Barry Primus

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American film director and actor (born 1938)

title: "Barry Primus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1938-births", "living-people", "film-directors-from-new-york-city", "american-male-television-actors", "male-actors-from-new-york-city"] description: "American film director and actor (born 1938)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Primus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American film director and actor (born 1938) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameBarry Primus
birth_date
birth_placeNew York City, New York, U.S.
educationBennington College
occupation{{flatlist
years_active1963–present
spouseJulie Arenal
::

|name = Barry Primus |image = |caption = |birth_date = |birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. |education = Bennington College |occupation = {{flatlist|

  • Actor
  • director
  • writer}} |years_active = 1963–present |spouse = Julie Arenal Barry Primus (born February 16, 1938) is an American television and film actor, director, and writer.

Career

While Primus is primarily an actor, he has also worked as a writer and director in films in which he has acted. For the first decade of his career, he was employed as a stage actor. He gained some experience on TV in shows like The Defenders, East Side/West Side and The Virginian.

He then made his initial film appearance in the Manhattan-filmed The Brotherhood (1968). His other films include Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me (film) (1971) Boxcar Bertha (1972), Autopsy (1975), Heartland (1979), The Rose (1979), Night Games (1980), Absence of Malice (1981), and Guilty by Suspicion (1991). He had a recurring role on the TV series Cagney and Lacey (1982 — 1988) as Christine Cagney (Sharon Gless)'s boyfriend, Sergeant Dory McKenna, whose drug problem compromises his performance as a fellow police officer.

After working as second unit director on Mark Rydell's The Rose (1979), Primus increased his behind-the-camera activities; in 1992, he directed his first theatrical feature, the "inside" Hollywood comedy/drama Mistress.

A member of the Actors Studio, Primus has taught acting and directing classes at the American Film Institute, Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, the UCLA campus, and at The Maine Media Workshops in Maine. He has taught acting at Loyola Marymount University and at Columbia University.

Primus's recent film work includes Jackson, a film directed by J.F. Lawton; he had a cameo in Righteous Kill with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, American Hustle, Grudge Match, and The Irishman.

Personal life

Primus has been married to choreographer Julie Arenal for over 50 years.

Filmography

Film

Television

::data[format=table title="{{Screen reader-only| Barry Primus television credits}}"]

YearTitleRoleNotes
1977The Streets of San FranciscoInspector Dave Lambert1 Episode
1981Les Uns et les AutresTV miniseries
1986The EqualizerWalter WesleyEpisode: "Out of the Past"
Murder, She WroteDet. Sgt. Len BergerEpisode: "Menace, Anyone?"
1993Law & OrderGary SilverEpisode: "Extended Family"
The X-FilesRobert Dorlund1 episode
1998The PracticePorn Film Director Goodwin1 episode
1999Black and WhitePriestTV movie
2001James DeanNicholas RayTV movie
2007Boston LegalProfessor Jeffrey BenoitEpisode: "The Object of My Affection"
2011The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur BanksGeorge Epstein3 Episodes
::

References

References

  1. (2014). "Barry Primus biography". [[The New York Times]].
  2. Garfield, David. (1980). "A Player's Place: The Story of the Actors Studio". MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc..
  3. "Maine Media |".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1938-birthsliving-peoplefilm-directors-from-new-york-cityamerican-male-television-actorsmale-actors-from-new-york-city