{{short description|American producer, director, and bridge player}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Barry Crane | image = | imagesize = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Barry Cohen | birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|11|10}} | birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1985|7|5|1927|11|10}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.<ref name=CADI/> | othername = | occupation = Television director<br>Television producer | years_active = 1957–1985 | spouse = Mrs. Crane | domesticpartner = | website = }} '''Barry Crane''' (born '''Barry Cohen'''; November 10, 1927 – July 5, 1985<ref name="CADI">State of California (CA Death Index). [http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/caldeaths?c=search&first=Barry+J&last=Crane&spelling=Exact&5_year=1927&5_month=11&5_day=10&6_year=1985&6_month=7&6_day=5&4=Male&7=Michigan&8=Los+Angeles&SubmitSearch.x=59&SubmitSearch.y=24&SubmitSearch=Submit Family Tree Legends]. Retrieved May 20, 2009.</ref>) was a prolific television producer and director, and a bridge player who, at the time of his death had "won more titles than anyone else in the history of the game".<ref name="truscott"/> According to the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL), he was "widely recognized as the top {{gcb|matchpoint}} player of all time"<ref name=ACBLhof>[http://web5.acbl.org/about-acbl/hall-of-fame/members/crane-barry "Crane, Barry"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308091553/http://web5.acbl.org/about-acbl/hall-of-fame/members/crane-barry |date=March 8, 2016 }}. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. <!--1995 revised no later than 2011--> Retrieved 2014-12-23.</ref> —the tournament format commonly played in private clubs. In 1985 Crane was murdered, a crime that was solved in 2021.
==Early life== Barry Cohen was born 1927 in Detroit, Michigan,<ref name="CADI"/> and was later sometimes credited under his birth name.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.acbl.org/acbl-bridge-beat-24-barry-cohen-wins-mckenney-trophy-with-over-600-masterpoints/|title=ACBL Bridge Beat #24 – Barry Cohen Wins [1952] McKenney Trophy...|newspaper=American Contract Bridge League |date=February 24, 2012 |access-date=Feb 12, 2022}}</ref> In the mid-1950s he moved to Hollywood and changed his name for professional reasons.<ref name=truscott/> He produced ''The Magician'', and was an associate producer on several episodes of ''Mission: Impossible''. He was credited with directing numerous episodes of such series as ''Trapper John, M.D.'', ''The Incredible Hulk'', ''Hawaii Five-O'', ''CHiPs'', ''Dallas'', ''Wonder Woman'', ''Mission: Impossible'', and ''Mannix''.
==Bridge competition== Crane, who won 15 North American championships,<ref name=NABC/> was an ACBL Grand Life Master and traveled extensively to play in matchpoint pairs tournaments. In World Bridge Federation (WBF) competition he and Kerri Sanborn won the fourth quadrennial World Mixed Pairs Championship in 1978. In North America he also played in {{gcb|team|teams-of-four}} tournaments (where the strategy is subtly different from matchpoint play) and won numerous regional titles. His teams reached the Vanderbilt final in 1951 and 1985, his first and last high finishes in North America-level events.<ref name=NABC/>
During his lifetime, Crane accumulated 35,135.80 masterpoints (awarded by the ACBL for success in tournament play), more than any other player. Second-placed Paul Soloway was approximately 11,000 behind at Crane's death in 1985<ref name=ACBLhof/> and passed him only in 1991. In honor and as a memorial to Crane, the ACBL renamed the award given to the player who accumulates the most masterpoints in a single year to the ''Barry Crane Trophy'', and the list of high masterpoint attainers to the ''Barry Crane Top 500''.<ref>In November 1985, the ACBL passed a memorial resolution renaming the trophy in the form of an amendment to ACBL Policies: {{Cite web |url=http://web2.acbl.org/codification/CHAPTER%201-%20Section%20B.pdf |title=ACBL Codification Part 2 - Bridge Operations; Chapter I - Membership Operating Guidelines; B.Rankings, Masterpoints and Races; Section 3.1.1 – Barry Crane Top 500 |access-date=February 1, 2007 |archive-date=September 26, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235857/http://web2.acbl.org/codification/CHAPTER%201-%20Section%20B.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }} Retrieved and Deciphered 2022-02-12. Full section at: https://web2.acbl.org/codification/CHAPTER1B.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215000333/https://web2.acbl.org/codification/CHAPTER1B.pdf |date=December 15, 2021 }}.</ref> Crane was elected to the ACBL Hall of Fame in 1995.<ref name=HOFby/>
== Murder ==
Crane was murdered on July 5, 1985, a homicide that went unsolved for 34 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.morganton.com/news/breaking-rutherford-college-man-charged-in--year-old-murder/article_87480c20-72ab-11e9-994a-03e16bde63ba.html|title=BREAKING: Rutherford College man charged in 34-year-old murder case|first=Chrissy Murphy-staff|last=writer|website=Morganton.com - The News Herald|date=May 9, 2019 |access-date=May 12, 2019}}</ref> His body was "found bludgeoned shortly before 3 P.M. in the garage of his luxury town home in Studio City", apparently dragged to the garage from his apartment, according to the police.<ref name=truscott/> That week he had been playing daily in the annual Pasadena regional knockout teams bridge tournament; his team won the Saturday final with Kerri Shuman, one of Crane's favorite partners, as his replacement.<ref name=truscott/>
The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System led to a suspect in Crane's murder being taken into custody on May 9, 2019, based on fingerprint and DNA evidence linking him to the crime; additionally, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the suspect confessed to murdering Crane during an interview with LAPD detectives on March 8, 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nation-and-world/suspect-arrested-in-1985-killing-of-hollywood-tv-director-1660225/|title=Suspect arrested in 1985 killing of Hollywood TV director|date=May 10, 2019|website=reviewjournal.com|access-date=May 12, 2019}}</ref><ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/barry-crane-hollywood-murder-mystery-edwin-hiatt-arrested-in-tv-directors-1985-cold-case-killing/ Hollywood murder mystery: Arrest made in TV director's 1985 killing ], CBS News, May 10, 2019</ref>
Edwin Jerry Hiatt pled guilty on October 7, 2021 to voluntary manslaughter of Crane. Hiatt was sentenced to 12 years in state prison.<ref>[https://deadline.com/2021/10/killing-barry-crane-tv-director-suspect-guilty-1234852190/ Suspect In TV Director Barry Crane’s Killing Pleads Guilty To Lesser Charge After Cold Case DNA Analysis], deadline.com, October 7, 2021</ref>
==Bridge accomplishments==
===Honors=== * ACBL Hall of Fame, 1995<ref name=HOFby>[http://www.acbl.org/about-acbl/hall-of-fame/induction-by-year "Induction by Year"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205191454/http://www.acbl.org/about-acbl/hall-of-fame/induction-by-year/ |date=December 5, 2014 }}. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-11-14. <!-- Reliable source, mentioning awards criterion including a list award holders --></ref>
===Awards=== * McKenney Trophy 1952, 1967, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1978 * Mott-Smith Trophy 1970, 1971 * Oeschger Trophy 1961, 1962, 1963, 1967 * Stoddard Memorial Trophy 1980 * IBPA Award (Personality of the Year) 1985
===Wins=== * World Mixed Pairs (1) 1978 * North American Bridge Championships (15)<ref name=NABC> [https://web3.acbl.org/nabcwinnersbyname?name=Barry+Crane "Barry Crane"]. ''NABC Winners – by Name''. ACBL. Retrieved December 23, 2014.</ref> ** North American Swiss Teams (1) 1978 ** North American Men's Swiss Teams (1) 1983 ** Master Mixed Teams (1) 1980 ** West Coast Master Mixed Teams (2) 1953, 1954 ** Open Pairs (7) 1964, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1983 ** Men's Pairs (1) 1966 ** Rockwell Mixed Pairs (2) 1975, 1982
===Runners-up=== * North American Bridge Championships (11) ** Vanderbilt (2) 1951, 1985 ** Men's Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1956, 1971 ** Master Mixed Teams (1) 1969 ** Open Pairs (2) 1976, 1984 ** Rockwell Mixed Pairs (3) 1971, 1974, 1977 ** Hilliard Mixed Pairs (1) 1955
==References== {{reflist |25em |refs=
<ref name=truscott>"Barry Crane Barry Crane, Bridge Expert, Found Slain in Los Angeles". Alan Truscott. ''The New York Times''. July 7, 1985. Page 18. Quote: "found slain Friday".</ref>
}}
==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} * {{IMDb name|0186305|Barry Crane}} * {{ACBLhof|crane-barry}} * {{WBFpeople}} *{{Find a Grave|9029}} <!-- * {{LCAuth|no2010076828|Barry Crane||}} 2014-11-14, no works in catalog; no biog data except from us -->
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Barry}} Category:1927 births Category:1985 deaths Category:American contract bridge players Category:American television directors Category:Television producers from California Category:American murder victims Category:Businesspeople from Detroit Category:People murdered in California Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:People from Studio City, Los Angeles Category:University of Michigan alumni Category:1985 murders in the United States