Patrick Barr was born in 1908 into a judicial family in British India. He went on to have a remarkable career spanning over five decades, exceling in various fields including stage, screen, and television.
As the son of a judge and a retired theatrical manager, Barr was educated at Radley and Trinity College, Oxford, where he earned a "blue" in the 1929 University Boat Race. Initially, he worked as an engineer before transitioning to acting at the age of 25.
Barr's West End stage debut took place in 1936 in a production of "The Country Wife" at the Old Vic, followed by his New York stage debut the next year. During World War II, he served as a conscientious objector with a Free French ambulance unit in North Africa, earning the Croix de Guerre for his bravery.
After the war, Barr resumed his acting career, appearing in a revival of Noël Coward's "Private Lives" at the Apollo Theatre. For the next fifteen years, he was nearly non-stop on the West End stage, with the longest-running being "Like a Dove", where he played "Lord Dungavel" for over two years.
By the mid-1950s, television was gaining immense popularity, and Barr became a household name, winning the title of "Television Actor of the Year" twice. In 1970, he made a strong comeback to the stage, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company for the season at Stratford, where he played the ghost in "Hamlet", "Alonso" in "The Tempest", and "Escalus" in "Measure for Measure".
Throughout his career, Barr appeared in numerous character parts, including his first film, "The Merry Men of Sherwood" (1932). Although he never achieved first billing, his talents were always in high demand.
Patrick Barr passed away at the age of 77 on August 29, 1985.
