Actor Barry Newman, star of underground classic ‘Punto limit: cero’, dies at 92

The filmography of the actor Barry Newman, who died in New York at the age of 92, resembles that of other veterans of film and TV: a reputation as a solid worker thanks to which he never lacked supporting roles, a title as a protagonist without much luck and a film of cult that kept him in the memory of moviegoers. In his case, limit point: zero (Richard D. Sarafian, 1971).

Born in Boston in 1930, the son of a nightclub owner, Newman graduated with a degree in anthropology, played sax and clarinet in a military band after being drafted to Korea, and studied with acting teacher Lee Strasberg. After building a reputation on the stage, his first film job was Kansas is looking for a murderer (1960).

After tanning with works in series such as the naked city and Super agent 86, Barry Newman rose to fame thanks to The Lawyer (1970), film of Sidney J. Furie in which he played the lawyer Tony Petrocelli. The popularity of the character allowed him to interpret it as the protagonist in a series broadcast between 1974 and 1976, as well as in the telefilm Night Games.

But it was in 1971, with Limit point: zero, when Newman was established for moviegoers. With a script written by Guillermo Cabrera Infante the film in which the actor played Kowalski, a Vietnam veteran commissioned to drive a Dodge Challenger between Colorado and California, quickly became a cult title in countries like the United Kingdom, and an underground film classic.

Although he starred in other movies like The Salzburg Contact (1972), Barry Newman never rose to star status. Instead, the rest of his long career saw him appear on shows like It has written a crime, Los Angeles law and OC, as well as in movies such as panic in the tunnel (next to Sylvester Stallone) either Bowfinger the rogue (with Steve Martin and Eddy Murphy).

Although a cancer of the vocal cords led him to retire from acting in 2007, the actor returned to the sets in 2022 to act in Finding Hannah, Directed once again by Sidney J. Furie.

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