Barry Livingston Explained

Barry Livingston
Birthname:Barry Gordon Livingston[1]
Birth Date:17 December 1953
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Spouse:Karen Huntsman (1983-present)
Children:2
Occupation:Actor

Barry Gordon Livingston (born December 17, 1953) is an American television and film actor, known for his role as Ernie Douglas on the television series My Three Sons (1963–72). He is the younger brother of actor/director Stanley Livingston, who played Ernie's older brother "Chip" on the show.

Life and career

Livingston was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Lillian Rochelle Palyash and Hilliard Livingston.[2] [3] [4]

He began his career as a child actor in the late 1950s. He considers his film debut a role he won as one of the sons of Paul Newman in the film Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958) with his older brother Stanley who, by this time, was already working as a child actor. He was let go from the film when he was told that he needed to get glasses to successfully correct his astigmatism. His first professional onscreen appearance was in a small, uncredited role in the 1961 film The Errand Boy, followed by roles as Barry, a neighborhood kid, in The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet; on The Dick Van Dyke Show; and as "Arnold Mooney", son of banker Theodore J. Mooney portrayed by Gale Gordon, on The Lucy Show.[5] In 1962, he appeared as one of the six children adopted by Debbie Reynolds in the film My Six Loves. In 1963, he joined the cast of the ABC sitcom My Three Sons as next door neighbor Ernie Thompson.

His older brother, Stanley Livingston, was already a series regular as Chip Douglas. After Tim Considine left the series two years later, Livingston joined the cast permanently (his character was adopted into the family, keeping the show's title intact) and remained with the series until its end in 1972. In 1964, at the age of ten, he appeared in the ABC medical drama about psychiatry, Breaking Point in the episode titled "A Land More Cruel".

After My Three Sons ended in 1972, Livingston landed roles in Room 222 and The Streets of San Francisco. He appeared on the stage as Linus in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, which he reprised when the musical was adapted for television in 1973. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he continued to work steadily in films, made-for-TV movies and episodic television including Police Woman, Sidewinder 1, Simon & Simon, and 1st & Ten. He also appeared throughout the country in stage plays, including Broadway and off-Broadway. In 1974 he appeared in Sons and Daughters, a short-lived CBS series.

In 2007, he appeared in Zodiac. He had a major role in the Hallmark Channel movie Final Approach. He has also appeared in You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), The Social Network (2010), Horrible Bosses (2011), and War Dogs (2016).

In October 2011, Barry Livingston released his anecdote-filled autobiography, The Importance of Being Ernie -- detailing his career from My Three Sons to Mad Men and beyond.[6] He most recently appeared on television in episodes of Mad Men, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men, and Anger Management. Barry Livingston is the only cast member of My Three Sons to still have an active Screen Actors Guild Card.

Select filmography

Film

Year TitleRole
1962My Six LovesSherman Smith
1972PeegeDamion
1977Sidewinder 1Willie Holt
1987Masters of the UniverseCharlie
1989Easy WheelsReporter
1992The Nutt HouseWilliams
1993Asst. Coroner
1997Invisible MomProfessor Karl Griffin
2000Little Man on CampusBarry
2001Dr. Andrew Merliss
2004First DaughterPress Secretary
2007ZodiacCopy Editor #3
2008You Don't Mess with the ZohanGray Kleibolt
2009Porky's Pimpin' Pee WeeUncle Howard
2010The Social NetworkMr. Cox
2011Doctor
2012ArgoDavid Marmor, CIA official
2014Jersey BoysAccountant
2016War DogsArmy Bureaucrat

Television

Year TitleRoleNotes
1962The Dick Van Dyke Show1 episode
1960-62The Adventures of Ozzie & HarrietBarry8 episodes
1963Sam Benedict1 episode
1964Breaking Point1 episode
1963-64The Lucy ShowArnold Mooney2 episodes
1966Vacation Playhouse1 episode
1969DragnetHorace Thornton1 episode; credited as "Michael Tanner"
1969Marcus Welby, M.D.Bobby1 episode; credited as "Michael Tanner"
1963-72My Three SonsErnie Thompson/DouglasRecurring roles
1973Room 2221 episode
1973Ironside1 episode
1973You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
1973Thicker Than Water1 episode
1973The Streets of San Francisco1 episode
1974The Elevator
1974Sons and Daughters
1974Police Woman1 episode
1975Lucas Tanner1 episode
1983High School U.S.A.
1984Simon & Simon1 episode
1984Hart to Hart1 episode
19851st & Ten1 episode
1990-92Doogie Howser, M.D.2 episodes
1994-953 episodes
1996Boston Common1 episode
1997The Nanny1 episode
1997Sliders1 episode
1998Ally McBeal1 episode
1998USA High1 episode
19981 episode
1999Soldier of Fortune, Inc.1 episode
1999The Hughleys1 episode
2000Judging Amy1 episode
2000Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane1 episode
2000The Huntress1 episode
2000Sabrina, the Teenage Witch1 episode
2001Boston Public1 episode
2001The West Wing1 episode
2001All About Us1 episode
2002Will & GraceEpisode: "Fagel Attraction"
2002Maybe It's Me1 episode
2002Roswell1 episode
2002Son of the Beach1 episode
2002American Dreams1 episode
2003The Guardian1 episode
2004She Spies1 episode
2004The Drew Carey Show1 episode
2004Wedding Daze
2004Strong Medicine1 episode
2006Crossing Jordan1 episode
2006Hallmark movies & mysteries/ Mystery Woman:Wild West1 episode
2006Rodney1 episode
2007Pandemic
2007Final Approach
2007Mad Men1 episode
2008Eli Stone1 episode
2008The New Adventures of Old Christine1 episode
2008Two and a Half Men1 episode
2009Everybody Hates Chris1 episode
2009Monk1 episode
2009NCIS1 episode
20121 episode
2012It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia1 episode
2014Anger Management3 episodes
2017The Middle1 episode
2017Angie Tribeca1 episode
2017The Orville1 episode
2018Bosch3 episodes
20221 episode

External links

Notes and References

  1. According to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. Searchable here
  2. News: A Chip off the old Block Ex-child star returns for a day. Rafael. Alvarez. The Baltimore Sun. October 21, 1992. January 14, 2020.
  3. Web site: Barry Gordon Livingston. Our Family Genealogy Pages. January 14, 2020.
  4. News: Diania Rose Palyash Granati. February 1, 2010. Beaver County Times. January 14, 2020.
  5. Web site: Lucy Gets Locked in the Vault. 21 October 1963. IMDb.
  6. Book: Livingston, Barry. The Importance of Being Ernie. Kensington Publisheing. October 25, 2011. 978-0806535258.