Barbara Barrie, Star of 'Breaking Away' and 'Company,' Dies at 95

Barbara Barrie, the Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-nominated actress who created the role of Sarah in the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's "Company," died Wednesday in Manhattan at 95.

Her daughter confirmed the death to the New York Times and said it was medically assisted, following a terminal cancer diagnosis.

Barrie's career on stage and screen spanned more than 60 years. It ranged from Arthur Miller to Sondheim, from Cannes laurels to prime-time television. What does her passing change for the American theatre? It closes a direct link to the 1970 opening night of "Company," a musical that reshaped the form and gave Barrie her Tony nomination for best featured actress in a musical.

What were her landmark stage roles?

Barrie made her Broadway debut in 1955 in "The Wooden Dish." She performed on Broadway and off for more than six decades, taking her last bow in "Significant Other." Along the way she starred in:

• "The Crucible" in 1958
• "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Taming of the Shrew," 1958-1959
• "California Suite" in 1976
• "Company," Sondheim's acclaimed 1970 musical, in the original Broadway cast

She was born on May 23, 1931, in Chicago, grew up in Texas, and graduated from the University of Texas in 1952 with a major in drama.

What did she achieve on screen?

Her film debut came in "Giant" in 1956. In 1964 she starred in "One Potato, Two Potato" and won the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, an honor that remains a rare distinction for an American character actress of her generation.

In 1979 she starred in "Breaking Away," which received five Oscar nominations. She earned a best supporting actress nod for her performance. On television she appeared in "The Defenders," "Naked City," "The Twilight Zone," "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour," "Barney Miller" and "Suddenly Susan." She earned Emmy nominations for the television adaptation of "Breaking Away" and for guest appearances on "Law & Order" and "Law & Order: SVU."

How did she face illness in public?

Barrie was diagnosed with rectal cancer in the early 1990s. She wrote two books about her illness in an effort to reduce its stigma: "Second Act" in 1997 and "Don't Die of Embarrassment" in 1999. In 2014 she announced she had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a degenerative lung disease.

She is survived by her daughter, her son Aaron Harnick and three granddaughters. Her husband, Jay Harnick, died in 2007.

Her death marks the end of a career that moved fluidly between Broadway, Hollywood and television at a time when few performers managed all three, and her books on cancer survival remain part of her public legacy alongside the performances.