Oscar-nominated actress, 95, ends life with medical assistance following terminal cancer diagnosis

Barbara Barrie has died with medical assistance.

The Oscar-nominated actress died Wednesday at her home in Manhattan, the New York Times reported. Her daughter, Jane Harnick, said her death was medically assisted after she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Barrie was 95 years old.

Cancer was not her only health battle. She was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2014, which, according to the Mayo Clinic, is a degenerative disease that occurs when lung tissue becomes damaged and scarred, making it hard to breathe.

Barrie was an accomplished actress, winning the Cannes Film Festival award for best actress in 1964 for her performance as Julie in “One Potato, Two Potato,” a groundbreaking film about an interracial relationship.

She was nominated for an Oscar in the best supporting actress category for her role in 1979’s “Breaking Away,” her most famous role. She played the character Evelyn Stohler in the coming of age comedy-drama about a group of teens in Bloomington, Indiana, who recently graduated from high school. 

The critically acclaimed movie, which also starred Dennis Quaid, won the 1979 Oscar for best original screenplay.

Barrie reprised her beloved role as a supportive mom in the television series based on the film, and was nominated for an Emmy in 1981.

Her work extended to theater. She was nominated for a Tony Award for best featured actress in a musical in 1971 for her role as Sarah in Stephen Sondheim’s “Company.”

More of Barrie’s popular roles included playing Elizabeth Miller, Captain Barney Miller’s wife in the detective sitcom “Barney Miller,” from 1975 to 1978, and playing Goldie Hawn’s mother in 1980’s “Private Benjamin.”

The late actress was also a published author. She wrote two children’s books, “Lone Star” in 1990 and “Adam Zigzag” in 1994 as well as two nonfiction books about battling cancer — 1997’s “Second Act” and 1999’s “Don’t Die of Embarrassment.”

Barrie is survived by her two children, daughter Jane as well as son Aaron Harnick, whom she shared with late husband, Jay Harnick. The artistic director died in 2007.