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Gig Young 1913 - 1978

Byron Ellsworth Barr of New York, New York County, New York United States was born on November 4, 1913 in St. Cloud, Sherburne County, MN, and died at age 64 years old on October 19, 1978 at New York Apartment. in New York, New York U.S.A.. Byron Barr was buried at Green Hill Cemetery (Waynesville, North Carolina) in Waynesville, Haywood County, North Carolina United States.

Byron Ellsworth Barr

Barr

New York, New York County, New York United States

November 4, 1913

St. Cloud, Sherburne County, Minnesota, United States

October 19, 1978

New York Apartment. in New York, New York, U.S.A.

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Gig Young Byron Barr (1913 - 1978)

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Byron Ellsworth Barr's History: 1913 - 1978

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Introduction

The Bizarre Death and Mysterious Burial of a Hollywood Oscar Winner Almost nobody remembers Gig Young now, but 41 years ago he was the toast of Hollywood. The Academy Awards for 1969 were presented on the evening of April 7, 1970, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. And the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor goes to … Gig Young for his performance as Rocky, the sleazy and manipulative promoter of a Depression-era dance marathon in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? It was a popular choice in Hollywood, where Gig Young had established himself over the previous 30 years as a charming, genial party guy who often played the role of a charming, genial lush onscreen — and on the Tonight Show couch as a frequent, amusing guest of Johnny Carson. Young had been nominated for Best Supporting Actor twice before, for 1951′s Come Fill The Cup and 1958′s Teacher’s Pet, but the 1969 win was the pinnacle of his career — and the beginning of the end. Actually the beginning of the end for Gig Young began with the birth of Byron Elsworth Barr in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on Nov. 4, 1913. For most of the next three decades, Gig Young was Byron Barr, a charming, genial kid and aspiring actor. According to most biographies, Byron was raised in Washington, D.C. (more about that later) before winning a scholarship at the end of high school to the famous Pasadena Community Playhouse in California, where he worked on his acting chops before being picked up as a contract bit player by Warner Bros. in the late 1930s. The young actor was still known as Byron Barr — and got the occasional screen credit under that name — until his breakout role in 1942′s The Gay Sisters, in which he played a character named … Gig Young. Warner Bros. decided “Gig Young” was a catchier name than “Byron Barr” (and — unbelievable as it may seem — there was another young supporting actor kicking around Hollywood at the time also named Byron Barr) so “Byron Barr” stopped being a charming, amiable second-string actor and “Gig Young” stopped being a movie character’s name. Gig Young, actor, then reverted to Byron Barr, pharmacist’s mate in the U.S. Coast Guard, for the duration of World War II. When the war ended and Byron Barr returned to civilian life, Warner Bros. dropped his contract. But Byron Barr decided to keep his Warner Bros. stage name and Gig Young quickly became a solid, busy Hollywood presence in movies like Wake of the Red Witch, The Three Musketeers and Only the Valiant. In the mid 1950s he was hosting the television series Warner Bros. Presents while keeping up his busy movie career and busier social life. By 1956 he was on to his third wife, Elizabeth Montgomery, daughter of famed Hollywood actor Robert Montgomery. Elizabeth Montgomery would go on to superstardom in the 1960s as Samantha Stephens, the nose-twitching hexess in TV’s Bewitched (1964-72). But first she had to dump Gig Young. Montgomery divorced him in 1963. The Gig Young party gig was starting to run low on steam, but there were still two more wives, a pretty good TV series called The Rogues and that 1969 Academy Award to go before the whole charming, amiable Gig Young persona blew apart in a million pieces. He married his fourth wife, Hollywood real estate agent Elaine Williams, shortly after the Montgomery divorce and daughter Jennifer — Byron Barr/Gig Young’s only child — came along in April 1964. Of course, Williams was divorcing Barr/Young within three years (physical-emotional abuse/alcoholism) and in the subsequent child support proceedings Barr/Young proclaimed that Jennifer was not his biological child and he was not responsible for her upkeep. The court ruled against him, but more about that later. So Gig Young staggered into the 1970s, clutching his Oscar, with a few more movie roles to come but far more trouble. The DTs didn’t deter Gig Young and he was still firmly on his downward spiral when he hooked up with director Sam Peckinpah (another guy on a downward spiral) to make a couple of ultra-violent, nihilistic movies — 1974′s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and 1975′s The Killer Elite. There were two more movies after that and one more marriage before Gig Young’s ignominious end. Not really a good mental and emotional place to be for his fifth marriage on Sept. 27, 1978, to Australian actress Kim Schmidt. I’m not sure why Kim Schmidt married him — maybe it was true love, maybe it was Oscar love, maybe it was just something to do — but it was a bad decision. Three weeks after the wedding Gig Young ended the marriage in their condo apartment, Suite 1BB of the Osborne Apartments on West 57th Street in New York City, on Oct. 19, 1978. He ended it by loading a Smith & Wesson .38-calibre revolver — one of many, many firearms he kept in the apartment — and putting one slug through his wife’s head and one slug through the roof of his mouth. Adding insult to felonious injury, his will left the bulk of his estate to his 1970s agent, Marty Baum of CAA, and $10 to his putative daughter, Jennifer Young. (How creepy is that, taking as your real last name the fictional name of a guy who had disowned you as his daughter?) In the end, it was up to Gig Young’s sister, Genevieve Barr Merry, to bury her brother. Which she did, in the Green Hill Cemetery in Waynesville, North Carolina. And that is where Gig Young’s story ends and mine begins. A couple of years ago, I took an extended road trip down the east coast of the U.S., partly to write travel stories, partly to heal wounds of a dissolved marriage and partly to feed an eccentric hobby of mine — visiting the graves of interesting dead people. I must admit that Gig Young didn’t meet the main criterion of my search for dead people — for the most past they were people I admired or, at least, could stand in awe of. People like Rod Serling, creator of the Twilight Zone (a simple stone on a rural hillside in the Finger Lakes district of upper New York); Mark Twain ( a grotesque monument in Elmira, N.Y., erected 30 years after his death by his daughter to jointly honour her dead Russian composer husband); Billie Burke, the actress who played the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz, alongside her previously deceased/bankrupt husband Flo Ziegfield of Ziegfield Follies fame (simple graves on a hilltop outside New York City shaded by a huge statue Burke erected in honour of her mother). People like that. But my ultimate destination was North Carolina, the place of my birth and the place where I had scattered my father’s ashes over his parents’ graves the better part of a decade earlier. I was doing some travel writing/gathering up in North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains first and that was where I stumbled across the fact that Gig Young was buried in Waynesville. That was also when I became aware that Young — an actor I was very familiar with from my childhood — had died in a bizarre murder-suicide. And I couldn’t figure out what he was doing buried in a small mountain town in North Carolina , far away from Hollywood and New York City and even Washington, D.C., where he supposedly grew up. So driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway chasing 19th Century inns, steam locomotives and a moonshiner named Popcorn Sutton, I stopped off at the Green Hill Cemetery on a hot, sunny June afternoon to look up Gig Young. And under the Barr monument there were five gravestones: John E. Barr 1877-1975 Emma C. Barr 1879-1944 Donald E. Barr 1906-1949 Floyd H. Barr 1883-1969 Byron E. Barr 1913-1978 So there was Gig Young, buried with his family under a modest stone. Fred told me John and Emma were Gig/Byron’s parents, Donald was his older brother and Floyd was his uncle. So that’s why Gig Young is buried in Waynesville, N.C. At the end of his sad, broken life, his sister took him home to be buried with his family in the little mountain town where he spent his childhood. Except for the daughter, Jennifer. Even though her father had denied her and spurned her in his will, Jennifer Young grew up in Hollywood claiming some reflected glory from her famous/infamous father/non-father. 1. Jennifer was BFF and former roommate of Beverly Hills madam Heidi Fleiss, although Jennifer denied persistent accusations that she 2. In the mid-1990s, Jennifer launched a highly publicized campaign to get possession of her father’s Best Supporting Actor Oscar from agent Marty Baum, who had claimed it in a round-about way under the terms of Gig Young’s will. In a tripartite agreement involving Baum, Jennifer Young and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (legal owners of the statue), Baum agreed to turn over the Oscar to Jennifer on his death.Well, Marty Baum died in November 2010. Jennifer Young got the Oscar in December and the Academy says she can keep it for 48 weeks of every year until she dies. That’s about as close to a happy ending as this story can get.
11/4

1913

Birthday

November 4, 1913

Birthdate

St. Cloud, Sherburne County, Minnesota United States

Birthplace

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Ethnicity & Family History

Gig Young was born Byron Barr to parents John and Emma Barr in Minnesota, and raised in Washington, DC. His father was a chef for a St. Cloud reformatory in Minnesota, and also had his own home canning business.
Early Life & Education

He developed a passion for theater while appearing in high school plays in Washington DC. Attended McKinley High School in Washington D.C. Earned a scholarship at the Pasadena Playhouse and worked as a garage mechanic and parking lot attendant on the side. After gaining some amateur experience, he applied for and received a scholarship to the acclaimed Southern California's Pasadena Community Playhouse. While acting in "Pancho", a south-of-the-border play by Lowell Barrington, he was spotted by a Warner Brothers talent scout, leading to his signing contracts with the studio.
Military Service

Young took a hiatus from his movie career and enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in 1941 where he served as a pharmacist's mate in the US Coast Guard for three years until the end of World War II.
Professional Career

Gig Young Biography Born November 4, 1913 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA Died October 19, 1978 in New York City, New York, USA (suicide) Birth Name Byron Ellsworth Barr Height 6' 1" (1.85 m) Gig Young was born Byron Barr to parents John and Emma Barr in Minnesota, and raised in Washington, DC, where he developed a passion for theatre while appearing in high school plays. After gaining some amateur experience, he applied for and received a scholarship to the acclaimed Southern California's Pasadena Community Playhouse. While acting in "Pancho", a south-of-the-border play by Lowell Barrington, he was spotted by a Warner Brothers talent scout, leading to his signing contracts with the studio. Still acting under his given name, Byron Barr, he played bits and extra roles. He experimented with varying screen names because there was already another actor with the same name (see Byron Barr). In 1942, in the picture The Gay Sisters (1942), he was given the role of a character whose name was Gig Young, which he liked well enough to finally adopt it as his permanent stage name. His intermittent roles and, therefore, income, required Young to supplement his income working at a gas station, but success in The Gay Sisters (1942) eventually allowed him the freedom to become a full-time actor. Although service in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II interrupted his ascension, after discharge he quickly established himself as a reliable light leading man, usually the second male lead to stars who were established box office draws. A dramatic part in Come Fill the Cup (1951) resulted in his being nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar; a second Supporting Actor nomination followed seven years later for his comedic performance in Teacher's Pet (1958). A prolific television career later complemented his film work. In 1969, his surprisingly seedy portrayal of a dance-marathon emcee in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) finally brought him that Supporting Actor Oscar. A succession of marriages, including one to actress Elizabeth Montgomery, failed. In 1978, only three weeks after marrying German actress Kim Schmidt, Young apparently shot her to death in their New York City apartment and then turned the gun on himself. The precise motivation for the sad and grisly murder-suicide remains unclear. Young was not quite 65, his bride, 31. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver Family (3) Spouse Kim Schmidt (27 September 1978 - 19 October 1978) (her death) Elaine Young (18 September 1963 - 23 November 1966) (divorced) (1 child) Elizabeth Montgomery (28 December 1956 - January 1963) (divorced) Sophie Rosenstein (29 December 1950 - 11 November 1952) (her death) Sheila Stapler (2 August 1940 - 18 August 1949) (divorced) Children Jennifer Young Parents John Barr Emma Barr Trivia (22) Daughter, Jennifer Young, was born in 1964. Adopted the name Gig Young verbatim from that of the character he portrayed in The Gay Sisters (1942). Cast in Blazing Saddles (1974) as the Waco Kid. Replaced by Mel Brooks with Gene Wilder shortly after filming began because the alcoholic Young was suffering from delirium tremens on the set. Dreaming of a comeback on Broadway, Young had recently appeared in a Canadian tour of the play "Nobody Loves an Albatross" by Ronald Alexander before his October 19, 1978 suicide. Young is considered the ultimate victim of the Oscar curse, so-called because many Academy Award winners have seen their careers decline or reach a dead-end after winning the ultimate accolade from their peers. According to his fourth wife Elaine Young, "What he was aching for, as he walked up to collect his Oscar, was a role in his own movie, one that they could finally call a Gig Young movie." Young was shattered when that opportunity did not materialize. "For Gig, the Oscar was literally the kiss of death, the end of the line", according to Elaine. His will, which covered a $200,000 estate, left his Academy Award to his agent, Martin Baum, and Baum's wife. The wording of the will called it "the Oscar that I won because of Martin's help". New York City police found the statuette beside the bodies of Young and his wife. "Gig knew real pain" - his agent, Martin Baum, speaking at his memorial service. Portrayed by Steve Hughes in James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997). Was originally cast as the voice of Charles Townsend for the TV Series Charlie's Angels (1976), but was too drunk to record his lines and was replaced at the last minute by John Forsythe. Once romantically involved with fellow alcoholic Elaine Stritch. Their destructive relationship is poignantly discussed in Elaine's Tony-winning one-woman show Elaine Stritch at Liberty (2002). He met actress Elizabeth Montgomery shortly after their aborted engagement. His father was a chef for a St. Cloud reformatory in Minnesota, and also had his own home canning business. Attended McKinley High School in Washington D.C. Earned a scholarship at the Pasadena Playhouse and worked as a garage mechanic and parking lot attendant on the side. His film career was interrupted by WWII duty with the Coast Guard, serving in the Pacific for three years. After not renewing his Warners Bros. contract in 1948, he subsequently signed with Columbia but was unhappy with their unfulfilled promises, and kept rejecting roles until he wore out his welcome there. While it was common knowledge that Gig had an alcohol problem, some of his best roles were as heavy drinkers, such as in Come Fill the Cup (1951), They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and as Ray Whitehead on the TV series Gibbsville (1976). First wife, Sheila Stapler, was an actress. His second wife, Sophia Rosenstein, was a drama coach he met while she was working at Warner Brothers and who died a little over a year later from cancer. Divorced also from actress Elizabeth Montgomery before her Bewitched (1964) fame. He had his only child, Jennifer Young, (born in 1964), from his fourth marriage to Elaine Young, a Realtor and sometime performer. When Gig's former agent, Martin Baum, became the president of ABC Pictures, he insisted that Gig play Rocky, the seamy dance marathon emcee, in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969). The backers of the movie, as well as Jane Fonda, the film's star, were initially shocked and furious because Gig was known for his comedy forte and that he had severe personal problems. Red Buttons, another co-star, was also given the same boost and the two actors relied upon each other for solace. Young and Buttons were brilliant and Young won the Oscar. Baum also helped get Gig sizable roles in Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). Ex-son-in-law of David S. Garber. Gig Young, in the "Studio One in Hollywood" production of "A Dead Ringer" (aired 10 March 1958), when arrested for killing his spouse, delivers the final line: "Do I look like a man that would murder his own wife?" On 19 October 1978, Gig Young did just that in life, shooting and killing Kim Schmidt, his bride of twenty-two days before turning the weapon on himself. A further note of dark irony is their meeting during the filming of "Game of Death," on which Ms. Schmidt was script supervisor. Moreover, Mr. Young's career must ever be concluded with the foreboding title, "Game of Death.". Co-starred with Doris Day in 4 films: Young at Heart (1954), Teacher's Pet (1958), The Tunnel of Love (1958), and That Touch of Mink (1962). Ex-son-in-law of Robert Montgomery. Personal Quotes (6) My specialties are corpses, unconscious people and people snoring in spectacular epics. [To Louella Parsons, after receiving his first Academy Award nomination for Come Fill the Cup (1951)]: So many people who have been nominated for an Oscar have had bad luck afterwards. [on his role as the dance-marathon barker in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)]: (The role was) a lifeline for a drowning man, a last chance to show (my) talent as a serious actor. [summing up his professional career] 30 years and 55 pictures - not more than five that were any good, or any good for me. I've picked the best from the lousy parts they offered me. Comedy is harder to do than drama, since comedy roles involve the offbeat, not merely the basic emotions. I like to play both comedy and drama. Acting is the exaggeration of life, and if you can blow it up and still make it look real, the better your performance. Any actor who loves what he is doing can't take his mind off it.
10/19

1978

Death

October 19, 1978

Death date

Suicide.

Cause of death

New York Apartment. in New York, New York U.S.A.
Death location

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Gravesite & Burial

mm/dd/yyyy
Funeral date
Green Hill Cemetery (Waynesville, North Carolina) in Waynesville, Haywood County, North Carolina 28786, United States
Burial location
Obituary

Gig Young Gig Young Famous memorial Original Name Byron Elsworth Barr Birth 4 Nov 1913 Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minnesota, USA Death 19 Oct 1978 (aged 64) Manhattan, New York County (Manhattan), New York, USA Burial Green Hill Cemetery Waynesville, Haywood County, North Carolina, USA Show Map Plot Family grave site Memorial ID 6120 · View Source Memorial Photos 5 Flowers 944 Actor. He took the name "Gig Young" from the character he played in "The Gay Sisters." His films include "Game of Death," "Young at Heart," "The Hindenburg," "The Elite Killer," and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They." His work on television includes "The Rogues." He shot and killed his fifth wife, German actress Kim Schmidt, after 3 weeks of marriage, then committed suicide. Inscription Byron e. Barr Nov. 4, 1913 Oct. 19, 1978 Family Members Parents John E. Barr 1877–1975 Emma Clements Dingman Barr 1879–1944 Spouses Sophie Rosenstein Young 1907–1952 (m. 1950) Elizabeth Montgomery 1933–1995 (m. 1956) Barbara Elaine Garber Young 1935–2006 (m. 1963) Ruth Hannalore Schmidt Young 1947–1978 (m. 1978) Siblings Donald Earl Barr 1906–1949 Genevieve Susan Barr Merry 1911–2015

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Gig Young lived 9 years shorter than the average family member when died at the age of 64.

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8 Memories, Stories & Photos about Byron

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.7k+ favorites

11/20/2022

Gig Young in color.

A fan posted this photo. Looks gorgeous.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.7k+ favorites

11/20/2022

While I was shopping . . .

I had met Gig Young several times because he was invited to retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in NYC. These retrospectives of films were curated by Raymond Rohauer (see tribute) and since my boyfriend Silas Seadler (see tribute) was with M.G.M. for many years, we were there too.

I was in the tie section of the mens store and Gig Young said Hello.
"I'm shopping for ties for Si Seadler."
Gig lowered his head and looked genuinely crestfallen.
"I wish I had someone shopping for me."
I smiled but didn't continue the conversation because I am teetotaler.
Anyone who dated me had to give up drinking anything more than ONE glass of wine or champagne.
I knew Gig Young was an alcoholic and I wouldn't date or have dinner with drinkers. This made me truly endearing to ex-alcoholics who loved my policy.
I had never begun drinking because I made up my mind at age 18 that I would not spend my life bent over toilets!

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.7k+ favorites

08/29/2017

Gig Young

A photo of Gig Young

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.7k+ favorites

10/31/2018

Joan Crawford and Gig Young.

A photo of Joan Crawford and the handsome Gig Young.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.7k+ favorites

10/31/2018

I met Gig Young while shopping for men's clothing for my boyfriend and Gig said, "I wish I had someone to take care of me." But he was a drinker, and murdered his next wife and killed himself. Everybody who knew him said it was not a murder -suicide.

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