- Was in Charleston, South Carolina, making the TV mini-series Scarlett (1994) when she became dizzy and passed out. Taken to a nearby hospital, they did a sigmoidoscopy of the lower colon the following day and discovered that she had rectal cancer. She was treated successfully surgically. She wrote "Second Act" in 1997, a frank and irreverently humorous book chronicling her 30-year experience first with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and her cancer battle.
- She created Tomato Lightning, a spicy chutney available in gourmet food stores.
- Long married to Jay Malcolm Harnick, founder and longtime artistic director of TheatreworksUSA, the nation's largest company for young audiences and a training ground for some of the more noted names in entertainment, including F. Murray Abraham, for almost 40 years. Jay Harnick was the brother of Sheldon Harnick. Jay and Barbara's children are Jane Harnick and Aaron Harnick. During his tenure, Harnick's company performed for 50,000,000 children and earned Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel awards, the only children's theatre to do so. Jay Harnick retired in 2000 and died on February 27, 2007.
- She is the author of two critically acclaimed novels for young adults: "Lone Star" (1989) and "Adam Zigzag" (1995).
- Received a 1971 Tony nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Stephen Sondheim's "Company," and is also featured on the landmark documentary by D.A. Pennebaker on the making of the show's cast album.
- Was replaced in the role of Yente during previews of "Fiddler on the Roof" (2004) starring Alfred Molina. The production's casting was vilified in the Los Angeles Times as "ethnic cleansing". The revival, however, did quite well on Broadway and ran for nearly two years.
- Born in Chicago and raised in Texas, Barrie graduated from Corpus Christi Senior High School. In 1952, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
- Although she was second billed and listed as a series regular for parts of three seasons on Barney Miller (1975), of the 37 episodes where she received on screen credit, she actually appeared in only 12 episodes, and received "credit only" in 25 other episodes. Although she was mentioned, as Barney Miller's wife, Elizabeth Miller, or Liz, after 1978, she never again appeared on the series for the rest of its run, through series end in 1982.
- She frequently took roles as plain Janes, shrinking violets, maiden aunts, wallflowers and bespectacled librarian types.
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