Updated

Updated · Los Angeles Times · Oct 28

Barbara Barrie Dies at 95 via Medically Assisted Death After Terminal Cancer Diagnosis

Updated

Updated · Los Angeles Times · Oct 28

Barbara Barrie Dies at 95 via Medically Assisted Death After Terminal Cancer Diagnosis

Q: How did Barbara Barrie turn personal battles with cancer into books, and what does that reveal about her life beyond acting?

Barbara Barrie turned her cancer experience into memoir and advocacy. After surviving rectal cancer in the 1990s and living with a colostomy, she wrote *Second Act* (1997) and *Don’t Die of Embarrassment* (1999), drawing directly on the physical and emotional realities of diagnosis, treatment and recovery. Those books were not just personal reflections. Reports about her writing say Barrie wanted to reduce the stigma around colorectal cancer and encourage early detection. The title *Don’t Die of Embarrassment* itself underscored her message: shame and silence about symptoms could keep people from seeking lifesaving care. In speaking publicly, she also tried to normalize life after surgery, including the long-term realities of a colostomy. That reveals a life beyond acting marked by candor, resilience and public service. Barrie was not only an acclaimed stage and screen performer; she was also an author who used her own vulnerability to help others. Her response to illness suggests she saw storytelling as more than performance — it was a way to educate, comfort and push back against taboo. It also fits a broader picture of Barrie as a multifaceted creative figure. In addition to those cancer memoirs, she wrote children’s and young-adult books, showing that her work extended well beyond the roles that brought her Oscar, Emmy and Tony recognition.

3 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Oct 28

Barbara Barrie died Wednesday at 95 in her Manhattan home, with representatives confirming her death was medically assisted after a terminal cancer diagnosis.
New York's Medical Aid in Dying Act took effect on Aug. 5, and Barrie's representatives said she had been a proponent and advocate of the law.
Barrie built a career of more than 120 screen credits and decades on Broadway, earning an Oscar nomination for 1979's "Breaking Away" and a Tony nomination for Stephen Sondheim's "Company."
Her work stretched from 1950s television and Broadway to a final 2025 film credit, while her own 1994 rectal cancer diagnosis later led to books and public advocacy about the disease.