Career
Barbier entered Crozier Seminary to study for the ministry but gave it up to go on the stage. He began his career in light opera and spent several years in repertory and stock companies. He eventually played on Broadway, where he appeared in seven productions betwenn 1922 and 1930, among them The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Manitoba Who Came Back.
He signed a contract with Paramount Pictures in 1929 and later worked as a character actor for most of the major studios.
His first film was The Big Pond (1930). The weighty, white-haired Barbier often played pompous, but mostly kind-hearted businessmen or patriarchs in supporting roles.
George Barbier appeared in 88 films until his death in 1945.
