# Barbara Bryne

Barbara Bryne (1 April 1929 – 2 May 2023) was a British-American actress of film, theatre and television. Onstage she appeared in comedy, dramatic and musical production of Broadway and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

## Life and career

Bryne came to Canada in the early 1960s and was a frequent performer at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival (Stratford, Ontario) since 1966 and at the Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, Minnesota) for 50 years. In 1982, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Actress in a Drama for her role as "Kath" in the first American production of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr. Sloane (which starred Maxwell Caulfield in the title role).
Bryne was in the original Broadway productions of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George (as George's mother) and Into The Woods (as Jack's mother). She also performed in Sondheim's A Little Night Music in Washington, D.C. She was also a frequent performer at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater. Among the plays in which she appeared there were Mother Courage, The Glass Menagerie, She Stoops to Conquer, Design for Living, and Pygmalion.
On television she played "Mrs. Gaffney" on the Tony Randall series, Love, Sidney (1981–1983). In 2011 she appeared as Queen Victoria in H.M.S. Pinafore, which was filmed for PBS in late August 2011. Among the films in which she has appeared are: Romeo & Juliet (1993 TV film), Into the Woods (1991 TV film), Two Evil Eyes (1990; "The Black Cat" segment), Sunday in the Park with George (1986 TV film), Amadeus (1984), The Bostonians (1984), and The School for Scandal (1975 TV film).
Bryne was married to Dennis Spence in 1953. They remained married for 55 years until his death in 2018. Bryne died on 2 May 2023, in Minneapolis, at the age of 94.

## Stage

| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes |
| 1966 | Henry VI | Margery Jourdan | |
| 1966 | Twelfth Night | Maria | |
| 1966 | King Lear | Goneril | |
| 1967 | Richard III | Duchess of York | |
| 1967 | The Government Inspector | Locksmith's Wife, Korobkin's Wife | |
| 1967 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Ensemble | |
| 1968 | Tartuffe | Mme. Pernelle | |
| 1968 | The Three Musketeers | Mme. Coquenard, Landlady of the Gilded Lily | |
| 1968 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Puck | |
| 1981 | Cymbeline | The Queen | |
| 1981 | Entertaining Mr Sloane | Kath | Nomination: Drama Desk Award |
| 1984-85 | Sunday in the Park with George | Blair Daniels, Old Lady | Broadway debut |
| 1985 | Hay Fever | Clara | |
| 1986-89 | Into the Woods | Jack's Mother | |
| 1989 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Lady Augusta Bracknell | |
| 1992 | Romeo and Juliet | Nurse | |
| 1993 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Robin Starveling | |
| 1994 | Sunday in the Park with George | Blair Daniels, Old Lady | 10th Anniversary Concert |
| 1995 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Mistress Quickly | |
| 1997 | Into the Woods | Jack’s Mother | 10th Anniversary Concert |
| 2002 | A Little Night Music | Madame Armfeldt | |
| 2002 | The Chairs | Old Woman | |
| 2003 | Three Sisters | Anfisa | |
| 2006 | The Birthday Party | Mistress Quickly | |
| 2007 | Our Leading Lady | Maude Bentley | |
| 2007 | Jane Eyre | Mrs. Fairfax | |
| 2009 | When We Are Married | Mrs. Northrop | |
| 2010 | Macbeth | Weïrd Sister | |
| 2011 | H.M.S. Pinafore | Queen Victoria | |
| 2012 | Hay Fever | Clara | |
| 2012 | Embers | Nini | |

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1963 | Festival | Gladys | (segment "I Spy") |
| 1967 | Mister Rogers | Miss Paulifficate | |
| 1974 | The Play's the Thing | Betty | (episode "Back to Beulah") |
| 1975 | Great Performances | Mrs. Candour | (episode "The School for Scandal") |
| 1981 | CBS Children's Mystery Theatre | Blanche Guizot | (episode "Mystery at Fire Island") |
| 1982 | Best of the West | Miss Hanratty | (episode "The Calico Kid Goes to School") |
| 1982 | Maid in America | Aunt Melissa | TV movie |
| 1983 | Svengali | Mrs. Burns-Rizzo | TV movie |
| 1982–1983 | Love, Sidney | Mrs. Gaffney | |
| 1984 | The Bostonians | Mrs. Tarrant | |
| 1984 | Amadeus | Frau Weber | |
| 1990 | Two Evil Eyes | Martha | (segment "The Black Cat") |
| 1986–1991 | American Playhouse | Jack's Mother / Old Lady / Blair Daniels | |
| 1993 | Romeo and Juliet | Nurse | TV movie |
| 1995–1996 | The Neverending Story | Urgl | Voice |