Facts About Gene Barry

Larrylambert
3 min readJan 25, 2024

He had a couple of big time TV series.

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I remember Gene Barry from a couple of TV series, Burke’s Law and Bat Masterson. Neither was a favorite of mine. His Amos Burke character was a rich cop, and Bat Masterson was a little bit of a dandy, but if I took another look at the show, I might be a little less harsh.

In addition to those two TV series, I know Barry had a long acting career, I just didn’t know much about it. Also, I didn’t know much about his background. So, after perusing some information, here are some things you probably didn’t know about Gene Barry.

1: Gene’s birth name was Eugene Klass.

It stands to reason he would go on to play dapper guys. He started with Klass.

2: Gene chose the last name Barry to honor John Barrymore.

Of course, in this case Barry was less.

3: Barry was the first murderer busted by Columbo.

I’m sure Amos Burke would have been appalled by Columbo’s wardrobe.

4: Barry also won a prize on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts.

I assume the format was something like, America has Talent without the histrionics.

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Larrylambert

You probably don't know my name, but have likely seen my work. I've written for numerous syndicated cartoon strips and my gags have appeared in national pubs.