helen Stenborg in 1950 and they remained married until his death on July 11, 2006, five days before what would have been his 91st birthday. The couple had two children, theatrical director Doug Hughes (who was also a Tony-winner) and a daughter, actress Laura Hughes.
BornJuly 16, 1915
DiedJuly 11, 2006(90)
BornJuly 16, 1915
DiedJuly 11, 2006(90)
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See rank
  • Won 1 Primetime Emmy

Photos13

Barnard Hughes in Blossom (1990)
Joey Lawrence, Mayim Bialik, Barnard Hughes, and Michael Stoyanov in Blossom (1990)
Jenna von Oÿ, Mayim Bialik, and Barnard Hughes in Blossom (1990)
Phyllis Diller and Barnard Hughes in Blossom (1990)
Corey Feldman, Jami Gertz, Jason Patric, Chance Michael Corbitt, Barnard Hughes, and Jamison Newlander in The Lost Boys (1987)
George C. Scott and Barnard Hughes in The Hospital (1971)
Diana Rigg and Barnard Hughes in The Hospital (1971)
Martin Sheen and Barnard Hughes in Da (1988)
Christine Ebersole, Danny Cooksey, Peter Michael Goetz, Barnard Hughes, Parker Jacobs, John Short, and Mary Tanner Bailey in The Cavanaughs (1986)
Erin Hill and Barnard Hughes in Cradle Will Rock
David Ogden Stiers and Barnard Hughes at an event for Doc (1975)
Helen Hayes and Barnard Hughes in A Caribbean Mystery (1983)

Known for

Jami Gertz, Corey Haim, Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Brooke McCarter, Alex Winter, and Billy Wirth in The Lost Boys (1987)
The Lost Boys
7.2
  • Grandpa
  • 1987
Tron (1982)
Tron
6.7
  • Dr. Walter Gibbs
  • Dumont
  • 1982
Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
5.6
  • Father Maurice
  • 1993
Michael J. Fox, Woody Harrelson, and Julie Warner in Doc Hollywood (1991)
Doc Hollywood
6.3
  • Dr. Hogue
  • 1991

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Lili Taylor, Bebe Neuwirth, Oliver Platt, and Tom Conti in Deadline (2000)
    Deadline
  • Jean Louisa Kelly, Joey McIntyre, and Jonathon Morris in The Fantasticks (2000)
    The Fantasticks
  • Cradle Will Rock (1999)
    Cradle Will Rock
  • Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in The Odd Couple II (1998)
    The Odd Couple II
  • Past the Bleachers (1995)
    Past the Bleachers
  • Homicide: Life on the Street (1993)
    Homicide: Life on the Street
  • The Marshal (1995)
    The Marshal
  • Trick of the Eye (1994)
    Trick of the Eye
  • Jenna von Oÿ, Joey Lawrence, Mayim Bialik, Michael Stoyanov, and Ted Wass in Blossom (1990)
    Blossom
  • Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)
    Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
  • Crystal Bernard in Miracle Child (1993)
    Miracle Child
  • Lincoln (1992)
    Lincoln
    • (voice)
  • Nightingale (1992)
    The Emperor's New Clothes
    • (voice)
  • Michael J. Fox, Woody Harrelson, and Julie Warner in Doc Hollywood (1991)
    Doc Hollywood
  • The Incident (1990)
    The Incident

Videos11

Sister Act 2 Movie Collection: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
Clip 1:10
Sister Act 2 Movie Collection: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
Sister Act 2 Movie Collection: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
Clip 1:42
Sister Act 2 Movie Collection: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
Tron: The Original Classic Special Edition
Clip 1:18
Tron: The Original Classic Special Edition
Tron: The Original Classic Special Edition
Clip 0:52
Tron: The Original Classic Special Edition
Trailer
Trailer 2:58
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:11
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:43
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:35
Official Trailer
Doc Hollywood
Trailer 1:57
Doc Hollywood
The Fantasticks
Trailer 0:57
The Fantasticks
The Lost Boys
Trailer 1:22
The Lost Boys

Personal details

Edit
    • July 16, 1915
    • Bedford Hills, New York, USA
    • July 11, 2006
    • New York City, New York, USA(undisclosed)
    • Helen StenborgApril 19, 1950 - July 11, 2006 (his death, 2 children)
    • Laura Hughes
  • Other works
    Active on Broadway in the following productions:
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Interview
    • 2 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Served in the Army during World War II.
  • Quotes
    I like coming out last on the curtain call. I love standing alone and taking a bow. I'm sure there are times when I appear to be enjoying myself inordinately on that stage. If that's so, it's because it IS so." - referring to his starring role in "Da

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