Denise DuBarry Hay (March 6, 1956 – March 23, 2019) was an American actress, businesswoman, film producer, and philanthropist. She co-founded Thane International Inc., a direct response industry company along with her husband, Bill Hay, in 1990. She served as its

Chief Creative Officer A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated wit ...

for 15 years, from 1990–2005. As an actress, she is best known for her role as nurse Lieutenant Samantha Green, on the television series ''

Black Sheep Squadron ''Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (renamed ''Black Sheep Squadron'' for the second season) is an American television series that aired on NBC from September 23, 1976, until April 6, 1978. It was part historical drama, period military drama, part comedy. I ...

'', and as Johanna Franklin in the film ''

Being There ''Being There'' is a 1979 American satire film directed by Hal Ashby. Based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosiński, it was adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncredited Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers an ...

''. She was a pioneer in the infomercial industry as co-producer with Deborah Chenoweth of ''Play the Piano Overnight'' in 1988, which won the

Billboard Music Award The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by ''Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of t ...

for Best Music Instruction Video that year, and then ''Play the Guitar Overnight'', which won the 1991

for Best Music Instruction.

Early life

DuBarry was born in Killeen, Texas, at

Fort Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarter ...

Army Base, to Adrian Pierre DuBarry and his wife, Betty Louise (née King). Her parents moved back to

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

where they were from so that her father could finish his master's degree at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

in Baton Rouge. The family later moved to Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica, where DuBarry grew up from ages 2 to 10, and learned to speak fluent Spanish. The family moved throughout California, eventually settling in

Granada Hills, California Granada Hills is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community has a sports program and a range of city recreation centers. The neighborhood has fourteen public and ten private schools. His ...

, where Denise attended middle school and high school. A child of divorce and the eldest of five children, at 14 she watched after her siblings while her mother worked.

Yoga

DuBarry practiced yoga starting in 1979. She founded and owned Malibu Yoga in 1986 which catered to a celebrity clientele. She gave the studio to a friend in 1990 when she relocated. She was a partner in

Palm Desert, California Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has bee ...

's Bikram Yoga University Village Studio.

Career

1974–1979

At age 18, she went to work for her father in his paper export business, DuBarry International, and took acting lessons at night with

Milton Katselas Milton George Katselas (December 22, 1933 – October 24, 2008) was an American director and producer of stage and film, as well as a Hollywood acting instructor and coach who trained under Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg at the acclaimed ''Act ...

and Charles E. Conrad. She was married briefly to her first husband, Connolly Kamornick Oyler, from late 1975 to 1976, when she started landing commercials for

Michelob Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in othe ...

beer, Chevrolet

Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...

and worked as an extra in the kid's shows, ''

Magic Mongo ''The Krofft Supershow'' was a Saturday morning children's variety show, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. It aired for two seasons from September 11, 1976, to September 2, 1978, on ABC. Background The show was composed of several live-action se ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' and she made an appearance on ''

The Gong Show ''The Gong Show'' is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to ...

'' as beauty contestant, "Ms. Hold the Mayo". She competed in several real beauty contests including Ms. Malibu where she won "Most Photogenic". She was hired to co-star in a

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Movie of the Week, ''Deadman's Curve''. She landed a regular role in the second season of the

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 ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

television series, ''

'', and had bit-parts in popular television shows, including '' Charlie's Angels''. ''

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 ...

'' and '' Match Game '78''. Director

Hal Ashby William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an American film director and editor associated with the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. Before his career as a director Ashby edited films for Norman Jewison, notably ''The R ...

cast her in a featured role in the 1979 film ''

''.

1980–1989

Having previously acted together in the 1980 television movie ''Top of the Hill'', DuBarry and husband

Gary Lockwood Gary Lockwood (born John Gary Yurosek; February 21, 1937) is an American actor. Lockwood is best known for his roles as astronaut Frank Poole in the film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968), and as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell in the '' Star ...

formed a production company, Xebec Productions, in 1982, and she began writing and fundraising for film development and production, while she continued to act. In 1985, she appeared in the cult film '' Monster in the Closet''.

1990–2005

She met her future third husband Bill Hay through mutual friend Dick Robertson, then president of

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Television Distribution. The couple formed and produced and distributed, ''Beat the Recession'' and a slew of other infomercials.

2005–2019

In 2005, DuBarry Hay founded Kaswit, Inc., a direct response marketing company. Two of Kaswit's top direct response projects are the infomercials: "Pilates Power Gym", and "Secrets to Training the Perfect Dog" with Don Sullivan, "The DogFather". Through her production company, Blue Moxie Entertainment (founded 2006), she produced a feature film, ''Shoot the Hero'', first shown at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Filmography

Death

DuBarry died at UCLA Medical Center on March 23, 2019, at the age of 63. Her third husband, Bill Hay, confirmed that DuBarry Hay died after contracting a rare fungal illness called

Candida auris ''Candida auris'' is a species of fungus that grows as yeast. It is one of the few species of the genus '' Candida'' which cause candidiasis in humans. Often, candidiasis is acquired in hospitals by patients with weakened immune systems. ''C. ...

. DuBarry was survived by her husband and her four children, actress Samantha Lockwood (from her first marriage, to

), Adam Hay, Kyle Hay and Whitney Hay, as well as her parents, Pete DuBarry and Betty DuBarry Stein.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dubarry, Denise 1956 births 2019 deaths People from Killeen, Texas 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American television actresses American women in business Film producers from California Actresses from Palm Springs, California Actresses from Texas People from Granada Hills, Los Angeles American women film producers 21st-century American women