Overview
- Barrie died at her Manhattan home on Wednesday, October 28, and her daughter Jane Harnick confirmed the death was chosen and medically assisted following a terminal cancer diagnosis.
- Her representatives said the procedure complied with New York’s Medical Aid in Dying law, which took effect in 2026 and provides a legal medical process for eligible terminally ill adults to obtain life-ending medication under safeguards.
- A respected character actor for more than six decades, Barrie earned a Tony nomination for originating Sarah in Stephen Sondheim’s Company and an Academy Award nomination for Breaking Away.
- She had a long public history of health struggles and advocacy, including surviving rectal/colorectal cancer in the 1990s, publishing memoirs about that experience, and disclosing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2014.
- Barrie is survived by her daughter Jane, son Aaron and three granddaughters, and statements from family and peers emphasize her artistic legacy and support for end‑of‑life choice as part of her final public stance.