Barbara Bryne (born 1929, London) is a British-born American-based stage, film and television actress. Onstage she has appeared in comedy, dramatic and musical productions. The London-born actress studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA).
In 1982, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Actress in a Drama for her role as "Kath" in the first American production of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr. Sloane (which starred Maxwell Caulfield in the title role).
She was in the original Broadway productions of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George (as George's mother) and Into The Woods (as Jack's mother). She also performed in Sondheim's A Little Night Music in Washington D.C.
Bryne was a frequent performer at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater. Among the plays in which she appeared there were Mother Courage, The Glass Menagerie, She Stoops to Conquer, Design for Living, and, most recently, Pygmalion (as Mrs. Higgins). In 2011 she appeared as Queen Victoria in H.M.S. Pinafore, which will be filmed for PBS in late August 2011.
Contents |
Born as Barbara Birkinshaw, she married Dennis Spence (born circa 1930) in late 1952 or early 1953 in Sidcup.[1][2] Their daughter, Susan Jane Spence, is a veterinarian.