Barry Sullivan; Versatile TV, Movie Actor

Barry Sullivan, the rugged actor who played in “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial” on Broadway and starred in Steven Spielberg’s TV directorial debut, “Night Gallery,” died Monday night in Sherman Oaks, a family spokesman said. He was 81.

Sullivan had been suffering from a longtime respiratory ailment, family spokesman Warren Seabury said.

Born in New York City, Sullivan worked as a theater usher and department store buyer before making his Broadway debut in 1936.

He came to Hollywood in the early 1940s and acted in several theatrical releases, beginning in 1943 with “The Woman of the Town.”

After World War II, he played the defense attorney in “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial.”

He had the role of disgruntled husband Tom Buchanan in the 1949 version of “The Great Gatsby.”

Sullivan played a film director in 1953’s “The Bad and the Beautiful.”

Other Sullivan films included “The Gangster,” 1947; “The Outriders,” 1950; “Jeopardy,” 1954; Stagecoach to Hell,” 1964; “Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here,” 1969; “Earthquake,” 1974; and “Oh God,” 1977.

Sullivan also was active in television, starring in the series “Harbourmaster” from 1957 to 1958; “The Tall Man,” a Western that ran from 1960 to 1962, and “The Road West” in 1966 and 1967.

He played a fugitive war criminal in 1969’s “Night Gallery,” Steven Spielberg’s televised three-story anthology.

Sullivan is survived by two daughters, theatrical director Jenny Sullivan and Patsy Sullivan Webb, who is married to singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb; and a son, John Cornelius.