Barry Sullivan

Acting

Barry Sullivan

Born 1912-08-29 · New York City, New York, USA

Barry Sullivan (August 29, 1912 – June 6, 1994) was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s. Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football. During the later Depression years, Sullivan was told that because of his 6 ft 3 in (1.9 m) stature and rugged good looks he could "make money" simply standing on a Broadway stage. This began a successful career on Broadway, movies and television. One of Sullivan's most memorable roles was playing a movie director in The Bad and the Beautiful opposite Kirk Douglas. Sullivan toured the US with Bette Davis in theatrical readings of the poetry of Carl Sandburg and starred opposite her in the 1951 film Payment on Demand. In 1950, Sullivan appeared in the film A Life of Her Own and replaced Vincent Price in the role of Leslie Charteris' Simon Templar on the NBC Radio show The Saint. Unfortunately, Sullivan only lasted two episodes before the show was cancelled, and then resurrected five weeks later with Vincent Price once again playing the starring role. Sullivan's first starring TV show was a syndicated adaptation of the radio series The Man Called X for Ziv Television in 1956-1957, as secret agent Ken Thurston, the role Herbert Marshall originally portrayed before the microphone. In the 1957-1958 season, Sullivan starred in the adventure/drama television series Harbormaster. He played a commercial ship's captain, David Scott, and Paul Burke played his partner, Jeff Kittridge, in five episodes of the series, which aired first on CBS and then ABC under the revised title Adventure at Scott Island. In 1960, Sullivan played frontier sheriff Pat Garrett opposite Clu Gulager as outlaw Billy the Kid in the western television series The Tall Man (although the series ran for seventy-five half-hour episodes, the one in which Garrett kills Billy was never filmed). Sullivan appeared in Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) as John Chisum, but his scene was excised from the release print (though later restored to the film). He had a featured role in the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man Book II. In additional to The Tall Man, Sullivan also starred in the television series The Road West, which aired on NBC on Monday, alternating with Perry Como), during the 1966-1967 season. Sullivan played the role of family patriarch Ben Pride. Sullivan guest starred in many series, including The DuPont Show with June Allyson, The Reporter, The Love Boat, Little House on the Prairie, and McMillan and Wife. He starred in many Hallmark Hall of Fame specials including a highly acclaimed production of "The Price" opposite George C. Scott. Sullivan was consistently in demand for the entirety of his career. His acting career spanned romantic leading man roles to villains and finally to character roles. In his later years, Sullivan had roles in the films, Oh God with George Burns and Earthquake, where he shared scenes with Ava Gardner. Sullivan has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one at 1500 Vine St. for his work in television, and another at 6160 Hollywood Blvd. for motion pictures.

Acting credits

Earthquake poster
6.2

Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.

Earthquake

1974

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid poster
7.2

Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

1973

The Bad and the Beautiful poster
7.3

Told in flashback form, the film traces the rise and fall of a tough, ambitious Hollywood producer, Jonathan Shields, as seen through the eyes of various acquaintances, including a writer, James Lee Bartlow; a star, Georgia Lorrison; and a director, Fred Amiel. He is a hard-driving, ambitious man who ruthlessly uses everyone on the way to becoming one of Hollywood's top movie makers.

The Bad and the Beautiful

1952

Night Gallery poster
6.7

This anthology telefilm aired on NBC on November 8, 1969, and tells three strange tales: "The Cemetery," directed by Boris Sagal; "Eyes," directed by Steven Spielberg; and "The Escape Route," directed by Barry Shear. This film also served as a backdoor pilot for the TV series of the same name, which premiered on December 16, 1970.

Night Gallery

1969

Caravans poster
5.8

This epic adventure-drama based on James Michener's best-selling novel concerns a young American embassy official who is sent into the Middle-Eastern desert to find the missing daughter of a US Senator. The young woman has left her husband, a Colonel in the Shadom - she was his number two wife - and has opted for the lifestyle of a nomadic tribe. When the diplomat locates the girl he joins the caravan and attempts to persuade the girl to return.

Caravans

1978

Planet of the Vampires poster
6.4

After landing on a mysterious planet, a team of astronauts begin to turn on each other, swayed by the uncertain influence of the planet and its strange inhabitants.

Planet of the Vampires

1965

The Arrangement poster
6.5

An adman attempts to rebuild his shattered life after suffering a nervous breakdown.

The Arrangement

1969

Tension poster
6.8

Warren Quimby manages a drugstore while trying to keep his volatile wife, Claire, happy. However, when Claire leaves him for a liquor store salesman, Warren can no longer bear it. He decides to assume a new identity in order to murder his wife's lover without leaving a trace. Along the way, his plans are complicated by an attractive neighbor, as well as a shocking discovery that opens up a new world of doubts and accusations.

Tension

1949

Oh, God! poster
6.4

When God appears to an assistant grocery manager as a good natured old man, the Almighty selects him as his messenger for the modern world.

Oh, God!

1977

The Green Hornet Strikes Again! poster
6.8

Second serial featuring The Green Hornet and Kato.

The Green Hornet Strikes Again!

1940

Yuma poster
5.9

A down-and-dirty town is forced to shape up when a new marshal (Clint Walker) comes to town. However, when a scheme is launched to destroy the lawman's authority, he must discover the perpetrators and preserve his reputation.

Yuma

1971

The Gangster poster
5.2

Based on the novel Low Company. One of the most peculiar film noirs of the 1940s stars Barry Sullivan as a small-time hood who suffers a mental breakdown as his big plans begin to crumble. Beautiful Belita is his singer girlfriend who only fuels his paranoia.

The Gangster

1947

The Poppy Is Also a Flower poster
6.1

A special United Nations bureau organises a campaign to trace a drug-smuggling ring across Europe to its source on the Afghanistan-Iran border.

The Poppy Is Also a Flower

1966

No artwork available
NR

After the first atom bomb test, scientists realize the bomb was more powerful than they expected - which may have terrible results.

Nightmare at Ground Zero

1958

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here poster
5.8

While confronting the disapproving father of his girlfriend Lola, Native American man Willie Boy kills the man in self-defense, triggering a massive manhunt, led by Deputy Sheriff Christopher Cooper.

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here

1969

The Great Gatsby poster
5.4

Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifetyle of his landlord, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.

The Great Gatsby

1949

Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon poster
7.2

After avenging the death of his teacher, a Shaolin monk flees China to the American West and helps people while being pursued by bounty hunters.

Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon

1972

Forty Guns poster
6.6

An authoritarian rancher rules an Arizona county with her private posse of hired guns. When a new Marshal arrives to set things straight, the cattle queen finds herself falling for the avowedly non-violent lawman. Both have itchy-fingered brothers, a female gunman enters the picture, and things go desperately wrong.

Forty Guns

1957

Jeopardy poster
6.7

A woman is kidnapped when she goes to get help for her husband who is trapped on a beach with the tide coming in to surely drown him.

Jeopardy

1953

A Gathering of Eagles poster
5.9

A B-52 commander must prepare his men to pass a grueling inspection.

A Gathering of Eagles

1963

Seven Ways from Sundown poster
5.9

A Texas Ranger must capture an outlaw and take him-in, while tangling with savage Apaches and greedy bounty-hunters on the way back to jail.

Seven Ways from Sundown

1960

Queen Bee poster
6.3

A wicked Southern woman ruthlessly manipulates her family.

Queen Bee

1955

Take a Hard Ride poster
5.3

After his cattle rancher boss dies, right-hand man Pike is given the job of returning $86,000 to some families who live across the border in Sonora, Mexico. Honest Pike is joined on the trip through the wilderness by a dishonest gambler named Tyree.

Take a Hard Ride

1975

Texas Lady poster
5.7

Claudette Colbert plays Prudence Webb, who arrives in the wide-open town of Fort Ralston, Texas, to assume control of her late father's newspaper. Her first major print crusade is aimed at gambler Chris Mooney, whom Prudence holds responsible for her dad's suicide. She then takes aim at a couple of crooked cattle barons, who'd like nothing better than to put Prudence out of the way for keeps.

Texas Lady

1955