Tony Award Winning Actor Barnard Hughes Dies at 90
The highly respected, veteran actor Barnard Hughes died today at New York Presbyterian Hospital after a brief illness. He was 90.
Hughes was born in Bedford Hills, New York on July 16, 1915, the son of Owen and Madge Hughes. He held jobs as a dock checker in New York harbor, a Macy’s salesman, and a Wall Street copy reader before he began auditioning for acting roles on a dare from a friend. His career began in 1934 with one line in the Shakespeare Fellowship Repertory Company production of The Taming of the Shrew; it would eventually span seven decades and more than 400 roles on Broadway, in television, and in films.
His Broadway debut came in 1935 in Herself Mrs. Patrick Crowley. Hughes then spent several years touring the U.S. in various productions before serving in the Army during World War II. In 1945, he resumed his stage career. While performing in a veteran’s hospital show, he met actress Helen Stenborg, whom he married in 1950. Their marriage lasted until his death.
Hughes received great praise for his work as a curmudgeonly father haunting the memory of his playwright son in Hugh Leonard’s 1978 Tony Award-winning play Da. He won a Tony and a Drama Desk Award for his performance, and he recreated his role in the 1988 film version. In 1973, he received a Tony nomination for his performance as Dogberry in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Much Ado About Nothing.
He also appeared on Broadway in such plays as Advise and Consent, Nobody Loves an Albatross, Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, The Good Doctor, Angels Fall, End of the World, The Iceman Cometh, and Prelude to a Kiss, and in the musical How Now Dow Jones. In 1989, he played Grandpa in the Abbey Theatre of Dublin’s production of You Can’t Take It with You; he returned to Dublin in 1991 to perform Da at the Olympia Theatre. Hughes gave his last Broadway performance in 2000 at age 85, appearing with his wife in Noël Coward’s Waiting in the Wings. That year, he and Stenborg received a Drama Desk Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 1995, Hughes was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame at the Gershwin Theatre.
Among his many film credits are Hamlet (with Richard Burton), Midnight Cowboy, The Hospital, Cold Turkey, Where’s Poppa?, First Monday in October, Oh, God!, Tron, Doc Hollywood, Sister Act 2, and Cradle Will Rock. Hughes began his television career with appearances on Playhouse 90, Kraft Theatre, and Armstrong Circle Theatre; he later starred in the TV series Doc, Mr. Merlin, and The Cavanaughs, and he had a recurring role on Blossom. In 1977, he won an Emmy Award for his guest spot on Lou Grant. He also guested on such popular series as All in the Family and The Bob Newhart Show.
Hughes served for more than a decade as president of the Episcopal Actors’ Guild and for many years on the council of The Actors’ Fund. In 1992, he received an honorary doctorate from Manhattan College, the school he’d dropped out of to become an actor. His last public appearance was on June 1, 2006 at the Shubert Theatre, where, to commemorate 60 years of the Tony Awards, he was photographed with 110 Best Actor and Best Actress Tony winners.
He is survived by his wife; their son, director Doug Hughes; their daughter, Laura Hughes; and a grandson, Samuel Hughes Rubin. Funeral services will be private. Plans for a memorial gathering will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to The Actors’ Fund.
