Don "Red" Barry

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Don "Red" Barry
"Red" Barry in 1979
Born	January 11, 1912(1912-01-11) Houston, Texas
Died	July 17, 1980 (aged 61) North Hollywood, California
Occupation	Film, television actor
Spouse(s)	Peggy Stewart

Don "Red" Barry (January 11, 1912 – July 17, 1980) was an American film actor who got his nickname "Red" after appearing in the highly successful Red Ryder film Adventures of Red Ryder (1940). Barry went on to bigger budget films following the success of Red Ryder, but none reached the success of the Ryder film series (later the role was played by "Wild Bill" Elliott and Allan Lane, each of whom worked with Robert Blake as young sidekick "Little Beaver," although Barry didn't appear with Blake).

By the 1950s, Barry was a supporting actor instead of playing leads in westerns; one more or less typical example of his work was as a black-clad gunfighter in a 1961 episode of the western television series Maverick with Jack Kelly and Buddy Ebsen called "Last Stop: Oblivion." Barry played supporting roles in dozens of TV shows, particularly westerns. Earlier in life, Barry had been a high school and college football player. During the height of his Red Ryder fame, he married B-movie actress Peggy Stewart. In 1980 he committed suicide by shooting himself.