Barbara Perry (June 22, 1921 – May 5, 2019) was an American actress, singer and dancer who worked for 84 years in Hollywood and on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

Early life

Perry was born in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. Her father, William Covington Perry, of Hopewell, Virginia, was a classical and jazz keyboardist, orchestra and band conductor, and orchestral arranger with the Happiness Boys, the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Radio Studios' (Blue Network) ''Interwoven Stocking Co. Hour'', his own band called "Perry's Hot Dogs", with

Ben Selvin Benjamin Bernard Selvin (March 5, 1898 – July 15, 1980) was an American musician, bandleader, and record producer. He was known as the Dean of Recorded Music. Selvin was born in New York City, United States, the son of Jewish Russian immigran ...

and his Orchestra, and with many Broadway shows. He died of tuberculosis in Banning,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

on October 30, 1936. Her mother, Victoria Mae (Gates) Perry of New Castle, Pennsylvania, sang soprano in the chorus of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

, at the Old Metropolitan Opera House, starting around 1925, under General Manager

Giulio Gatti-Casazza Giulio Gatti-Casazza (3 February 1869 – 2 September 1940) was an Italian opera manager. He was general manager of La Scala in Milan, Italy, from 1898 to 1908 and later the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1908 to 1935. Biography ...

Career

Being separated from her husband around the time she sang with the Metropolitan

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

Chorus, as a form of "childcare", she enlisted her only daughter, Barbara, as a member of the children's ballet of the Met's corps de ballet. This was the start of Barbara's lifelong dance training and career. Barbara's daughter also became an international opera singer in the 1980s, and her ancestor, Harriett Bellows Pierce, "... was educated in a college of music in Boston. She gave music and singing lessons on the frontier" while immigrating West. Barbara began her film career in 1933, when she appeared in ''

Counsellor at Law ''Counsellor at Law'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Elmer Rice is based on his 1931 Broadway play of the same title. Plot The story focuses on several days in a critical juncture in the life ...

''. She also had a small part in ''

The Mystery of Edwin Drood ''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' is the final novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in 1870. Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, it focuses more on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a precentor, choirmaster and opium ...

'' in 1935. She headlined as a solo dancer (ballet-tap) in many top line nightclubs internationally, including work on Broadway and off-Broadway, in various productions. She was

Eddie Foy Jr. Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. (February 4, 1905 – July 15, 1983), known professionally as Eddie Foy Jr., was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. was born on February 4, 1905, in New Rochelle, New York, the ...

's dance partner, playing Anna in " Rumple" at the

Alvin Theatre The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for ...

in 1957. In 1950 she was Mrs. Larry in ''Happy as Larry'' on Broadway. By the mid-1950s to the early-1960s, she had studied acting at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...

in London, England, while performing opposite George Formby, Warde Donovan, and Sara Gregory in ''Zip Goes a Million'' at the Hippodrome and Palace Theatres, and upon her return to the USA had started appearing in numerous television series such as ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'',''

The Donna Reed Show ''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children, Mary an ...

'', ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The ...

'', ''

My Three Sons ''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seasons. ''My Three Sons'' chronicl ...

'', and ''

The Dick Van Dyke Show ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Product ...

'', where she played Buddy Sorrell's wife Pickles, before being replaced by

Joan Shawlee Joan Shawlee (March 5, 1926 – March 22, 1987), nee Joan Fulton (and also credited sometimes under that name, such as in the film noir, Woman On The Run, 1950), was an American film and television actress. She is known for her recurring role i ...

. In 1981, Perry wrote and performed in ''Passionate Ladies'', a one-woman Broadway show at the Bijou Theatre. Her other Broadway plays included ''Swan Song'' (1946), ''If the Shoe Fits'' (1946), ''Happy as Larry'' (1950), and ''Rumple'' (1957). She also played Thelma Brockwood on ''

The Hathaways ''The Hathaways'' is a 26-episode situation comedy, which aired on ABC from October 6, 1961, to March 30, 1962, starring Peggy Cass and Jack Weston as suburban Los Angeles "parents" to a trio of performing chimpanzees. Weston portrayed Walter H ...

''. Perry's last known role was in the television series ''

Baskets A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehai ...

''.

Personal life

Perry was first married to Bennett Warren James on December 13, 1953, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino where she was headlining in the nightclub.

Seymour Felix Seymour Felix (October 23, 1892 – March 16, 1961) was an American director, performer, and choreographer best known for his work in early Broadway musicals. Seymour was born on October 23, 1892 in New York City. He began his show business car ...

, Perry's producer, gave her away, as well as arranged and paid for the wedding. They divorced in Los Angeles,

on April 2, 1965. They had one daughter, Laurel Lee James. Her second marriage was to animator Art Babbitt on April 14, 1967, in Hollywood, California, until his death in 1992. They had no children. Perry died on May 5, 2019, in Los Angeles at the age of 97.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
Barbara Perry
at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

Barbara Perry
at

Find a Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Barbara 1921 births 2019 deaths Actors from Norfolk, Virginia American female dancers American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Dancers from Virginia 20th-century American dancers 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Virginia Broadway theatre people 21st-century American actresses