Ellen Semple Barry; Prominent Portrait Painter, Wife of Playwright

Ellen Semple Barry, 96, a nationally recognized portrait artist whose subjects ranged from Lady Bird Johnson to American poet-laureate Archibald MacLeish. Widow of playwright Philip Barry, who wrote more than 20 successful plays, among them “The Philadelphia Story” and “Hotel Universe.” The Barrys’ social circle included Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Her paintings hang in the National Portrait Gallery, the National Democratic Headquarters and in government buildings in Washington. Among her other subjects were Dean Acheson, William Paley, Vincent Astor, W. Averill Harriman and Picasso. In Los Angeles on Thursday.