Tony Barry obit

 

Tony Barry, Veteran Australian Film and TV Actor, Dies at 81

Barry starred in the features 'Goodbye Pork Pie' and 'Australia' and had a long-running role in the television drama series 'The Time of Our Lives.'

 He was not the list.

Tony Barry, the veteran Australian film and television actor who starred in cult Kiwi comedy Goodbye Pork Pie and had a long-running role in the television drama series The Time of Our Lives, has died. He was 81.

Barry’s friend, the New Zealand filmmaker Gaylene Preston, wrote on Facebook that the actor had died in Murwillumbah, Australia after a long illness. “He was one of a kind. A fierce fighter for the underdog, working for indigenous rights and as part of rehabilitation [programs] in the justice system and for the environment,” Preston wrote.

“Tony Barry gone – lovely man, terrific actor and hero of mine. Sad today,” tweeted Sam Neill who starred with Barry in Michael Blakemore’s Country Life.

Born on Aug. 28, 1941, in Queensland, Australia, Barry made his screen debut in 1968 in the television series Skippy: the Bush Kangaroo, which he followed with appearances in various Australian TV shows including The Box and Matlock Police.

He made his feature debut in Kevin James Dobson’s 1977 period drama The Mango Tree and in the following years racked up over 160 film and television credits. His most notable film roles include the Ken Hannam drama Break of Day (1976), Terry Bourke’s Little Boy Lost (1978), Phillip Noyce’s critically acclaimed Newsfront (1979), John Laing’s Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1980) and Dušan Makavejev’s The Coca-Cola Kid (1985), Park Chan-wook’s Lady Vengeance (2005) and Baz Luhrmann’s sprawling epic Australia (2008).

Barry’s most memorable role came in Geoff Murphy’s 1981 Kiwi comedy Goodbye Pork Pie. In the film, Barry starred as John, a man whose girlfriend leaves him and flies home to Invercargill, and so he decides to drive all the way south from Auckland to talk to her in his now iconic yellow Mini 1000.

Goodbye Pork Pie became an important milestone in New Zealand cinema, becoming the first locally-made film that became a large-scale success. The film’s success and cultural impact in New Zealand bestowed Barry with “honorary Kiwi” status and he became the only Australian to feature on an NZ postage stamp. The film was remade in 2016 as Pork Pie, with Dean O’Gorman playing John.

Barry’s most notable recent television role came in the Australian Broadcasting Corp. drama The Time of Our Lives. He starred as Ray Tivolli in the series, but in 2013 mid-way through production he suffered a health crisis, losing his left leg after a decade-long battle with melanoma. The real-life amputation was written into the series with Ray losing his leg after an accident, with Barry shown in recovery and learning how to walk again.

“I was able to talk to the producers and scriptwriters about what losing a leg means in terms of (basic things like) Ray getting into the shower,” Barry told News.com.au.

He also starred in the Australian television series Harrow and The End.

. He is known to American audiences for his role in The Man From Snowy River 2.

Barry died on 21 December 2022, at the age of 81.

Filmography

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1977      The Mango Tree               Tommy Smith   

Weekend of Shadows                   

Break of Day                      

1978      Newsfront          "Greasy"             

Puzzle                  

The Irishman      Rob Dalgliesh    

Little Boy Lost    Const. O'Day     

1979      The Odd Angry Shot        Black Ronnie     

Now and Then   Marina manager              

1980      Beyond Reasonable Doubt           Detective John Hughes

Hard Knocks                      

The Earthling      "Red"   

1981      I Can Jump Puddles         Alan's father       TV series

Goodbye Pork Pie            John      

1982      With Prejudice                 

Dead Easy                           

We of the Never Never Mac      

1983      Scales of Justice                "Nipper" Jackson              TV miniseries

The Settlement Sergeant Crow

Midnite Spares Detective Howard           

The Dismissal     Press Secretary

1984      Pallet on the Floor           Larkman              

1985      Shout!:The Story of Johnny O'Keefe         Alan Heffernan

Archer's Adventure                        

The Coca-Cola Kid            Bushman            

1986      Two Friends                       

I Own the Racecourse    Bert Hammond TV movie

Cyclone Tracy    Mick Brennan    TV miniseries

The Surfer           Calhoun               

BabaKiueria        Father (Mr. Smith)          

Frog Dreaming   Gaza     

1987      Initiation              Pat        

1988      Shame Tim Curtis           

Never Say Die    Det Insp Bill Evans           

The Man from Snowy River II      Jacko    

1989      Shadow Of The Cobra                    

1991      Old Scores           Barry Brown      

1992      Deadly                 

1993      Absent Without Leave    Peter    

Jack Be Nimble Clarrie  

Rainbow Warrior                             

1994      The Last Tattoo                

Country Life        Logger

1995      Rose Against the Odds   Jack Rennie        

Vacant Possession                          

1996      Crocadoo             Rufus B. Hardacare          TV series

1997      Road to Nhill      Jim        

Doing Time for Patsy Cline            Dwayne               

1999      Paperback Hero                               

Fresh Air              Bob       

2000      Mullet   Col Maloney      

Halifax f.p.                           TV series

2003      All The Way                       

The Night We Called It a Day       Ralph Blue          

2005      Lady Vengeance               Jenny's adoptive father

2006      Pleasance                           

Home by Christmas                        

Solo       Louis     

2007      Cross Life             Bill         

2008      Australia              Sergeant Callaghan         

2013      The Time of Our Lives     Ray Tivoli             TV series

Mystery Road    Sarge    

2018      Harrow Jack Twine           TV series