Frank Barrie

Frank Barrie was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire on 19 September 1936 to Arthur and Annie Smith. He attended Archbishop Holgate's School and the University of Hull in Hull. He married Maryann Lloyd.[1]

Frank Barrie made his first stage appearance in 1959 in the role of Mouldy in Henry IV, Part 2, at the York Theatre Royal. He performed with the Bristol Old Vic company from 1965 through 1969, performing in the title roles of Oedipus Rex and Richard II. The company toured Europe and North America in 1967 with Barrie portraying Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and Lucio in Measure for Measure. He made his Broadway debut with the company at the New York City Center on 14 March 1967.

Barrie joined the National Theatre at the invitation of Laurence Olivier.[2] During his four years with the company he played a wide range of roles, including Mirabell in The Way of the World; Wendoll in A Woman Killed with Kindness; and Bassanio to Olivier's Shylock in Jonathan Miller's 1971 production of The Merchant of Venice.[3]

Barrie performed at a number of major venues in his later acting career, including a 1974 staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, where he played Oberon alongside Linda Thorson as Titania. His performance as Crichton in the 1977 staging of The Admirable Crichton at the Greenwich Theatre drew favourable comment, with the Daily Telegraph commenting that "Frank Barrie as Crichton gives every impression that beneath the stiff butler's uniform, there beats the heart of a true intelligent being".[4]

Throughout the 1980s Barrie toured his play Macready!, a one-man show he had written based on the life of William Charles Macready the legendary Shakespearean actor. For his performance he was nominated Best Actor in the London critics Plays and Players awards, and the play subsequently toured in 65 countries. It received a world record of 12 consecutive standing ovations at the Twelfth Night Theatre, Brisbane in 1982. Macready! was later adapted for television as a one-hour special, broadcast by Channel 4 in 1983. [5]

In 1991 he appeared at the Theatre Royal, Windsor in The Philanthropist.[6] In 1995 he played the title role in a later production of Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, with The Stage commenting that "the central performance by Frank Barrie is finely placed and impeccably played".[7]

In 2008, Barrie was cast as Noël Coward in the original London production of Lunch with Marlene, a play about the friendship between Coward and fellow acting legend Marlene Dietrich. The production received "rave reviews",[8] with the casting of Barrie as Coward being described as "impeccable" by The Stage.[9]

Barrie has also appeared in many iconic British television productions, including such shows as Emergency Ward 10, No Hiding Place, Softly, Softly, Special Branch, On Giant's Shoulders and Queen of Swords.[10]

In 1983 he played Eglamour in the BBC Television Shakespeare adaptation of The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

He has appeared on BBC's EastEnders as Edward Bishop in 2010 and 2011 where he played the part of the local choir master and makes friends with Dot Branning (June Brown).