Barnard Hughes, a Tony- and Emmy-award-winning actor who was known for playing warm-hearted if not always serious-minded father figures, died Tuesday in New York. He was 90.
Though Mr. Hughes made his acting debut in 1934 at age 19 and already had a solid career in theater and television work, it was the 1978 Broadway production of Hugh Leonard’s “Da” that gained him his reputation as a skilled character actor, with a particular gift for jolly old Irishmen whose cheerfulness is tinged with melancholy.
He played the title role of an affable and unambitious Irish widower who haunts the memories of his emigrant son. Mr. Hughes beat out Hume Cronyn, Frank Langella and Jason Robards for the best-actor Tony that year and also won a Drama Desk award. He did a reprise of the role of Da for a 1988 movie version, which also starred Martin Sheen.
A frequent presence in soap operas and television series of the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Hughes won an Emmy for his portrayal of a senile judge on an episode of “Lou Grant.” He also starred as an avuncular physician in a short-lived comedy series, “Doc,” and as an Irish patriarch in the sitcom “The Cavanaughs.”
He had recurring roles on “The Guiding Light,” “As The World Turns,” “All in the Family,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Blossom.”
Mr. Hughes also had a long film career, appearing in “Midnight Cowboy,” “The Hospital,” “Where’s Poppa?” “Oh God!” “Tron,” “Doc Hollywood” and numerous television movies.
Barnard Aloysius Kiernan Hughes was born in Bedford Hills, N.Y. on July 16, 1915, to Irish immigrants. Through high school and his first year at Manhattan College, he worked a series of jobs, including as a salesman at Macy’s and a dockworker, before a friend tricked him into auditioning for a repertory company that performed Shakespeare in high schools. He won a tiny role in “The Taming of the Shrew.”
Hughes soon dropped out of Manhattan College and stayed with the company for two years, eventually playing many of the major Shakespeare roles. He then began traveling the country, performing with a repertory company in Chicago and with a comedy troupe that toured the South.
