# Barry Newman
**Barry Newman** (November 7, 1930 – May 11, 2023) was an American actor of stage, film and television best known for playing Kowalski in the 1971 cult road movie *[Vanishing Point](https://www.edgepedia.org/vanishing-point-1971-film)* and for starring as defense attorney Tony Petrocelli in the NBC series *Petrocelli*, a role that brought him Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Barry Foster Newman, born November 7, 1930, in Boston, Massachusetts[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/bio/) |
| Education | B.A. in anthropology, Brandeis University, 1952[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star) |
| Breakout film role | Kowalski in *Vanishing Point* (1971), directed by Richard C. Sarafian[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star) |
| Television role | Title character in *Petrocelli* (NBC, 1974–1976), 45 episodes over two seasons[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/barry_newman) |
| Nominations | Primetime Emmy Award (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, 1975) and Golden Globe nominations for *Petrocelli*[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/barry-newman) |
| Death | May 11, 2023, at a New York City hospital, aged 92, of natural causes[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star) |
| Final role | The independent drama *Finding Hannah* (2022)[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/news/barry-newman-dead-age-vanishing-point-b2351416.html) |
## Early life and training
Newman was born in Boston to Sarah and Carl Newman, who were of Belarusian and Austrian heritage, and graduated from [Boston Latin School](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-latin-school) before earning his Brandeis degree in anthropology in 1952[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/bio/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star). While at Brandeis he met the theater director and acting teacher [Lee Strasberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-strasberg), who was teaching a course in theater there, an encounter that turned him toward acting[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/bio/).
After Brandeis he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in the Third Army Band in Atlanta, playing the saxophone and clarinet he had learned in high school[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/bio/). Following his discharge he moved to New York to study with Strasberg. Obituaries differ on the immediate sequence: the Los Angeles Times places his acting debut as a jazz musician in [Herman Wouk](https://www.edgepedia.org/herman-wouk)'s play *Nature's Way* in 1957, while the Independent recounts that he had begun a master's degree in anthropology at Columbia University and left it five weeks in after sitting in on an acting class[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star) • [5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/news/barry-newman-dead-age-vanishing-point-b2351416.html).
On Broadway he appeared in *Nature's Way* (1957), Mel Tolkin's *Maybe Tuesday*, and *Night Life* (1962), and in the original musical *What Makes Sammy Run?* (1964–1965) as Sheik Orsini[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/bio/) • [6](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/barry-newman-107182). He also starred in the New York production of [Agatha Christie](https://www.edgepedia.org/agatha-christie)'s *The Mousetrap*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/bio/).
## The Lawyer, Vanishing Point, and Petrocelli
Newman broke into screen work in the 1960s with roles in the gangster crime drama *Pretty Boy Floyd* (1960), the live-television series *[Naked City](https://www.edgepedia.org/naked-city-tv-series)*, and the daytime soap *The Edge of Night*[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/barry_newman) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star).
**The Lawyer and Petrocelli.** Newman led the 1970 film *The Lawyer* as Tony Petrocelli, a young attorney defending a physician accused of murdering his wife[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star). Four years later he reprised the character for the NBC series *Petrocelli*, which ran from 1974 to 1976 and lasted 45 episodes over two seasons; [Susan Howard](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-howard) played his wife, Maggie[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/barry_newman). His performance earned a 1975 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Golden Globe nominations[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/barry-newman). The character was an Italian-American lawyer from Boston who had traded big-city practice for the quieter Arizona town of San Remo[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/news/barry-newman-dead-age-vanishing-point-b2351416.html).
**Vanishing Point.** In 1971 Newman starred as Kowalski in Richard C. Sarafian's *Vanishing Point*, a professional driver who races 1,300 miles from Denver to San Francisco in fifteen hours, eluding state police and aided by a blind disc jockey ([Cleavon Little](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleavon-little))[7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1091952/vanishing-point). The film, shot for 20th Century-Fox on a $1.5 million budget, earned back $12,000,000, though Newman said it initially struggled in the United States while audiences in England "lined up around the block"; re-released in America after its European run, it became a cult film[7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1091952/vanishing-point) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star). The BFI describes the drug-fueled, music-driven Kowalski in his white [Dodge Challenger](https://www.edgepedia.org/dodge-challenger) as a road folk hero whose story combines early-1970s counterculture with the lone-road-trip fantasy[8](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/7ac0ed27-7fb6-5839-b126-902e34a1a7dd/vanishing-point). The Irish News called the role Newman's finest hour and noted the film's growing reputation since 1971, including a loving reference in [Quentin Tarantino](https://www.edgepedia.org/quentin-tarantino)'s *Death Proof* (2007)[9](https://www.irishnews.com/arts/film/2023/06/09/news/cult_vanishing_point_was_barry_newman_s_finest_hour-3327018/).
## Later career
The 1970s brought further starring roles in *Fear Is the Key* (1972, opposite [Suzy Kendall](https://www.edgepedia.org/suzy-kendall)), *The Salzburg Connection*, and *City on Fire* (1979), and television movies including *Sex and the Married Woman* and *King Crab*, for which he won the ABC Theater Award[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/bio/) • [5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/news/barry-newman-dead-age-vanishing-point-b2351416.html). In 1984 he appeared in the acclaimed miniseries *Fatal Vision*, and in 1989 he co-starred with [Suzanne Pleshette](https://www.edgepedia.org/suzanne-pleshette) in the NBC drama *Nightingales*, which lasted one season[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/bio/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/barry_newman).
From the 1990s onward he worked largely in character and guest roles: films such as [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvester-stallone)'s *Daylight* (1996), [Steve Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-martin)'s *Bowfinger* (1999), and [Steven Soderbergh](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-soderbergh)'s *The Limey* (1999), in which he played Valentine's security consultant Avery, and television appearances on *Murder, She Wrote*, *NYPD Blue*, *L.A. Law*, *JAG*, *The O.C.*, *The Cleaner*, and *Ghost Whisperer*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/bio/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/barry_newman) • [10](https://www.rogerebert.com/features/20-years-of-steven-soderberghs-the-limey). In 2009 he was diagnosed with vocal cord cancer, which limited his ability to work, but he returned in 2022 for *Finding Hannah*, his final role[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star) • [5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/news/barry-newman-dead-age-vanishing-point-b2351416.html).
## Death
Newman died on May 11, 2023, aged 92, at New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center; reports attributed his death to natural causes, and IMDb lists complications from a heart and spine infection[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star) • [11](https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcberman1/2023/06/04/barry-newman-dead-the-vanishing-point-and-petrocelli-star-was-92/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/bio/). His niece Judith Newman announced the death, writing that off-screen he was a very cautious driver. He was survived by his wife, Angela[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star).
## References
1. [Barry Newman – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/bio/)
2. [Barry Newman, 'Vanishing Point' speedster and 'Petrocelli' star, dies at 92, Los Angeles Times (June 5, 2023)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-06-05/barry-newman-dead-vanishing-point-petrocelli-star)
3. [Barry Newman Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/barry_newman)
4. [Barry Newman – Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/barry-newman)
5. [Vanishing Point actor Barry Newman has died aged 92, The Independent (June 5, 2023)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/news/barry-newman-dead-age-vanishing-point-b2351416.html)
6. [Barry Newman – Broadway Cast & Staff, IBDB](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/barry-newman-107182)
7. [Vanishing Point, Turner Classic Movies article by Richard Harland Smith](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1091952/vanishing-point)
8. [Vanishing Point (1971), British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/7ac0ed27-7fb6-5839-b126-902e34a1a7dd/vanishing-point)
9. [Cult: Vanishing Point was Barry Newman's finest hour, The Irish News (June 2023)](https://www.irishnews.com/arts/film/2023/06/09/news/cult_vanishing_point_was_barry_newman_s_finest_hour-3327018/)
10. [20 Years of Steven Soderbergh's The Limey, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/features/20-years-of-steven-soderberghs-the-limey)
11. [Barry Newman Dead: The 'Vanishing Point' and 'Petrocelli' Star Was 92, Forbes (June 4, 2023)](https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcberman1/2023/06/04/barry-newman-dead-the-vanishing-point-and-petrocelli-star-was-92/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Mo to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license