Tony Barr

Tony Barr (14 March 1921 — 19 December 2002) was an American actor, producer, and acting coach. 

Barr was born as Morris Yaffe on March 14, 1921, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Barr made his acting debut in 1948 in the role of Ruffini in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's biographical drama The Mozart Story starring Hans Holt and Winnie Markus.

After a few minor roles (including uncredited) in the late 1940s/50s, he served as an associate producer in Joe Connelly's television comedy General Electric Theater(1953).

In 1956—1958, he produced 5 episodes of the CBS TV series Climax!

His last production was Boris Sagal-directed 1963 comedy Dime with a Halo, starring BarBara Luna and Paul Langton.

As an actor, he was last seen on the small screen in 2000 in the episode "Strangers and Brothers" of the TV series Once and Again, in which he played one of the friends of Phil (played by Paul Mazursky). His last film appearance was in the role of Winthrop in Marc Rocco's 1995 drama Murder in the First, starring Christian Slater and Kevin Bacon.

Other work

Barr was a network executive for over 25 years. He worked with ABC and CBS and oversaw the creation of many well-run movies, mini-series, and TV series including Magnum PI, Baretta, Dallas, Lou Grant, Trapper John, Knots Landing, Charlie's Angels, and Starsky and Hutch.

In 1960, Barr founded an acting school named The Film Actor's Workshop in Los Angeles. He pioneered the idea of using cameras to train actors in 1970 when the first portable video equipment became widely available. 

In 1982, he published a book on acting Acting For the Camera (with a foreword from Ed Asner.)

Barr was married to his wife Annette Barbara Barr from February 21, 1945, until his death on December 19, 2002. They had three children. Their son David Barr-Yaffe is a production sound mixer in the television and motion picture industry.

Barr died on December 19, 2002, in Palm Desert, California, at the age of 81.