Barry Crane

Barry Crane
Born Barry Cohen
(1927-11-10)November 10, 1927
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Died July 5, 1985(1985-07-05) (aged 57)
Los Angeles, California, USA[1]
Occupation Television director
Television producer
Years active 1957 - 1985

Barry Crane, born Barry Cohen, (November 10, 1927 – July 5, 1985)[1] was a prolific television producer and director, and a bridge player who "won more titles than anyone else in the history of the game".[2] According to the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL), he was "widely recognized as the top matchpoint player of all time"[3]—the tournament format commonly played in private clubs.

Barry Cohen was born 1927 in Detroit, Michigan,[1] and later sometimes credited under his birth name. In the mid-1950s he moved to Hollywood and changed his name for professional reasons.[2] He produced The Magician, and was an associate producer on several episodes of Mission: Impossible. He was credited with directing numerous episodes of such series as Trapper John, M.D., The Incredible Hulk, Hawaii Five-O, CHiPs, Dallas, Wonder Woman, Mission: Impossible, and Mannix.

Crane, who won 15 North American championships,[4] was a Grand Life Master in the ACBL and traveled extensively to play in matchpoint pairs tournaments. In World Bridge Federation (WBF) competition he and Kerri Shuman won the fourth quadrennial World Mixed Pairs Championship in 1978. In North America he also played in teams-of-four tournaments (where the strategy is subtly different from matchpoint play) and won numerous regional titles. His teams reached the Vanderbilt final in 1951 and 1985, his first and last high finishes in North America-level events.[4]

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[3] 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.[5] Crane was elected to the ACBL Hall of Fame in 1995.[6]

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.[2] That week he was playing daily in the annual Pasadena regional knockout teams tournament; his team won the Saturday final with Kerri Shuman, one of Crane's favorite partners, as his replacement.[2]

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

Awards

Wins

Runners-up

References

  1. 1 2 3 State of California (CA Death Index). Family Tree Legends. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Barry Crane Barry Crane, Bridge Expert, Found Slain in Los Angeles". Alan Truscott. The New York Times. July 7, 1985. Page 18. Quote: "found slain Friday".
  3. 1 2 "Crane, Barry". Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
  4. 1 2 3 "Barry Crane". NABC Winners – by Name. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
  5. ↑ ACBL sometime passed a memorial resolution renaming the trophy.
    Chapter I, B (MEMBERSHIP: Rankings, Masterpoints and Races). Section 3.1.1. "Barry Crane Top 500". No date or overall title. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  6. 1 2 "Induction by Year". Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
      With linked citations.

External links

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