Barbara Barrie, Company's Original Sarah, Dies at 95

Tony and Oscar nominee Barbara Barrie died on October 28 at the age of 95. Barrie died with medical assitance, having been recently diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Barrie was a 1971 Best Featured Actress in a Musical Tony nominee for originating the role of Sarah in Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company. Her Broadway debut came decades before in the 1955 comedy The Wooden Dish, and she also appeared on Broadway in The Selling of the President, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, and California Suite. She played Mrs. Beckoff in Torch Song Trilogy and made her final Broadway appearance as grandmother Helene Berman in Joshua Harmon’s 2017 drama Significant Other.

Barrie earned an Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for Breaking Away. Her other film credits included Private Benjamin and Judy Berlin, and she had longtime roles on Barney Miller and Suddenly Susan. She also received two Emmy nominations for guest appearances on Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She wrote two books about her experiences with colon cancer and a colostomy, titled Second Act and Don’t Die of Embarrassment.

She is predeceased by her husband, Jay Harnick, whom she married in 1964. Their children, Jane and Aaron, survive them, as do their families.