Donald Barry was the first actor to portray "Red Ryder," western artist Fred Harmon's famous cowboy hero from the comic strips. A native Texan, who all of his life was a movie fan, got his chance at an acting career by walking into a theater in Los Angeles and asking the stage manager for an opportunity. This led to a phone call a few days later in which Don was asked ‘‘Have you ever done anything?'' Don's answer to the stage manager's question was the truth. "Yes." The play was ‘Tobacco Road" starring Henry Hull as Jeter. Don played Dude. For six weeks Don received rave reviews. Donald Barry was contacted by a producer named George Sherman about a role in a John Wayne western — ‘‘The Wyoming Outlaw.' Don ‘Red' Barry made his last series-type western in 1951. At that time he had done 16 westerns for a man named Robert L. Lippert an independent studio. During this time Republic had more or less graduated into making bigger budget feature films. Roy Rogers and Rex Allen were the last of then, then called programmer, westerns for the studio. Don then began popping up as a character actor in all types of movies and television and he was at it steadily until his demise.
(Tom McIntyre)
