Barry Shear (March 23, 1923 in New York City – June 13, 1979 in Los Angeles) was an American film and television director and producer.

Career

Television career

Shear began directing for television in the 1950s for the DuMont Television Network news program '' Newsweek Views the News'', and directed episodes of the DuMont series '' Guide Right'', '' Not for Publication'', and '' Joseph Schildkraut Presents''. Shear directed ''The Hazel Scott Show'' for DuMont, the first television show to feature a Black woman as the star of a show, performing without sketch comedy or guests. He quickly moved to episodic television. Over his 30-year career in television he directed both series and

telefilms A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

. Series that he directed several episodes for include ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...

'', '' The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.'', '' The Name of the Game'', '' Ironside'', ''

Alias Smith and Jones ''Alias Smith and Jones'' is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from January 1971 to January 1973. The show initially starred Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, outlaw cousins who are tryin ...

'', '' Police Story'', '' Police Woman'', and ''

The Feather and Father Gang ''The Feather and Father Gang'' is a 1976–1977 American crime-drama television series starring Stefanie Powers and Harold Gould, which centers on an attorney who enlists her con-man father and his team of bunco artists to help her solve crime ...

''.

Film career

Shear's first made-for-theaters feature was the 1968 counter culture film ''

Wild in the Streets ''Wild in the Streets'' is a 1968 American comedy-drama film directed by Barry Shear and starring Christopher Jones, Hal Holbrook, and Shelley Winters. Based on the short story "The Day It All Happened, Baby!" by Robert Thom, it was distribu ...

''. He later directed theatrical films in various genres such as ''

The Todd Killings ''The Todd Killings'' is a 1971 psychological thriller directed by Barry Shear and starring Robert F. Lyons, Richard Thomas, Belinda Montgomery, and Barbara Bel Geddes. It is based on the true crimes of serial killer Charles Schmid in the 19 ...

'' in 1971 (based on the serial killer

Charles Schmid Charles Howard Schmid, Jr. (July 8, 1942 – March 30, 1975), also known as the Pied Piper of Tucson, was an American serial killer whose crimes were detailed by journalist Don Moser in an article featured in the March 4, 1966, issue of ''Life'' ...

), ''

Across 110th Street ''Across 110th Street'' is a 1972 American action-crime film directed by Barry Shear and starring Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Franciosa and Paul Benjamin. The film is set in Harlem, New York and takes its name from 110th Street, the ...

'' in 1972, and the western ''

The Deadly Trackers ''The Deadly Trackers'' is a 1973 American Western film directed by Barry Shear and starring Richard Harris, Rod Taylor and Al Lettieri. It is based on the novel ''Riata'' by Samuel Fuller. Plot Sheriff Sean Kilpatrick (Harris) is a pacifist ...

'' in 1973 (which he overtook from Samuel Fuller). While well received, these features met with only fair box office and Shear returned to work exclusively in television. On August 5, 1965, both Shear and Jan Berry, of the singing duo

Jan and Dean Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music style ...

, were injured along with other film crew members while on the first day on the set of a new Paramount motion picture, '' Easy Come, Easy Go''. Paramount would ultimately cancel the film and reuse the film title the following year for an unrelated film starring

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Personal life

Shear’s wife was actress Sondra Shear, (1926–2002) and his daughter is director Wendy Shear.

Death

Barry Shear died of cancer at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...

in Los Angeles on June 13, 1979, at the age of 56. He was interred at

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angel ...

References

External links

* 1923 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American film directors American film producers American television directors American television producers Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Deaths from cancer in California University of Wisconsin alumni {{US-film-producer-stub