Barry Livingston Recaps His Career From His Book The Importance Of Being Ernie

Barry Livingston, Ernie Douglas on MY THREE SONS and author of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNIE

Barry Livingston was four years old when he was cast as Paul Newman’s son in the film, Rally Round The Flag Boys.  Unfortunately, he was fired after production began because his eyes developed astigmatism, which required him to wear glasses.

His new horn-rimmed spectacles became his trademark and established him as a new type of child actor: a prototype nerd with big glasses, buckteeth and unruly hair.

After a recurring role on The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Barry found huge national fame when he was cast as Ernie Douglas for eight years on the TV series, My Three Sons, which ran for a phenomenal 12 years.

After Sons was canceled, Barry went to New York to be in the Broadway production of The Skin Of Our Teeth directed by Jose Quintero.  Other stage roles followed.

After establishing himself as a stage actor, Barry continued his work on TV appearing in such classics as Room 222, The Streets of San Francisco and Ironsides in the ‘70s, Simon & Simon, Hart to Hart and Doogie Howser, M.D. in the ‘80s and The Nanny, Alley McBeal and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in the ‘90s.

Picking up steam in the new millennium, Barry guest starred in Will & Grace, West Wing, Crossing Jordan, Two and a Half Men, NCIS, Desperate Housewives, Big Love and most notably the Emmy winning series, Mad Men.

On the big screen, he was in Dickie Roberts, First Daughter, Zodiac (directed by the acclaimed director David Fincher) and Adam Sandler’s hit, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan.

Most recently, Barry worked in the Academy Award Winning film, The Social Network