Patrick David Barr (13 February 1908 – 29 August 1985)
was an English actor. In his career spanning over half a century, he appeared in about 144 films and television series.
Biography
Born in
Akola,
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
in 1908,
Barr was educated at
Radley College and
Trinity College, Oxford, where he rowed in the
1929 Boat Race and achieved a
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
. He went from stage to screen with ''The Merry Men of Sherwood'' (1932). He spent the 1930s playing various beneficent authority figures and "reliable friend" types.
As a
conscientious objector during the Second World War, Barr helped people in
the Blitz in London's
East End before serving with the
Friends' Ambulance Unit in Africa. There he met his wife Anne "Jean" Williams, marrying her after ten days; it would have been sooner, but they needed permission from London.
In 1946, he picked up where he had left off, and in the early 1950s he began working in British television, attaining a popularity greater than he had while playing supporting parts in such films as ''
The Case of the Frightened Lady'' (1940) and ''
The Blue Lagoon'' (1949).
This popularity enabled Barr to obtain better roles and command a higher salary for his films of the 1950s and 1960s. Some of the films in which he appeared during this period were ''
The Dam Busters'' (1955), ''
Room in the House'' (1955), ''
Saint Joan'' (1957), ''Next to Next Time'' (1960), ''
Billy Liar'' (1963), ''
The First Great Train Robbery'' (1979) and ''
Octopussy'' (1983). On television, he appeared in ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' in 1967 as Hobson in the serial entitled ''
The Moonbase''; in the 1970 ''
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)'' episode ''"
You Can Always Find a Fall Guy"'' and appeared once in ''
The Avengers''. In the 1981
BBC Radio 4 adaptation of ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
'', Barr voiced the role of Gamling.
Selected filmography
* ''
Meet My Sister'' (1933) – Bob Seymour
* ''
Irish Hearts'' (1934) – Dr. Connellan
* ''
Gay Old Dog'' (1935) – Phillip
* ''
Things to Come'' (1936) – World Transport Official (uncredited)
* ''
Wednesday's Luck'' (1936) – Jim Carfax
* ''
East Meets West'' (1936) – O'Flaherty
* ''
Midnight at Madame Tussaud's'' (1936) – Gerry Melville
* ''
The Cavalier of the Streets'' (1937) – The Cavalier
* ''
The Show Goes On'' (1937) – Designer
* ''
Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1937) – Lord Hastings
* ''
Sunset in Vienna'' (1937) – Ludwig (uncredited)
* ''
Sailing Along'' (1938) – Seaman at Birthday Party (uncredited)
* ''
Incident in Shanghai'' (1938) – Pat Avon
* ''
Star of the Circus'' (1938) – Truxa
* ''
Meet Mr. Penny'' (1938) – Clive Roberts
* ''
Yellow Sands'' (1938) – Arthur Varwell
* ''
The Gaunt Stranger'' (1938) – Det. Insp. Alan Wembury
* ''
Marigold'' (1938) – Lt. Archie Forsyth
* ''
Let's Be Famous'' (1939) – John Blake
* ''
Contraband'' (1940) – Undetermined Role (uncredited)
* ''
The Case of the Frightened Lady'' (1940) – Richard Ferraby
* ''
The Blue Lagoon'' (1949) – Second Mate
* ''
Man on the Run'' (1949) – Detective at Cabby's Restaurant
* ''
Adam and Evelyne'' (1949) – Bert – Adam's Friend (uncredited)
* ''
Golden Arrow'' (1949) – Hedy's Husband
* ''
To Have and to Hold'' (1951) – Brian
* ''
The Lavender Hill Mob
''The Lavender Hill Mob'' is a 1951 British comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T. E. B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway and featuring Sid James and Alfie Bass. The title refers ...
'' (1951) – Divisional Detective Inspector
* ''
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men'' (1952) –
King Richard
* ''
Death of an Angel'' (1952) – Robert Welling
* ''
You're Only Young Twice'' (1952) – Sir Archibald Asher
* ''
King of the Underworld'' (1952) – Inspector John Morley
* ''
Murder at Scotland Yard'' (1952) – Inspector John Morley
* ''
Black Orchid'' (1953) – Vincent Humphries
* ''
Sailor of the King'' (1953) – Capt. Tom Ashley, HMS 'Amesbury'
* ''
I vinti'' (1953) – Ken Wharton
* ''
The Intruder'' (1953) – Inspector Williams
* ''
Black 13'' (1953) – Robert
* ''
Escape by Night'' (1953) – Insp. Frampton
* ''
Duel in the Jungle'' (1954) – Supt. Roberts
* ''
Seagulls Over Sorrento'' (1954) – Cmdr. Sinclair
* ''
Time Is My Enemy'' (1954) – John Everton
* ''
The Brain Machine'' (1955) – Dr. Geoffrey Allen
* ''
The Dam Busters'' (1955) – Captain
Joseph (Mutt) Summers, C.B.E.
* ''
Room in the House'' (1955) – Jack Richards
* ''
It's Never Too Late'' (1956) – Charles Hammond
* ''
Saint Joan'' (1957) – Captain La Hire
* ''
At the Stroke of Nine'' (1957) – Frank
* ''
Lady of Vengeance'' (1957) – Inspector Madden
* ''
Next to No Time'' (1958) – Jerry Lane
* ''
Urge to Kill'' (1960) – Superintendent Allen
* ''
The Valiant'' (1962) – Reverend Ellis
* ''
The Longest Day'' (1962) – Group Captain
James Stagg (uncredited)
* ''
Billy Liar'' (1963) – Insp. MacDonald
* ''
On the Run'' (1963) - Brent
* ''
Ring of Spies'' (1964) – Captain Warner
* ''
Last of the Long-haired Boys'' (1968) – Conyers
* ''
Guns in the Heather'' (1969) – Lord Boyne
* ''
The Flesh and Blood Show'' (1972) – Major Bell / Sir Arnold Gates
* ''
The Satanic Rites of Dracula'' (1973) – Lord Carradine
* ''
House of Whipcord'' (1974) – Justice Bailey
* ''
The Black Windmill'' (1974) – Gen. St. John
* ''
The First Great Train Robbery'' (1979) – Burke
* ''
Home Before Midnight'' (1979) – The Judge
* ''
Octopussy'' (1983) – British Ambassador
Television series
Inspector Morley: Late of Scotland Yard (1952) - (seven episodes) - (with ''
Dorothy Bramhall'', ''
Tucker McGuire'', ''
Tod Slaughter'', and ''
Johnny Briggs (actor))''.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Patrick
1908 births
1985 deaths
English male film actors
English male television actors
People educated at Radley College
Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford
English conscientious objectors
People associated with the Friends' Ambulance Unit
People from Akola
20th-century English male actors
British people in colonial India
Male actors from British India
20th-century Quakers