Barry Moss was born April 25, 1940 in Los Angeles. He was a child actor
who graduated from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles and studied
theatre arts at UCLA. He worked for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts
and Sciences before moving to New York to begin a career as a director
- a field he studied as a student at UCLA. He later replaced agent Mary
Jo Slater at the Mort Schwartz Agency, where he was put in charge of
the theatrical department. He soon met Julie Hughes, with whom he
founded Hughes Moss Casting in 1981. They quickly became a successful
team, and, at one stage, had eight shows running simultaneously on
Broadway. Among his casting credits are nearly 90 Broadway and touring
productions, including West Side Story (1980 revival), Nine, Torch Song
Trilogy, The Who's Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really
Trying (1995 revival), Titanic, Woman of the Year, My One and Only,
Black and Blue, Sweeney Todd, Crazy For You, the 2008 production of A
Tale of Two Cities and more. He also was the casting director for the
duration of the highly successful television series The Cosby Show and
was a founding member of The Casting Society of America (CSA) Barry's
boundless affection for and support of actors was a well-known delight
to his vast array of colleagues, clients and friends Responsible for
assisting many famous and not-so-famous performers in securing their
first job, he remained the New York "anchor" for a wide circle of show
business classmates from the days at UCLA. He is remembered as a true
gentleman of the theatre - tasteful, loyal, generous and fun.
Moss is survived by his longtime partner and business associate Bob
Kale, nephew Mark Ellman of Lahaina, HI, nieces Laurie Levinsky of
Seattle, WA and Gerry Ellman, grand nieces and nephews of Lahaina, HI,
cousin Fran Thiessen of Cliffside Park, NJ as well as soul mate David
Giella. Plans for a memorial service will be announced soon.
- IMDb mini biography by: Bob Kale
