The actor was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy in his career (Picture: Getty/Rex)
Barry Newman, whose best-known roles including starring in the 1971 film Vanishing Point and the 1970s TV series Petrocelli, has died aged 92.
The late actor died on Thursday May 11 while being cared for at NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
In his career, which spanned all the way back to 1960, the actor was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe, with both nods being in recognition of his performances in Petrocelli in 1975 and 1976 respectively.
His cause of death was natural causes, his wife Angela told The Hollywood Reporter.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts on November 7 1930, Newman graduated with a degree in anthropology from Brandeis University in 1952 before being drafted into the army.
After being discharged, he was en route to studying for his masters in anthropology at Columbia University when a friend of his invited him to sit in on an acting class that he was doing with Lee Straberg, and that’s where his passion for acting was born.
Newman seen in the 1972 film Fear Is The Key (Picture: Klk Prods/Anglo-Emi/Paramount/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)
After appearing in theatrical productions including The Mousetrap, What Makes Sammy Run and Night Live, Newman starred in the TV series The Edge of Night, before bagging a role in the 1960 biographical film Pretty Boy Floyd, which told the tale of 1930s outlaw Charles Arthur ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd.
The actor gained wider attention for his performance in the 1970 release The Lawyer, a courtroom drama in which he starred as the lead Tony Petrocelli.
He reprised the role four years later in the TV series based around the character.
Newman gained wider recognition for his role as Petrocelli (Picture: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
However, the role for which he may have been best-known was for playing car delivery driver Kowalski in Vanishing Point, which came out in 1971.
The movie is considered a cult classic, and in 2014 was named the 70th top action film in a poll of critics, directors, actors and stunt performers conducted by Time Out.
Following his death, tributes have poured in for Newman, with his niece Judith Newman penning a message in his honour on Facebook.
‘My uncle Barry Newman died on May 11, but the announcements only came out today. Some of my earliest memories as a kid were walking around with him and feeling simultaneously proud and embarrassed that people would be stopping us,’ she wrote.
Despite his action-heavy movies, Newman was said to be a ‘very cautious driver’ (Picture: Klk Prods/Anglo-Emi/Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
‘We were profoundly different people, but he was such a smart and funny man. It amuses me now to think that he was famous for these insane driving movies…and in real life he was a very cautious driver. Which may be why I loved tooling around with him when I visited in LA, in his Porsche Boxster that was his one material indulgence.
‘He really lived like the modest nice Jewish boy from Boston that he was. RIP Uncle Barry.’
One fan wrote on Twitter: ‘Just learned that Barry Newman, Kowalski, died on May 11 at the age of 92.
‘One of the coolest underrated actors who starred in 2 grossly underrated car chase movies.’
Newman’s most recent role was in the 2015 film Raise Your Kids on Seltzer, having starred in the TV shows Ghost Whisperer and The Cleaner six years prior.
He is survived by his wife, niece and several nephews.
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The actor was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy in his career.
