Barry Orton

Barry Orton
Birth name Randal Barry Orton
Born May 28, 1958
Amarillo, Texas, U.S.
Resides Florissant, Missouri, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) The Zodiak
Barry Orton
Barrymore Barlow
Barry O
The Highroller
Barry Gaspar
Billed height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Billed from Las Vegas, Nevada
Trained by Bob Orton
Bob Orton Jr.
Debut 1976

Randal Barry Orton (born May 28, 1958) is an American former professional wrestler. He is a wrestler/musician turned actor, better known as Barry O or Barrymore Barlow. He moved to Kansas City, Missouri with his mother and father three days after being born. He is the son of Bob Orton and Rita Orton, brother of Bob Orton Jr., and the uncle of WWE wrestler Randy Orton.

Career

Orton made his pro wrestling debut in 1976. During his career in wrestling he competed in the WWF (1984-1988), ICW, WOW, the NWA, the IWF and Stampede Wrestling (where, while appearing as the masked Zodiac, he managed Jason the Terrible).

In 1992 Barry's wrestling career pretty much came to an end. Although he was not employed by the WWF at the time, he was a key figure in the sex scandal that was filed against the company. According to Barry, in 1978 on a trip between shows while employed by a faction of NWA, Barry was traveling with a booker for the company, Terry Garvin.

While on the drive Garvin repeatedly would ask to perform oral sex on him, claims Barry. Offers that were repeatedly refused. At the time Barry didn't speak up about the incident and didn't give it much more thought. However when stories later broke that Terry Garvin (who went onto work for the WWF front office) was involved in sexually harassing young ring boys working for the WWF, Barry came forward with his own story to back up the claims made against Garvin.

Barry also brought up hearing from another ring boy while he was still employed by the WWF. According to Barry the boy claimed that Garvin was doing things to make the boy uncomfortable.

In 1992 Barry also appeared on the talk show, Donahue, along with Superstar Billy Graham, Bruno Sammartino and others to voice their concern about sexual harassment in the wrestling industry. Vince McMahon was also on the show to defend himself and the company.

However much of this turned out to be false, as the young ring boy's brother had hired a lawyer and already had a settlement with the WWF. Because of his vocal opinions against the WWF and the sexual harassment that is involved, he became blacklisted in the wrestling world. Some were instructed not to talk to him, while many others were just afraid to. Barry even started going by a different name, Barrymore Barlow.

In the 1990s, Orton made a transition from wrestling into movies, starring in minor roles.

Personal life

Orton has been married four times, with all the marriages ending in divorce. He has four children, two daughters from his third marriage (who were later adopted by his ex-wife's new husband), and another two daughters from previous relationships. He is currently pursuing a career in writing, producing and directing films.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1985 Wrestling’s Country Boys Barry O.
1987 Stampede Wrestling The Zodiak
1992 Honeymoon in Vegas Boxing manager Uncredited
1999 Killer’s Mind Flex the Doorman
2002 Monday Night Mayhem Roadie Uncredited
Timecollapse Steve
People I Know Patron on stairs Uncredited
2003 Mission Idiot Dog Guy Also stunt coordinator
TBA Tweak the Heat TBA Also co-writer/director and executive producer

References

  1. Jason the Terrible vs. The Zodiak on YouTube
  2. 2.0 2.1 Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

External links