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Actor Newman (1971 in »Vanishing Point«): Famous role as a speeding ex-racing driver

Photo: 20th Century Fox / Everett Collection / IMAGO

His greatest film success ended with a big bang: In »Vanishing Point«, Barry Newman wants to race across all state lines from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours because of a bet as ex-racing driver Kowalski. It will be one of the biggest car chases in film history – and it ends with a huge explosion.

In 1971, director Richard C. Sarafian had two leading actors in »Vanishing Point San Francisco« (the German distribution title): the white Dodge Challenger – later quoted by Tarantino in »Death Proof« – and the actor Newman, who was already over 40 at the time, but had shone above all in Broadway roles.

Barry Newman was born in Boston in 1930. He played saxophone and clarinet in the Army Music Corps. He wanted to complete his anthropology studies with a master's degree at Columbia University in New York, but instead switched to Lee Strasberg's famous acting school.

Before »Vanishing Point San Francisco«, Newman had already played a leading role in the film »The Criminal Lawyer« (1968), which led American TV makers to make him a series hero. He played the title character in the lawyer series »Petrocelli«, which was also shown on ZDF in prime time from 1976 onwards. Barry Newman has been nominated for Emmys and Golden Globes.

In the eighties, Newman was mainly seen in US television films; the industry magazine »Variety« called him the »Spencer Tracy of the eighties«. He returned to the cinema in 1999 with »The Limey«, a revenge drama by Steven Soderbergh in which Newman played a central supporting role – even including a car chase.

His best-known role in »Vanishing Point San Francisco« was taken up by the Scottish band Primal Scream: They named their fifth studio album »Vanishing Point« and the pre-release single »Kowalski«. In the music video, models Kate Moss and Devon Aoki steal a Dodge Challenger.

As his wife Angela told The Hollywood Reporter, Barry Newman died of natural causes in a New York hospital on May 11. He was 92 years old.

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