Jess Barker

{{Short description|American actor (1912–2000)}} {{Infobox person | image = Jess Barker in Scarlet Street.jpg | caption = Barker in ''[[Scarlet Street]]'' (1945) | birth_date = {{birth date|1912|6|4}} | birth_place = [[Greenville, South Carolina]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2000|8|8|1912|6|4}} | death_place = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S. | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1936–1977 | spouse = {{marriage|[[Susan Hayward]]|1944|1954|end=divorced}} | children = 3 }} '''Jess Barker''' (June 4, 1912 – August 8, 2000) was an American actor who was active between the 1940s and 1970s. He was best known as the first husband of actress [[Susan Hayward]].

==Early years== Barker was born in [[Greenville, South Carolina]].<ref name="opa">{{cite book|last1=Lentz|first1=Harris M. III|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2000: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture|date=2001|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786452057|pages=14–15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GnnGCwAAQBAJ&q=%22Jess+Barker%22+actor&pg=PA14|accessdate=20 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>

== Career == Barker began his film career credited as '''Philip Barker''' until changing his stage name to Jess Barker in the early 1940s.{{Citation needed |date=May 2024}}

Barker's movie career was damaged because of the publicity resulting from a bitter custody dispute, but he still managed to find work as an actor on radio and films in supporting roles.{{Citation needed |date=May 2024}} Barker appeared as an art critic in [[Fritz Lang]]'s ''[[Scarlet Street]]'' (1945) and the [[Abbott and Costello]] film ''[[The Time of Their Lives]]'' (1946). He also made two guest appearances on ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]''. In 1961 he played defendant Walter Eastman in "The Case of the Injured Innocent," and in 1965 he played Doug Hamilton in "The Case of the Murderous Mermaid."

== Personal life == Barker wed [[Susan Hayward]] on July 23, 1944.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2284178/barker_hayward/|title=Persuaded Barker to Marry Her---Hayward|newspaper=The Bakersfield Californian |date=June 18, 1954|accessdate=April 24, 2015|agency=The Bakersfield Californian|page=26|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Susan Hayward and Jess Barker Wedded|newspaper=The Piqua Daily Call |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2284469/hayward_barker_wedding/|agency=The Piqua Daily Call|date=July 24, 1944|page=1|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = April 24, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref> They had twin sons together during their ten-year marriage, whose custody was won by Hayward after a bitter court battle.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Larman |first=Alexander |date=2024-04-09 |title=The woman who was nearly Bond: the turbulent life of Susan Hayward |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/susan-hayward-the-turbulent-life-of-the-female-james-bond/#:~:text=She%20was%20voted%20%E2%80%9Cthe%20most,the%20Hollywood%20Foreign%20Press%20Association.&text=This%20stellar%20career%20was%20nearly,Irish,%20this%20infuriated%20me.%E2%80%9D |access-date=2024-11-13 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

In 1956, Barker lost a paternity suit in Los Angeles. Judge Walter H. Odemar ruled that Barker was the father of a daughter born to actress Yvonne Doughty.<ref>{{cite news|title=Actor Jess Barker Loses Court Fight In Paternity Suit|newspaper=Moberly Monitor-Index |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2284238/jess_barker_paternity_suit/|agency=Moberly Monitor-Index|date=December 28, 1956|page=8|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = April 24, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Barker died of [[liver failure]] in 2000.<ref name="opa">{{cite book|last1=Lentz|first1=Harris M. III|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2000: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture|date=2001|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786452057|pages=14–15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GnnGCwAAQBAJ&q=%22Jess+Barker%22+actor&pg=PA14|accessdate=20 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>

==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 1936 | ''[[The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936 film)|The Trail of the Lonesome Pine]]'' | Merd Falin | Film debut |- | rowspan=2|1943 | ''[[Good Luck, Mr. Yates]]'' | Oliver B. Yates | |- | ''[[Government Girl]]'' | Dana McGuire | |- | rowspan=3|1944 | ''[[Cover Girl (film)|Cover Girl]]'' | John Coudair as a Young Man | |- | ''[[Jam Session (1944 film)|Jam Session]]'' | George Carter Haven | |- | ''[[She's a Soldier Too]]'' | Dr. Bill White | |- | rowspan=5|1945 | ''[[Keep Your Powder Dry]]'' | Junior Vanderheusen | |- | ''[[Senorita from the West]]'' | Tim Winters | |- | ''[[This Love of Ours]]'' | Chadwick | |- | ''[[The Daltons Ride Again]]'' | Jeff Colton | |- | ''[[Scarlet Street]]'' | Damon Janeway | |- | rowspan=3|1946 | ''[[Girl on the Spot]]'' | Rick Crane | |- | ''[[Idea Girl]]'' | Larry Brewster | |- | ''[[The Time of Their Lives]]'' | Thomas Danbury | |- | rowspan=2|1949 | ''[[Take One False Step]]'' | Arnold Sykes | |- | ''[[Reign of Terror (film)|Reign of Terror]]'' | [[Emmanuel Marie Michel Philippe Fréteau de Saint-Just|Saint Just]] | |- | 1950 | ''[[The Milkman]]'' | John Carter | |- | 1953 | ''[[Marry Me Again]]'' | Jenkins | |- | 1954 | ''[[Dragonfly Squadron]]'' | Dixon | |- | rowspan=2|1955 | ''[[Kentucky Rifle (film)|Kentucky Rifle]]'' | Daniel Foster | |- | ''[[Shack Out on 101]]'' | Artie | |- | rowspan=2|1956 | ''[[Three Bad Sisters]]'' | George Gurney | |- | ''[[The Peacemaker (1956 film)|The Peacemaker]]'' | Ed Halcomb | |- | 1961-1965 | ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'' | Walter Eastman/Doug Hamilton | 2 episodes |- | 1964 | ''[[The Night Walker (film)|Night Walker]]'' | Malone | |- | 1968 | ''[[The Green Berets (film)|The Green Berets]]'' | Soldier | Uncredited |- | 1975 | ''[[Murph the Surf (film)|Murph the Surf]]'' | Museum Guard | |- | 1977 | ''[[Sudden Death (1977 film)|Sudden Death]]'' | Barnett | Final film |- |}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0054911}} *{{IBDB name|30906}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Jess}} [[Category:American male film actors]] [[Category:American male radio actors]] [[Category:Deaths from cirrhosis]] [[Category:Male actors from Greenville, South Carolina]] [[Category:1912 births]] [[Category:2000 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American male actors]]