Raymond J. Barry was born in New York, and attended Brown University, where he was a star athlete in football, basketball, and track. While there, he earned his degree in Philosophy and as a senior, was cast in the stage production of "Picnic," where he played a football player. He then entered the Yale Drama School and after completing, acted in the Broadway play "The Leaf People." He has appeared in over 100 plays and has starred in such films as Dead Man Walking (1995), Sudden Death (1995), and The Chamber (1996). Before moving into film, Raymond J. Barry appeared in more than 75 stage productions, winning two Obie Awards for "Leaf People" and "Molly's Dream." Barry earned a degree in philosophy at Brown University before being accepted by the Yale School of Drama. After he moved to New York in the 1960s, his involvement with experimental theatre included work with Julian Beck at the Living Theatre and with John Vaccaro at the Theatre of the Ridiculous. Barry appeared in 17 productions of the New York Shakespeare Festival and by 1968, was touring Europe with Joseph Chaikin's Open Theatre. Barry is also actively writing stage projects. He co-directed the Puerto Rican Writer's Workshop in New York, and his play "Once In Doubt" won the 1990 Drama Critic's Circle Award.