12/12/2009

in

Actor Gene Barry, best known for his role as the title character on the Western television show, "Bat Masterson," has passed away at the age of 90.

Sari N. Kent

Gene Barry, who starred on the Western television series, "Bat Masterson," as the real life marshal/gambler, has died.  
  
According to an article on HollywoodReporter.com, "Barry, who also played other well-dressed men of action in the television series 'Burke's Law' and 'The Name of the Game,' died of undetermined causes Wednesday, his son Frederic James Barry said. He died at age 90 at a rest home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Woodland Hills, the son said Thursday."  
  
Barry graced television screens as a similar themed character on all three series that spanned from the 1950s to the 1970s. Born as Eugene Klass, the six feet tall actor was always well dressed and echoed a powerful voice and presence that beat down any villain on each show.  
  
The HollywoodReporter.com article then delved more into Barry's long-standing acting career, "In the first of the three, he was Masterson, a frontier dandy who rarely resorted to gunplay, choosing instead to beat his rivals senseless with a gold-handled cane. He landed the part in 1958, but had been reluctant to take the TV role because his movie career appeared to be on the rise. He had starred in the science-fiction classic 'War of the Worlds' in 1953 and opposite Clark Gable in 'Soldier of Fortune' in 1955."  
  
Then, after two decades on the small screen, Barry felt he was being typecast as the perennial television actor and never repeated his success on the silver screen. He chose instead to become an active stage performer and do guest television appearances.  
  
The HollywoodReporter.com article goes on to say, "After 'Bat Masterson" ended its run on NBC in 1961, Barry moved to ABC to star as an LA detective in 'Burke's Law,' which lasted until 1966. The show was revived on CBS nearly 30 years later with Barry again in the lead. It lasted only one season. 'The Name of the Game' (1968-1972) offered an innovation: three suave actors -- Barry, Robert Stack and Anthony Franciosa -- alternating weekly in their own self-contained adventures. The only connective element: All were part of an investigative magazine of which Barry was the flamboyant owner. When the series ended, Barry filmed a syndicated show, 'The Adventurer,' in England."  
  
In his personal life, he was a political activist. In 2003, after a near 60-year marriage, his wife Betty died. Barry is survived by two sons and an adopted daughter.