Edwina Barry (July 3, 1886 – July 9, 1988) was an American vaudeville performer and

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

. She was billed alongside stars including

Sophie Tucker Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was a Russian-born American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popula ...

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of h ...

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...

Eva Tanguay Eva Tanguay (August 1, 1878 – January 11, 1947) was a Canadian singer and entertainer who billed herself as "the girl who made vaudeville famous". She was known as "The Queen of Vaudeville" during the height of her popularity from the early 1 ...

Kate Smith Kathryn Elizabeth Smith (May 1, 1907 – June 17, 1986) was an American contralto. Referred to as The First Lady of Radio, Smith became well known for her renditions of "God Bless America" and "When the Moon Comes over the Mountain". She began ...

, and

Harry Lauder Sir Henry Lauder (; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950)Russell, Dave"Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 was a S ...

, among others.

Early life and education

Edwina Barry was born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 3, 1886. Her father, Edward Barry, was a Shakesperean scholar and manager of the Howard Theatre. She was educated at the Sisters of Notre Dame Convent and trained in theater by her brother, playwright and director

Jimmy Barry James Curran Barry (March 7, 1870 – April 4, 1943) was an American boxer who held the world bantamweight championship from 1894 to 1899. Commonly referred to as "The Little Tiger", Barry retired undefeated with a record of 59–0–10 ...

Career

Early in her career, Barry acted in stock companies, playing boys' parts and

ingénue The ''ingénue'' (, , ) is a stock character in literature, film and a role type in the theater, generally a girl or a young woman, who is endearingly innocent. ''Ingénue'' may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in such role ...

roles. In 1908, she appeared in her first starring role in ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' by Porter J. White. From 1909 until at least 1915, Barry toured the United States with her own company, Miss Edwina Barry and Co., as the star of the serio-comic sketch "The Home Breaker," which was written by her brother, Jimmy Barry. In the sketch, Barry played Dotty Plumdaffy, a servant girl who kisses men and then keeps their photograph, and in doing so, almost causes the breakup of a marriage. During World War I, Barry toured the world, performing in Europe, South Africa, and Australia. In the early 1920s, Barry embarked on another international tour, during which she performed in India, Burma, Indonesia, China, Japan, and the Philippines, as well as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. While in South Africa, she performed with the African Theatres Company. In the 1940s, Barry hosted a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

show in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China and also worked as a

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

for American newspapers. By the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Barry returned to the United States, where she worked as a librarian for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

Private life and death

In 1920, Barry settled in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

after returning to the United States from an international tour. She never married and had no children. On June 28, 1988, Barry was admitted to the hospital after sustaining a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

following a fall. She died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at the

UCLA Medical Center Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as UCLA Medical Center, RRMC or Ronald Reagan) is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United S ...

on July 9, 1988. She had recently turned 102. Upon Barry's death, the Actors Fund, which had planned a birthday celebration in her honor, cancelled the event. Performers including

Carroll O'Connor John Carroll O'Connor (August2, 1924– June21, 2001) was an American actor whose television career spanned over four decades. He found widespread fame as Archie Bunker (for which he won four Emmy Awards), the main character in the CBS televis ...

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor. He is most notable for portraying Lou Grant on the sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977) and drama '' Lou Grant'' (1977–1982), making him one of the few ...

, and

Donald O'Connor Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred, in succession, with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talki ...

had been expected to attend. After her death,

Dale Olson Dale C. Olson (February 20, 1934 – August 9, 2012) was an American writer and publicist who represented prominent actors and film directors during his career, and an early gay rights activist. In 1954, he became the first man to appear on tele ...

said of Barry, "She was very popular all over the country and, in fact, all over the world for about a 20-year period."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Edwina American vaudeville performers 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians American radio hosts American women librarians Actresses from Boston American women centenarians Deaths from pneumonia in California American women comedians Comedians from Boston 1886 births 1988 deaths