Remembering Ruth
“She was one of a kind, and it was my privilege to work with her,” reflects Barr. “It was such a wonderful entry into this business, into television, because she really was a consummate professional. I was in such good hands for one of my first television jobs. I said to somebody ‘You can only play tennis well depending on how good your partner is.’ I couldn’t have had a better partner to begin my life in television.
“We were close,” she continues. “We shared a bond. We were totally comfortable with each other. I don’t know if it was the nature of our own personalities, the nature of the characters we played, or a combination of both, but it worked. I give her full credit for that.”
When describing Warrick, a smile immediately comes to Barr’s face. “She was vivacious. She had a raunchy sense of humor that would take you by surprise, but funny. And she knew what she was about all the time. She was just Ruth. She was full of stories; she was full of experiences.” 
Many of Warrick’s behind-the-scenes experiences can still make Barr laugh to this day. “In the first year or two when I joined the show, she was in a wheelchair. She was like hell on wheels!” Barr chuckles. And she means that literally. “Everybody had to watch out if you were in a scene with her while she was in this wheelchair, because she’d roll right over you!”
Barr believes two recent events brought Warrick some closure. “It is wonderful that she received the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award. That was fantastic. And then she got a chance to celebrate the 35th year [of AMC]. I do believe people hold at certain points, until something goes, ‘Okay, I can go now.’
“She had great passion, not only in acting, but where she was politically involved, where she was involved in humanitarian projects and education,” Barr marvels. “She had a great life.”
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (www.broadwaycares.org), God’s Love We Deliver (www.godslovewedeliver.org), City Harvest (www.cityharvest.org) and Gilda’s Club NYC (www.gildasclub.org).
Conversation
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