Barnard Hughes

Bernard Aloysius Kiernan "Barnard" Hughes (July 16, 1915 – July 11, 2006) was an American actor of theater and film. Hughes became famous for a variety of roles; his most-notable roles came after middle age, and he was often cast as a dithering authority figure or grandfatherly elder.

Personal life

Hughes was born in Bedford Hills, New York, the son of Irish immigrants Madge (née Kiernan) and Owen Hughes. He attended La Salle Academy and Manhattan College in New York City. Hughes was married to actress Helen Stenborg. They married on April 19, 1950, and remained married until his death. Hughes was five days shy of his ninety-first birthday when he died. The Hugheses had two children, Tony Award-winning theatre director Doug and daughter Laura.

Career

Hughes changed the "e" in his first name to an "a" to help his acting career on the advice of a numerologist. Through high school and college, Hughes worked a series of odd jobs, including a stint as a dockworker and as a salesman at Macy's. He auditioned for the Shakespeare Fellowship Repertory company in New York City on the advice of a friend, and ended up joining the company for two years.

Hughes played more than 400 theatre roles, including the one for which he was perhaps most famous, in Hugh Leonard's Da. He won Broadway's 1978 Tony Award as Best Actor for his portrayal of the title role; in 1988 he recreated the role for the film Da.

On screen, he appeared in the film transcription of Hamlet (1964), Midnight Cowboy (1969) (the only X-rated film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture), and also appeared in such films as Cold Turkey (1971) The Hospital (1971), Oh, God! (1977), First Monday in October (1981), Tron (1982), The Lost Boys (1987), Da (1988) - the screen reprise of his most successful stage-role, and Doc Hollywood (1991). He also played the old man who gave a ride to Felix and Oscar on The Odd Couple II (1998) and was featured in The Fantasticks (1995).

Hughes appeared on TV in such series as Naked City, The Secret Storm, Blossom and Homicide: Life on the Street. In 1973, he had a notable recurring role on All in the Family as a Roman Catholic priest, Father John Majeski, doing battle with Archie Bunker, and won an Emmy for his portrayal of a senile judge on Lou Grant. Hughes made 3 appearances in The Bob Newhart Show as the father of Dr. Robert Hartley. He was the central character in three sitcoms: Doc, which ran on CBS from 1975–77, where he played a physician; Mr. Merlin, in which he played Merlin, a magician mentoring a 20th-century teenager; and The Cavanaughs, co-starring Christine Ebersole, in which he played the family patriarch (Art Carney played his brother, and Glynis Johns made guest appearances). Hughes sang "Danny Boy" in one episode. He made a memorable appearance as The King (with Jim Dale as The Duke) in the PBS mini-series Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Hughes also made recurring appearances on daytime dramas including Guiding Light and As the World Turns as well as a brief appearance in an early episode of Dark Shadows. He also did voice-overs for television commercials advertising Kix cereal.

Stage productions

• "Osgood Meeker" in the Broadway production of Noël Coward's little-known play Waiting in the Wings, directed by Michael Langham (this was Barnard Hughes' last stage role)
• "Old Man" in the Broadway production of Prelude to a Kiss, directed by Norman René
• Polonius to Stacy Keach's Hamlet
• Marcellus in Richard Burton's 1964 Hamlet
• Dogberry in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Much Ado About Nothing
• Harry Hope in the 1985 Broadway revival of The Iceman Cometh directed by José Quintero
• Uncle Vanya (directed by Mike Nichols)
• A Doll's House
• Hogan's Goat (Off-Broadway)
• Three Sisters
• The Devil's Disciple
• Translations
• "Lynn Belvedere" in the Tenthouse Theatre in the Round production of Gwen Davenport's "Belvedere" August 9-14, 1948.