Everett Collection
Barry Newman, the Emmy-nominated actor who starred in the 1971 cult action thriller Vanishing Point and as the lawyer of the same name on the NBC series Petrocelli, died May 11. He was 92 years old. No other details about his life are known at this time.
In “Vanishing Point,” Newman plays ex-racer Kowalski, a speeder who speeds around in a Dodge Challenger after becoming embroiled in a criminal conspiracy. The film is considered by genre enthusiasts to be one of the defining American action films of the 1970s.
Two decades and changes later, Newman starred in Steven Soderbergh’s fragmented crime thriller The Limey, about an act two chase that saw the actor get back behind the wheel.
Newman was born on November 7, 1938 in Boston, where he attended the Boston Latin School and then Brandeis University. During his training, Newman met Lee Strasberg and inspired him to pursue acting.
Before beginning his acting career, Newman was drafted into the army. During his service, Newman played both clarinet and saxophone in the army band.
After his military service, he moved to New York to study acting with Strasberg. He has starred in several Broadway shows, including Mel Tolkin’s “Maybe Tuesday” and Agatha Christie’s “The Mouse Trap.”
Newman went on to appear in feature films, breaking into The Lawyer in the 1970s. A few years later he was offered the lead role in the acclaimed television series Petrocelli, based around his performance in The Lawyer. Newman would receive Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his performance.
After starring in Petrocelli, Newman worked on other projects including Fatal Vision, King Crab, Bowfinger and Daylight.
In 2009, Newman was diagnosed with vocal cord cancer, which caused him to limit his acting career. Newman appeared in the independent drama Finding Hannah in 2022.
Newman is survived by his wife Angela.