Stage Legend Barnard Hughes Dead at Age 90

Tony- and Emmy Award-winning actor Barnard Hughes died on July 11 at New York Presbyterian Hospital after a brief illness. He was 90.

Hughes was born in Bedford Hills, NY, on July 16, 1915. He held jobs as a dock checker in New York harbor, a Macy's salesman and a Wall Street copyreader before auditioning for the stage on a dare from a friend. His career, which began in 1934 with one line in the Shakespeare Fellowship Repertory Company production of The Taming of the Shrew, spanned seven decades. Hughes made his Broadway debut in 1935 in Herself Mrs. Patrick Crowley. He then toured the United States performing in stock theatrical shows before serving in World War II. By 1945, he was back in America on the stage. While performing in a veterans' hospital show, he met actress Helen Stenborg, his wife of 56 years, whom he married in 1950.

Hughes is best remembered for his signature performance as a curmudgeonly father haunting the memory of his playwright son in Hugh Leonard's 1978 Tony Award-winning play, Da. Hughes won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance and later recreated the role in the 1988 screen version. He also received a Tony nomination in 1973 for his performance as Dogberry in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Much Ado About Nothing. Other Broadway credits include Advise and Consent, Nobody Loves an Albatross, Hamlet, How Now Dow Jones, Uncle Vanya, The Good Doctor, Angels Fall, End of the World, The Iceman Cometh, Prelude to a Kiss and Waiting in the Wings. Waiting in the Wings, which was presented in 2000, marked his final Broadway appearance and also featured his wife. Other notable stage credits include You Can't Take It with You at the Abbey Theatre of Dublin andDa at Dublin's Olympia Theatre. In 2000, he and Stenborg received a Drama Desk Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 1995, he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.

Hughes also had a long history on the small and big screens. His film credits include Hamlet with Richard Burton, Midnight Cowboy, The Hospital, Cold Turkey, Where's Poppa?, First Monday in October, Oh, God!, Tron, Maxie, The Lost Boys, Doc Hollywood, Sister Act 2 and Cradle Will Rock. He starred in the television series Doc, Mr. Merlin and The Cavanaughs and played a recurring role on Blossom. In 1977, he won an Emmy Award for guest-starring on Lou Grant.

He served for over a decade as President of the Episcopal Actors' Guild and for many years on the council of The Actors' Fund. Hughes also held an honorary doctorate from Manhattan College, the school he'd dropped out of to become an actor.

Hughes is survived by his wife; his son, Tony Award-winning director Doug Hughes; his daughter, Laura Hughes; and a grandson, Samuel Hughes Rubin.