A Hollywood legend has ended her life with medical assistance at the age of 95, after a battle with terminal cancer. Oscar nominee Barbara Barrie was best known for starring in Breaking Away, along with roles in Disney’s Hercules, TV series Pushing Daisies and Law & Order.
Her daughter Jane Harnick confirmed her mother passed away at her home in Manhattan after her terminal diagnosis, but throughout her life Barbara had been relatively quiet about her health, other than disclosing a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2014.
Barbara was also diagnosed with rectal cancer in 1994, after learning the disease ran in her family. She underwent surgery to get a permanent stoma, telling the press at the time: “It’s not the end of the world. What I’m trying to tell people is that you can have this thing and survive it.
“I work out, I go to the gym, we make love, we go bicycling in Europe every year.”
As well as her acting roles, Barbara was the author of four books, including two non-fiction books about life after cancer and undergoing a colostomy.
Barbara tied the knot with Broadway producer Jay Harnick in 1964, and the pair welcomed two children – daughter Jane and son Aaron. Jay sadly died in 2007, almost two decades before his wife.
Barbara is also survived by three granddaughters.
She was nominated for a Tony Award when she appeared in the Broadway production of Company in 1970, and won the Best Actress award at Cannes Film Festival for her role inn 1964 film One
Potato, Two Potato. Her role as Evelyn in 1979’s Breaking Away scored her an Oscar nomination. – express.
