Tall .
Son of Bud Bostwick.
7/97: He underwent surgery for prostate cancer. The surgery was successful.
Children: Brian (May, 1995) and Chelsea (October, 1996)
Won Broadways 1977 Tony Award for Best Actor for "The Robber Bridegroom." Was also nominated in the same category in 1972 for "Grease" and in 1976 as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) for "They Knew What They Wanted."
Best remembered for The Rocky Horror Picture Show .
MFA in Acting - New York University, Tisch School of the Arts.
His older brother, Peter, died in an automobile accident in 1973 at the age of 32.
His companion for a number of years (1980-1984) was actress Lisa Hartman.
Father Henry Bostwick Jr. joined Screen Actors Guild at age 79. He later died of a cerebral hemorrhage and cardiac arrest on December 7, 1999 at age 86.
Appeared in a New York rock musical called "Salvation" in 1969.
Bostwick served as host of the nationally televised annual Capitol Fourth celebration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for eight years.
(May 2005) Starred as a serial killer suspect in an episode of "Cold Case" . Central to the episodes plot was a viewing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show - which was one of his first successes (and most famous films).
Plays "The Voice" in ads for Cablevisions "Optimum Voice" phone service.
Barry Bostwick was mentored by the Tony Award-winning actor-director Ellis Rabb when Barry was a young actor in New York in the late 60s with the APA-Phoenix Repertory Company. "Ellis was a wonderful man," said Bostwick, who made his Broadway debut with the APA-Phoenix Repertory Company in 1969 in Sean OCaseys "Cock-a-Doodle Dandy." "Ellis even paid for my first crowns because my teeth werent very good," Bostwick said. "He would take me around to Leonard Bernsteins apartment, and we would sit there and have a drink and some of the greats would come in and sort of chat. I was the fly on the wall. I was so fortunate." Though nearly 20 years younger than Bostwick, Michael J. Fox was also mentor to him on the award-winning 1996-2002 ABC comedy series "Spin City," in which he played the dimwitted New York City mayor to Foxs deputy mayor. Fox, he said, showed him the sit-com ropes. "He was very smart about that genre of comedy," said Bostwick. "I would watch him work and watch him suss out what the problems were. He was so smart about what worked and what didnt work.".
Bostwick, who frequently attends Comic-Con-style conventions because of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," was excited about the films big 40th-anniversary New York City convention held in September, 2015. The musical, which also starred Susan Sarandon and Tim Curry, has saved a lot of lives, Bostwick noted, because people found a community going to the midnight screenings. "People found who they were through that movie. I cant tell you the number of people who come up to me and say it was one of the most meaningful if not the most meaningful moments in their lives when they first saw that movie and were part of the audience".
Barry Bostwick always got the appeal of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." His family less so. "My wife has never gotten it," he noted. "My kids werent quite so happy with it." But the cult midnight movie musical celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2015 was the perfect fit for Bostwicks quirky sensibilities. "I was a New York actor who did a lot of off-Broadway and weird things," said Bostwick, who originated the role of Danny Zuko on Broadway in 1972 in "Grease" and won a Tony in 1977 for the musical "The Robber Bridegroom." Being a fan of the "theater of ridiculous-minded" also helped, he said. "Even though I was playing a very straight character - Brad Majors - who was the epitome of the young Republican and 50s male, I was the opposite of that," he explained. "Thats why I could play it and understand it. I had a real love for all of those sort of iconic characters, and I loved the tongue-in-cheek aspect of it." Four decades later, the fit and funny 70-year-old Bostwick is taking on offbeat roles. In 2012, he starred in the slapstick indie comedy "FDR: American Badass!," in which he battled pesky werewolves who carried the polio virus. He finished the independent comedy "Helen Keller vs. Night-wolves," in which he plays the romantic lead. "I play someone much younger than myself and I have too much eye makeup on," he said with a twinkle of his blue eyes. Bostwick appeared in a Web series, "Inside the Extras Studio," in which he spoofs James Lipton, the host of "Inside the Actors Studio." "Its all about me interviewing some of the famous extras, said Bostwick. "I run a school to teach them to be extras." Bostwick plays a much more traditional character in his project, the romantic comedy "Love Under The Stars," on the Sunday evening cable series Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. Ashley Newbrough plays Becca, a young graduate student who is mentored by Walt (Bostwick), her sweet and concerned college adviser. Though Bostwicks played his share of bad guys, including Fitzs horrible father who rapes Mellie on ABCs "Scandal," he loves playing someone like Walt. "I like playing the mentoring, kind, supportive yet attractive male," he said. "It goes all the way back to when I did the Judith Krantz miniseries Scruples with Lindsay Wagner. I did a number of Judith Krantz things. She always used to cast me because I seem to have a respect for women and her pieces always had that guy who was just a really nice guy and supportive. In a way this character sort of goes full circle." Bostwick was also a mentor on set. "He was encouraging and really looked out for me as well," said Ashley Newbrough. "He notices small things that make a difference when you are an actor. After an emotional scene, he was the first one to make me laugh and help me shake it off. Barry is unaware of his enormous presence and what he gives as an actor".
He was awarded the 1977 Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award for Best Actor in a Musical for "The Robber Bridegroom" on Broadway in New York City.
