Shear's first made-for-theaters feature was the 1968 counter culture film Wild in the Streets. He later directed theatrical films in various genres such as The Todd Killings in 1971 (based on the serial killer Charles Schmid), Across 110th Street in 1972, and the western The Deadly Trackers in 1973 (which he overtook from Samuel Fuller). While well received, these features met with only fair box office and Shear returned to work exclusively in television.
On August 5, 1965, both Shear and Jan Berry, of the singing duo Jan and Dean, were injured along with other film crew members while on the first day on the set of a new Paramount motion picture, Easy Come, Easy Go. Paramount would ultimately cancel the film and reuse the film title the following year for an unrelated film starring Elvis Presley.
Personal life
Shear's wife was actress Sondra Shear, (1926–2002)[3] and his daughter is director Wendy Shear.[4]
Death
Barry Shear died of cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on June 13, 1979, at the age of 56.
References
^"Index Record for Barry Shear (1923) Veterans Affairs Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem Death File", Fold3 by Ancestry.com website. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
^Chilton, Karen (2008). Hazel Scott: The Pioneering Journey of a Jazz Pianist from Cafe Society to Hollywood to HUAC. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. pp. 140–141.
