Barry Otto (born 1941) is an Australian actor.

Early life

Barry Otto was born in 1941 in Brisbane, the son of Alice Long and Bob Stephens, a car dealer from the suburb of Chermside. His mother later married Ronald Otto, a butcher of German ancestry. Barry is actually of Scottish and Irish descent. He has a sister named Denise, who was a model.

Otto's artistic talents were discovered at the age of 17, by the family landlord, May Stephens. She had found him painting a watercolour replica of one of the Norman Lindsay paintings she owned, after which she paid for him to attend Brisbane Central Technical College. Stephens also took him to the theatre and the opera, which inspired him to follow his passion for the arts.

In the 1960s, Otto worked as a commercial artist and fashion illustrator, for the likes of Myer and McWhirters, while he took classes in cutting and designing, with dreams of becoming a fashion designer.

Otto started his acting career in amateur theatre, but never formally trained as an actor.

Career

Otto began acting in amateur theatre and drawing room comedies in the 1970s.

He has starred in numerous films, including playing Harry Joy in Bliss (1985), for which he received a Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor. His performance as Doug Hastings (father of Paul Mercurio’s Scott) in Baz Luhrmann’s first feature film Strictly Ballroom (1992) earned him two awards for Best Supporting Actor from the Australian Film Institute and Film Critics Circle of Australia. He then appeared in Dad and Dave: On Our Selection (1995), opposite Geoffrey Rush and Noah Taylor and Lilian's Story (1996) alongside Toni Collette. In 1996, he starred as mental health patient Roy in Cosi for which he received a Green Room Award for Best Actor.

In 1997 he starred in The Nice Guy with Jackie Chan, and played Jimmy D’Abbs in Oscar and Lucinda, opposite Cate Blanchett. The same year he had a role in Kiss or Kill (1997), before appearing in Dead Letter Office, opposite daughter Miranda in 1998. He went on to star in 2002 short film The Visitor, romantic drama Love's Brother (2004) and horror feature Rogue (2007).

Otto portrayed Administrator Allsop in Baz Luhrmann epic adventure drama Australia with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman in 2008, and the same year also starred in Three Blind Mice and drama film Newcastle. Further film credits include Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby (2013) with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, and comedy drama film The Dressmaker (2015) starring Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth.

Otto has also performed voicework, including narrating the 2001 animated short Dad’s Clock He voiced a character in 2010 animated film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and in 2015, he voiced the role of Mayor Wilberforce Cranklepot, a goanna, in animated feature Blinky Bill the Movie.

Otto has worked extensively in television, beginning with an ongoing role as Trevor McKenzie in Grundy's soap opera Until Tomorrow in 1975. He later starred as Douglas Goddard in the acclaimed 1987 miniseries Vietnam alongside Nicole Kidman. His other miniseries credits include The Dismissal (1983), The Paper Man (1990) and Through My Eyes (2004) alongside daughter Miranda.

He starred as Sir Jeffrey in dance series Dance Academy in 2013, and as Julius Bechly in Sisters in 2017. In 2023, the film Australia received a spin-off miniseries, Faraway Downs in which Otto reprised his role as Administrator Alsop.

He has also had guest roles in Case for the Defence, Spring & Fall and A Country Practice, Shadows of the Heart, G.P., Murder Call, Outriders, Farscape, The Secret Life of Us, HeadLand, All Saints, Stupid Stupid Man, Rake and The Other Guy.

Additionally, Otto has appeared in numerous theatre productions during his career, including The Marriage of Figaro for which he won a 1991 Green Room Award. He received another 1994 Green Room Award for his performance as Roy in the MTC's production of Cosi, the same part he played in the original 1992 Belvoir production and the 1996 feature film.

Playing Captain Andy in the Mariner Theatre’s Showboat in 1999 saw him nominated for another Green Room Award. His role in Last Cab to Darwin earned him a 2005 Adelaide Theatre Guide Award nomination for Best Individual Male Performance, while his performance in Tartuffe for the Melbourne Theatre Company earned him yet another Green Room Award nomination in 2008.

Otto's daughter Gracie directed Otto By Otto, a 2024 documentary film for Revealed on Stan, celebrating the life and career of her father. The film was a finalist for the Documentary Australia Award at the Sydney Film Festival, and won the 2025 AACTA Award for Best Documentary.

Personal life

Otto married Lindsay Clayton, whom he met while performing in amateur theatre in Brisbane. They appeared together in a Brisbane Repertory Theatre 1967 stage production of Goodnight Mrs Puffin. Together they had a daughter Miranda (also an actress), who was born in Brisbane in 1967. They divorced in 1973.

After his marriage broke down, Otto met second wife Susan 'Sue' Hill (eventual co-founder of Sydney’s Belvoir Street Theatre), whom he credits with "rescuing him". They met at Brisbane's Twelfth Night Theatre box-office and moved to Sydney in the mid-1970s, when Otto was in his mid-30s, settling in Petersham and both scoring jobs at the Nimrod Theatre.

Together with Hill, Otto has a son, Eddie (a teacher and professional cricket coach), and daughter, Gracie (a filmmaker and actress), born in 1987 in Sydney. Through daughter Miranda and her actor husband Peter O’Brien, Otto is grandfather to Darcey O'Brien.

Otto is also an artist. He often paints members of his family and has twice entered the Archibald Prize.

Otto was prone to suffering from depression, which hit an all-time low when he suffered a nervous breakdown after a blow to his confidence when performing in a stage production of The Kreutzer Sonata at the Adelaide Festival.

After a stint in hospital for a hip replacement, in which he became confused, Otto was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2018. Ultimately, his family decided against telling him, as they feared it would exacerbate his depression.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Radio

Awards and honours

Honours

Otto was inducted into the Australian Film Walk of Fame in 2012 (located outside Ritz Cinema in ‘The Spot’ at Randwick) alongside actress Deborah Mailman. Recipients honoured in years before him were Charles 'Bud' Tingwell (2008), Michael Caton, (2009), Roy Billing (2009), Claudia Karvan (2010), Steve Bisley (2010), Gary Sweet (2011) and Jack Thompson (2011).

Awards and nominations

References

External links