Barbara Perry Passes On

Actress Barbara Perry died on May 5 2019 at the age of 97.

Barbara Perry was born on June 22 1921 in Norfolk, Virginia. Her father was a jazz keyboardist and conductor. Her mother was sang in the chorus of the New York City Metropolitan Opera. Barbara Perry made her stage debut very young. She was only 4 years old when she played Trouble in a Metropolitan Opera production of Madame Butterfly. Miss Perry made her film debut in Counsellor at Law in 1933. She would appear in an uncredited role in The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935).

In the late Forties Barbara Perry appeared in the films An Angel Comes to Brooklyn (1945) and I Was a Male Bride (1949).  She made her television debut in 1952 in the television movie Zip Goes a Million in 1952. In the late Fifties she guest starred on the TV shows The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse, The Marge and Gower Champion Show, The Thin Man, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, The Twilight Zone, Hot Off the Wire, and The Donna Reed Show.

In the Sixties Miss Perry was a regular on the sitcom The Hathaways. She was the original actress to play Buddy Sorrell's wife in The Dick Van Dyke Show (the role was later played by Joan Shawlee). She appeared in two episodes of the classic show. She also guest starred on the shows Thriller, Pete and Gladys, The Joey Bishops Show, The Fugitive, The Farmer's Daughter, Arrest and Trial, The Cara Williams Show, My Favorite Martian, The Andy Griffith Show, The Lucy Show, Perry Mason, Family Affair, Daniel Boone, Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., Bewitched, Room 222, The Bill Cosby Show, and Adam-12. She appeared in the movies Period of Adjustment (1962), Shock Corridor (1963), The Naked Kiss (1964), and Mirage (1965).

In the Seventies Barbara Perry guest starred on the shows My Three Sons, Needles and Pins, Joe and Sons, and Barnaby Jones. She appeared in the movie Tom (1973). In the Eighties she guest starred on the shows Trapper John M.D., Benson, St. Elsewhere, The Duck Factory, Newhart, Quantum Leap, The Magical World of Disney, Dallas, Murder She Wrote, and Murphy Brown. She appeared in the movies Trancers (1984), Trust Me (1989), Tap (1989), and Wedding Band (1989).

In the Nineties she guest starred on the TV shows Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Married With Children, Alright Already, and Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. She appeared in the films Father of the Bride (1991) and Just Write (1997).

In the Naughts Miss Perry guest starred on the shows The Guardian and The Unit. She appeared in the films Mr. Woodcock (2007), and The Back-Up Plan (2010). In the Teens she guest starred on the shows Perfect Couples, Work It, How I Met Your Mother, Review and Baskets. She appeared in the movies Let Go (2011) and The Tango Singer (2017).

As a tap dancer Barbara Perry also headlined at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, the Chez Paris in Chicago, the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, the Café de Paris in London, and other nightclubs.