Barry Dennen (February 22, 1938 – September 26, 2017) was an American actor and writer. He is best known for playing

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

on the original 1970 recording of ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

'' as well as the subsequent 1971

stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

and 1973

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

Life and career

Barry Dennen was born in Chicago, Illinois in February 22, 1938. In New York City from 1960 to 1961, he had a platonic relationship with

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

. They lived together for a year, during which time he helped her develop the nightclub act that began her successful career as a singer and actress. He moved to London for 15 years and in 1968 landed the starring role of the master of ceremonies in the London West End version of ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

''. In 1970, he played

on the album of ''

'', and he played the same role in the Broadway production (1971). In the same year, he played Mendel in

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (July 21, 1926 – January 20, 2024) was a Canadian filmmaker. He was known for directing films which addressed topical Social issue, social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects acces ...

's film of ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

''. According to Dennen's website, he suggested to Jewison that he direct a film version of ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Jewison did so, and Dennen played Pilate again (1973). Dennen also played a variety of small parts on American television shows including: ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'', ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'' (where he portrayed a clone of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

), '' Galtar and the Golden Lance'', '' Tales from the Darkside'' and '' Justice League: Throne of Atlantis'', and films, such as '' Madhouse'' (1974), '' Brannigan'' (1975), '' The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), '' The Shining'' (1980), ''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

'' (1981), ''

Trading Places ''Trading Places'' is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. Starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis, the film te ...

'' (1983), ''

Superman III ''Superman III'' is a 1983 superhero film directed by Richard Lester from a screenplay by David Newman and Leslie Newman based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the third installment in the ''Superman'' film series and the sequel to ''S ...

'' (1983), '' Twin Sitters'' (1994) and ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' (1997). He also played auto dealer Irwin Lapsey in '' Shock Treatment'' (1981). In 1982, Dennen played the role of Buddy in the TV adaptation of ''

Beau Geste ''Beau Geste'' is an adventure novel by British writer P. C. Wren, which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a r ...

''. Dennen also ventured into voice acting. He portrayed the Chamberlain SkekSil in ''

The Dark Crystal ''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy, dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell (actress), Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was prod ...

'' (1982) as well as

Tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is an individual recognized as the reincarnation of a previous spiritual master (lama), and expected to be reincarnated, in turn, after death. The tulku is a distinctive and significant aspect of Tibet ...

in ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...

'' (1994). He also did voice work on cartoons such as ''

DuckTales DuckTales refers to: Film and television * ''DuckTales'' (1987 TV series), original TV series ** '' DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp'' * ''DuckTales'' (2017 TV series), reboot TV series Video games * ''DuckTales'' (video game) ...

'', '' Batman: The Animated Series'', ''

The Pirates of Dark Water ''The Pirates of Dark Water'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by David Kirschner and produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series premiered as a five-part miniseries on Fox Kids early 1991, simply entitled ''Dark Water''. The ...

'', ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...

'', '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars''. He also did voices for many video games, including Fatman in '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'', Hjollder in '' Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter'', Master Li in ''

Jade Empire ''Jade Empire'' is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare, originally published by Microsoft Game Studios in 2005 as an Xbox exclusive. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows personal computers (PC) and published by 2K in 2007. ...

'', Police Chief Bogen in '' Grim Fandango'', Mimir in the video game '' Too Human'', Dean Domino in '' Fallout: New Vegas'' expansion ''Dead Money,'' The Dark One in '' The Mark of Kri'', the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...

in '' Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties'', Benedict Burgess Batteric III in ''

Infinity Blade III ''Infinity Blade III'' is an action role-playing game for iOS, developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games. It was the third game in the '' Infinity Blade'' series. It was released on the App Store on September 18, 2013. The game was removed ...

'', Chaos Knight, Phantom Lancer, and Rubick in ''

Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve Corporation, Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created Mod (video gaming), mod for Blizzard Entertainment's ''War ...

'', and the venerable Odo and meister Glimmerheim in ''

Dungeon Siege III ''Dungeon Siege III'' is an action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment. It was published by Square Enix for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows in June 2011. It is the third full and fifth overall release in the ''D ...

''. In 1984, Dennen wrote the lyrics for the children's musical revue ''Wanna Play?!'', which was produced in Kansas City and later produced on television twice. The show, written with writer Linda Bergman and composer Jeff Rizzo, is licensed by Samuel French. He wrote the screenplay for an episode of ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'' titled "The Secret Cinema" (1985) and cowrote an episode of '' The Comic Strip Presents...'' titled "Demonella" (1993). His autobiographical book ''My Life with Barbra: A Love Story'' (1997) deals with their relationship and with his gradual realization that he was gay. In June 2017, Dennen suffered a fall in his home in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, and required hospital care. He never fully recovered and died on September 26, 2017.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Barry Dennen
at Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Dennen, Barry 1938 births 2017 deaths American gay actors American gay writers American male film actors American memoirists American male musical theatre actors American male non-fiction writers American male screenwriters American male voice actors Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Deaths from falls LGBTQ people from Illinois Male actors from Chicago Screenwriters from Illinois 21st-century American LGBTQ people