Barry Coe

Life and career

Born Barry Clark Heacock, his name was changed to Joseph Spalding Coe when his mother Jean Elizabeth Shea married Joseph Spalding Coe Sr. (Ellsworth Spaulding9, Edwin Delos8, Orris Kirkland7, Seth6, Ephraim5, Ephraim4, John3, Robert2, Robert1) in 1940 in Los Angeles. His father Francis Elmer "Frank" Heacock, a writer and publicist for Warner Brothers, was killed in an auto accident in North Hollywood, CA, April 5, 1940.

Coe attended the University of Southern California and was discovered by a talent scout during a trip with his fraternity to Palm Springs in the mid-1950s. Thereafter he was signed under contract for 20th Century Fox as an actor.

Coe's first film appearance was as Mr. Davis in Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender in 1956. The next year he played the lustful Rodney Harrington in the original Peyton Place film, based on the bestselling Grace Metalious 1956 novel of the same name. In 1958, he appeared in The Bravados, and in 1959, he was cast in But Not for Me.

In 1960, Coe secured a Golden Globe award for the Most Promising Newcomer - Male, along with James Shigeta, Troy Donahue, and George Hamilton.

In 1961 Coe and Brett Halsey played magazine writers Paul Templin and Ben Gregory, respectively, with Gary Lockwood as their researcher, Eric Jason on the ABC television network series Follow the Sun from September 17, 1961, through April 8, 1962. The program was set in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the writers often ventured into private detective work. Despite some memorable episodes, Follow the Sun was cancelled after twenty-nine segments.

After Follow the Sun folded, Coe guest starred in 1962 on the first episode of the fourth season of NBC's Western series Bonanza. He portrayed ranch hand Clay Stafford, who reveals himself to be the "fifth" Cartwright, a half brother to Little Joe (Michael Landon) via their mother Marie. Although stepfather Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) and Joe take Clay at his word, the other Cartwright brothers, Hoss (Dan Blocker) and Adam (Pernell Roberts) are skeptical and intend to investigate Clay's claim. The episode called "The First Born" could have introduced Coe as a new cast member. Entertainment writer Hal Ericson reported that friction (i.e. job security) on the set caused Bonanza producers to stick with the three brothers.

In 1960, Coe appeared as Stu Christian in One Foot in Hell with Alan Ladd and Don Murray, the story of a man whose wife dies because he could not afford medication that cost $1.87. He was Phylon in The 300 Spartans in 1962. In 1966, he appeared as an unnamed communications aide in Fantastic Voyage and as Walt Kilby in The Cat. He starred as Fred Saunders in Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls in 1973 and as an unnamed reporter in Gregory Peck's MacArthur in 1977. His last film role was as diving instructor Tom Andrews in Jaws 2 in 1978. He had a brief stint as Joel Stratton in the ABC soap opera General Hospital in 1974. There were other television appearances too, including ABC's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, NBC's Bracken's World, and CBS's Mission: Impossible starring Peter Graves.

From the late 1970s into the early 1980s, Coe was "Mr. Goodwrench" in television advertising for a chain of national auto parts stores under General Motors.

Coe is married to the former Jorunn Kristiansen, who was a Norwegian beauty queen in the 1950s and now a painter (born 1940). Their son is William Shea Coe (born 1966). In the 1980s, Barry Coe's daughter attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Barry Coe had a side business in nutritional supplements—Adventures in Nutrition; labels for the containers were printed by Joe Faust. He lived in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California for several years.