Barney O’Sullivan

Barney O’Sullivan’s life spanned a hundred year history in Vancouver! It began in 1908 when his father came to Canada from Ireland to seek his fortune. After the birth of two daughters, Bridget and Sydney, O’Sullivan’s wife became a playwright and director. One day when she needed an actor to fill a role, she asked him if he would fill in. And that was the beginning of his incredible acting career. His first roles were for the Vancouver Little Theatre but soon gave way to The Waltz of the Toreadors for TUTS and then A Visit to a Small Planet, the first production at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. He then appeared at the Vancouver Playhouse, the Freddy Wood Theatre at UBC where his work in A Long Day’s Journey Into Night earned him the accolade, “most vivid performance.” Of his many appearances over a thirty year period, O’Sullivan has special memories of John Proctor in The Crucible for the Playhouse, his season at Stratford with John Hirsch, three seasons at the Seattle Repertory Company, among others. But no matter how important the roles he was offered, he always preferred working in his garden at home in White Rock with his family. He was a founding member of the WestCoast Actors and past president of ACTRA. However, he was content in his final years in his lovely PAL suite and happy to interact with the “young folk,” especially his grandson, Keats. The sight of him in his Tilly hat and cane venturing out to lunch with a twinkle in his eye and a warm greeting to everyone he passed will be greatly missed. A month before his death, at age 93, he appeared in a cameo role on the PAL stage in Santa Baby.