Barry K. Barnes

Barry Barnes - born Nelson Barry Mackintosh Barnes - was an actor who studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His first stage appearance was in 1927, and in 1932 he toured Australia in ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street.' On his return he was engaged as a commentator for British Movietone News, his first assignment being ‘AVIATION: Pictured by Paul Wyand’ in No.317 of July 1935. Barnes specialised in comic stories and dialect commentaries, the Kinematograph Weekly noting that these were ‘a source of considerable enjoyment to kinemagoers.' The first to be featured was ‘BOWLS: Dialect commentary by Barry Barnes,' a Lancashire story which appeared in No.332 in October 1935. Barnes seems only to have been engaged for two years, as his last credit was for ‘ZOO NEWS: Remarks by Barry Barnes’ in British Movietone News No.419 of June 1937. He was apparently replaced as dialect commentator by Carl Bernard [qv]. He moved on to a career as a film actor, his first role being in ‘The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel’ (1938).

Sources

Who’s Who 1897-1996 CD-ROM.