Background
Barry Cohen was born 1927 in Detroit, Michigan, and later sometimes credited under his birth name.
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Barry Crane
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According to the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL), he was "widely recognized as the top matchpoint player of all time"—the tournament format commonly played in private clubs. In the mid-1950s he moved to Hollywood and changed his name for professional reasons. He was credited with directing numerous episodes of such series as Trapper John, Doctor of Medicine, The Incredible Hulk, Hawaii Five-O, CHiPs, Dallas, Wonder Woman, Mission: Impossible, and Mannix.
His teams reached the Vanderbilt final in 1951 and 1985, his first and last high finishes in North America-level events.
During his lifetime, Crane accumulated 35,135.80 masterpoints (awarded by the ACBL for success in tournament play), more than any other player. Second-placed Paul Soloway was approximately 11,000 behind at Crane"s death in 1985 and passed him only in 1991.
In honor and as a memorial to Crane, the ACBL renamed the award given to the player who accumulates the most masterpoints in a single year to the Barry Crane Trophy, and the list of high masterpoint attainers to the Barry Crane Top 500. Crane was elected to the ACBL Hall of Fame in 1995.
Crane was murdered on Friday, July 5, 1985, a homicide which has not been solved.
His body was "found bludgeoned shortly before 3 P.M. in the garage of his luxury town home in Studio City", apparently dragged to the garage from his apartment, according to the police. Honors Wins Runners-up North American Bridge Championships (11) Vanderbilt (2) 1951, 1985 Men"s Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1956, 1971 Master Mixed Teams (1) 1969 Open Pairs (2) 1976, 1984 Rockwell Mixed Pairs (3) 1971, 1974, 1977 Hilliard Mixed Pairs (1) 1955.
Achievements
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ACBL Hall of Fame, 1995 McKenney Trophy 1952, 1967, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1978 Mott-Smith Trophy 1970, 1971 Oeschger Trophy 1961, 1962, 1963, 1967 Stoddard Memorial Trophy 1980 IBPA Award (Personality of the Year) 1985 World Mixed Pairs (1) 1978 North American Bridge Championships (15)North American Swiss Teams (1) 1978 North American Men"s Swiss Teams (1) 1983 Master Mixed Teams (1) 1980 West Coast Master Mixed Teams (2) 1953, 1954 Open Pairs (7) 1964, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1983 Men"s Pairs (1) 1966 Rockwell Mixed Pairs (2) 1975, 1982.
