Barry K. Barnes
Barry K. Barnes (27 December 190612 January 1965) was an English film and stage actor. The son of Horatio Nelson Barnes and Anne Mackintosh Barnes, he was born and died in London. He appeared in sixteen films between 1936 and 1947. He played Sir Percy Blakeney in the 1937 film "Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel". His film career was cut short in 1947 due to an undiagnosable illness contracted during the war. He was married to actress Diana Churchill, and worked with his wife on stage during the 1940s and 1950s, taking West End revivals of "The  Admirable Crichton" and "On Approval" on profitable tours. Career. Barnes originally was going to be a mechanic but changed his mind and decided to be an actor. He trained at RADA and his first part was a role in "Paul the First" with Charles Laughton. He worked in repertory for a few years before receiving acclaim for his role in "The White Assegai". In 1930 he was in "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" at the Malvern Festival. He accepted an offer to tour Australia with Margaret Rawlings; on the way his ship caught fire in the Red Sea and he  spent six days on an island before being rescued. In Australia he performed "Barretts" among others. His other stage appearances included "The Late Christopher Bean" (1933), "Flowers of the Forest" (1934), "Coincidence" (1935) and "The Ascent of F6" (1936). Screen career. His first film was "Dodging the Dole" (1936). Barnes leapt to national fame when Alexander Korda signed him to play the title role in "Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel" (1937). He followed it with "Who Goes Next?" (1938) and the well-received "B" film "This Man Is News" (1938). He starred in "You're the Doctor" (1938), "The Ware  Case" (1938), and "Prison Without Bars" (1939) for Korda. Barnes did a sequel to "This Man Is News", "This Man in Paris" (1939). For the same director, David MacDonald, he did "Spies of the Air" (1939), "The Midas Touch" (1940) and "Law and Disorder" (1940). For Carol Reed he supported Margaret Lockwood in "The Girl in the News" (1940). He followed it with "Two for Danger" (1940). Barnes served during World War II. He returned to films with a support role in "Bedelia" (1946), starring Lockwood. He co starred with Richard Attenborough in "Dancing with Crime" (1947), then had a  small role in "Cup-tie Honeymoon" (1948). Barnes appeared in some productions for the BBC in the early 1950s including the TV series "Silk, Satin, Cotton, Rags" (1952). Barnes died 12 January 1965 (aged 58). Barnes also appeared on stage as Harry Trench in "Widowers' Houses" (George Bernard Shaw's first play); as Alexander Mill in "Candida" (another of Shaw's early works) and as Octavius Barrett in the Barretts of Wimpole Street (by Rudolph Besier) at the Malvern Festival between 18 and 30 August 1930 (Source: Malvern Festival Programme, 1930).