Barry Crane (born Barry Cohen; November 10, 1927 – July 5, 1985State of California (CA Death Index)
Family Tree Legends
Retrieved May 20, 2009.) was a prolific television producer and director, and a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

player who "won more titles than anyone else in the history of the game". According to the

American Contract Bridge League The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda. It is the largest such organization in North America having the stated mission ''"to promote, grow and sustain th ...

(ACBL), he was "widely recognized as the top player of all time""Crane, Barry"
. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-23. —the tournament format commonly played in private clubs. In 1985 Crane was murdered, a crime that was not solved until 2021.

Early life

Barry Cohen was born 1927 in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and was later sometimes credited under his birth name. In the mid-1950s he moved to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

and changed his name for professional reasons. He produced '' The Magician'', and was an associate producer on several episodes of '' Mission: Impossible''. He was credited with directing numerous episodes of such series as ''

Trapper John, M.D. ''Trapper John, M.D.'' is an American medical drama television series and spin-off of the film ''M*A*S*H'' (1970). Pernell Roberts portrayed the title character, a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, Californ ...

'', ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

'', ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

'', ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...

'', ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

'', ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

'', ''Mission: Impossible'', and ''

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that ran from 1967 to 1975 on CBS. It was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller. The title character, Joe Mannix, is a private inves ...

''.

Bridge competition

Crane, who won 15 North American championships, was a Grand Life Master in the ACBL and traveled extensively to play in matchpoint pairs tournaments. In

World Bridge Federation The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the international governing body of contract bridge. The WBF is responsible for world championship competitions, most of which are conducted at a few multi-event meets on a four-year cycle. The most prestigiou ...

(WBF) competition he and Kerri Shuman won the fourth quadrennial

World Mixed Pairs Championship The World Mixed Pairs Championship is a bridge championship for mixed-gender pairs held every four years as part of the World Bridge Championships. Results World meets commonly run for 15 days on a schedule whose details vary. In 2006 the Mixed ...

in 1978. In North America he also played in tournaments (where the strategy is subtly different from matchpoint play) and won numerous regional titles. His teams reached the Vanderbilt final in 1951 and 1985, his first and last high finishes in North America-level events. During his lifetime, Crane accumulated 35,135.80

masterpoints Masterpoints or master points are points awarded by bridge organizations to individuals for success in competitive bridge tournaments run under their auspices. Generally, recipients must be members in good standing of the issuing organization. At t ...

(awarded by the ACBL for success in tournament play), more than any other player. Second-placed Paul Soloway was approximately 11,000 behind at Crane's death in 1985 and passed him only in 1991. In honor and as a memorial to Crane, the ACBL renamed the award given to the player who accumulates the most masterpoints in a single year to the ''Barry Crane Trophy'', and the list of high masterpoint attainers to the ''Barry Crane Top 500''. Crane was elected to the

ACBL Hall of Fame This list is a compilation of contract bridge players, writers, administrators and personalities who have been recognized for their skills, achievements or contributions to the game as identified by various specific sources. People recognized by ...

in 1995.

Murder

Crane was murdered on July 5, 1985, a homicide that went unsolved for 34 years. His body was "found bludgeoned shortly before 3 P.M. in the garage of his luxury town home in

Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...

", apparently dragged to the garage from his apartment, according to the police. That week he was playing daily in the annual Pasadena regional knockout teams tournament; his team won the Saturday final with Kerri Shuman, one of Crane's favorite partners, as his replacement. The

Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) is a computerized system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since 1999. It is a national automated fingerprint identification and criminal history system. IAFI ...

led to a suspect in Crane's murder being taken into custody on May 9, 2019, based on fingerprint and DNA evidence linking him to the crime; additionally, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department, the suspect confessed to murdering Crane during an interview with LAPD detectives on March 8, 2019. Edwin Jerry Hiatt pled guilty on October 7, 2021 to voluntary manslaughter of Crane. Hiatt was sentenced to 12 years in state prison.Suspect In TV Director Barry Crane’s Killing Pleads Guilty To Lesser Charge After Cold Case DNA Analysis
deadline.com, October 7, 2021

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, 1995"Induction by Year"
. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-11-14.

Awards

* McKenney Trophy 1952, 1967, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1978 *

Mott-Smith Trophy The Mott-Smith Trophy, named for writer and cryptographer Geoffrey Mott-Smith, is awarded to the player with the best overall individual performance in the Spring Nationals, the spring event of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North Amer ...

1970, 1971 * Oeschger Trophy 1961, 1962, 1963, 1967 * Stoddard Memorial Trophy 1980 * IBPA Award (Personality of the Year) 1985

Wins

* World Mixed Pairs (1) 1978 *

North American Bridge Championships North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November for about eleven da ...

(15)"Barry Crane"
''NABC Winners – by Name''. ACBL. Retrieved December 23, 2014. ** North American Swiss Teams (1) 1978 ** North American Men's Swiss Teams (1) 1983 ** Master Mixed Teams (1) 1980 ** West Coast Master Mixed Teams (2) 1953, 1954 ** Open Pairs (7) 1964, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1983 ** Men's Pairs (1) 1966 **

Rockwell Mixed Pairs The Rockwell Mixed Pairs is a national bridge championship held regularly at the Spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Rockwell Trophy, donated by Helen Rockwell in 1946, is presented to the w ...

(2) 1975, 1982

Runners-up

(11) ** Vanderbilt (2) 1951, 1985 ** Men's Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1956, 1971 ** Master Mixed Teams (1) 1969 ** Open Pairs (2) 1976, 1984 **

(3) 1971, 1974, 1977 **

Hilliard Mixed Pairs The Hilliard Mixed Pairs national bridge championship was last held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). History This was the original national mixed pairs event. It was contested at the ...

(1) 1955

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Barry 1927 births 1985 deaths American contract bridge players American television directors Television producers from California Male murder victims American murder victims Businesspeople from Detroit People murdered in California 20th-century American businesspeople People from Studio City, Los Angeles University of Michigan alumni 1985 murders in the United States