Barbara Barrie beamed in final public appearance before ending life with medical assistance
Barbara Barrie made her final public appearance in December 2021, nearly five years before ending her life with medical assistance.
The actress attended the opening night of “Company” on Broadway and posed for pictures on the red carpet.
The Oscar nominee beamed in a black coat, brown scarf and a black skirt with metal embellishments.
She completed her look with bedazzled loafers and drop earrings.
Barrie, notably, was an original cast member of Stephen Sondheim’s show when it premiered in 1970.
She played Sarah, earning her first and only Tony nomination for the role the following year.
The “Suddenly Susan” alum described her acting journey in her final interview, a 2024 episode of “How Art Changed Me.”
Barrie called her first cancer battle in the ’90s a “turning point” in her career, explaining, “They’d jab me with the stuff. I’d go to rehearsal. At lunchtime, they’d all go to lunch and I’d take a nap. And I thought, obviously this means something to me if I would go through this. And I did.”
News broke Wednesday that the Emmy nominee had died at her Manhattan home at 95.
Her daughter, Jane, told The New York Times that Barrie’s death was medically assisted after a terminal cancer diagnosis.
She was previously diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2014.
The condition, according to the Mayo Clinic, is a degenerative disease that makes it hard to breathe due to lung tissue becoming damaged and scarred.
She is best known for her “Breaking Away” role in 1979 as Evelyn Stohler, which earned her an Oscar nomination.
Barrie also won the Cannes Film Festival award for best actress in 1964 for “One Potato, Two Potato.”
In addition to Jane, Barrie is survived by son Aaron. The Broadway star welcomed both children with husband Jay Harnick, who died in 2007.