Barry Atwater

Garrett "Barry" Atwater (May 16, 1918 – May 24, 1978) was an American character actor who appeared frequently on television from the 1950s into the 1970s. He was sometimes credited as G.B. Atwater.

Life and career

The son of the landscape painter of the same name, Garrett Atwater was born in Denver, Colorado. He served as head of the UCLA Sound Department before he began his acting career.

He appeared in the student film '' A Time Out of War'', a Civil War allegory that won the Oscar as best short film of 1954.

He was awarded a Special Cinema Award for television work in 1958.

Atwater, a character actor, received positive notice in ''Variety'' for his role in '' The Hard Man'' (1957), ''The True Story of Jesse James'' (1957), '' The True Story of Lynn Stuart'' (1958), '' Vice Raid'' (1959), and ''As Young As We Are'' (1958). About his work in the television show ''Judd for the Defense'', ''Variety'' wrote, "Barry Atwater succeeded in bringing some life and a peculiar believability to an impossible role."

By 1960, he had achieved enough stature to be named by host Rod Serling in the on-screen promo as one of the stars of the well-known CBS '' Twilight Zone'' episode " The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street". Atwater made six guest appearances on '' Perry Mason'' including as Robert Benson in the 1959 episode "The Case of the Dangerous Dowager" and as murder victim Dr. Stuart Logan in the 1965 episode "The Case of the Cheating Chancellor". A ''Variety'' review of the latter stated that Atwater played the part with "correct nastiness".

Those '' Perry Mason'' episodes were preceded by a 1956 appearance on ''Gunsmoke'', in the episode "Robin Hood", where he shared the screen with future ''Mason'' regular William Hopper.

He appeared in the ''One Step Beyond'' episode "The Riddle" in 1959, playing an Indian on a train who attracts the mysterious enmity of an American tourist. He played Benedict Arnold in an episode of ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' and received positive notice for an appearance on ''Playhouse 90''.

Atwater in the mid-1960s spent three years on the ABC soap opera ''General Hospital'' while he also made prime-time appearances, billing himself as G.B. Atwater from 1963 to 1965, a period in which he was cast in supporting parts. About his nine-month stint on ''General Hospital'', Atwater said, "It was a good experience and good income, but it got tiresome. Shows like that are written for women, and the men are all emasculated." In 1971 he guest-starred in a 2-part episode of '' Hawaii Five-0'', "The Grandstand Play". By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Atwater was again scoring primary guest-star roles, particularly on fantasy and science fiction series, including '' The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'', '' The Invaders'',''The Wild Wild West'', '' The Outer Limits'' ("Corpus Earthling"), ''Night Gallery'' and ''Kung Fu'', where his altered facial appearance suited his grim and sinister countenance due to its menacing intensity.

On the stage

Atwater performed regularly on stage throughout his career. In January 1958, it was announced that Atwater would be in a benefit performance in ''Passing of the Third Floor Back'' with the Episcopal Theatre Guild. He received positive notice in the ''Los Angeles Times'' for his appearance in ''Volpone''. Atwater also appeared on stage in 1965 in ''The Disenchanted'' at the Actors Theatre. In 1966, he was in the Edward Albee play '' Tiny Alice'' at the Ivar Theatre. In 1968, he directed and performed in the play '' A Slight Ache'' at the Hollywood-Vine Methodist Center.

Sci-fi legacy

Atwater was one of the few actors to play a character from Spock's planet on '' Star Trek: The Original Series'', portraying Surak, father of Vulcan philosophy, in the episode "The Savage Curtain". Atwater could not achieve the Vulcan salute naturally, so when he bids farewell in a medium shot, he has to first lower his arm so his hand is out of camera view as he pushes his fingers against his body to configure them properly.

Kevin Thomas of the ''Los Angeles Times'' praised Atwater's performance in ''The Night Stalker'', writing, "that gifted character actor Barry Atwater is terrific as the vampire". Keith Ashwell of the Edmonton Journal wrote that Atwater was "a prince among vampires".

He also guest starred in a 1963 episode of ''The Outer Limits'', "Corpus Earthling", with Robert Culp as scientist Dr. Temple in 1963.

Personal life

Atwater embraced and attributed his career success to the practice of Zen.

In 1956, Atwater's West Los Angeles home was burgled after thieves removed a cat door to gain entry. Atwater was robbed of several hundred dollars' worth of clothes, jewelry, and other property.

Atwater died on May 24, 1978 after suffering a stroke, only eight days after his 60th birthday.

Selected filmography

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwater, Barry
1918 births
1978 deaths
Male actors from Denver
American male film actors
American male soap opera actors
American male television actors
20th-century American male actors
Western (genre) television actors