I too join the list of the under-exposed to Jess Barker's film work. I can recall him in a movie with Barbara Stanywck, but I was virtually a youth when I saw it and cannot remember the title now.

Sorry Gloria, must also plead ignorance re his possible involvement in "Boys From Syracuse". I think I recall Eddie Albert and Burl Ives as singers in the original Broadway show ?? but even that I am unsure. !!

Kerry

Gloria...I vaguely remember reading that Jess had worked in New York on Broadway, but I didn't know the Lorenz Hart story. Jess did look somewhat like Alan Ladd. Jess was striking on the screen--very good looking.

Kerry: I'm the one who should apologize. When I read your e-mail, I thought, heck, how could Jess Barker appear in a musical show? So I hustled over to the library to find the book I'd read it in, and of course it wasn't LORENZ Hart. It was MOSS HART!

To make matters worse, the show wasn't "Boys From Syracuse" (although I wasn't sure of that anyway).
It was "You Can't Take It With You."

Jess Barker played the part of Tony Kirby. While not the lead part, it was a sizable one. There was no specific date when it opened on Broadway, but it was somewhere in mid- or late-thirties.

Here's how the book, which is called "Dazzler, the Life and Times of Moss Hart" by Seven Bach, recalled Jess's feelings about Hart. "Jess thought his performance was adversely affected" by Hart, "because of Moss's habit of sitting in a box seat overlooking the stage night after night and staring at him with frank sexual interest."

Since Moss Hart was bi-sexual (he was married to Kitty Hart), it seems feasible that this did happen.

Ah, mystery solved. Thanks Gloria for going to the trouble of chasing that reference up. I agree with you that it is highly likely that Moss Hart would have been very attracted to a young Jess Barker.

These days it would be called harassment or stalking I guess. Some actors back then were able to view such 'interests' as irrelevant or indeed advantageous to their careers, even though they would never let it get physical, but clearly Jess felt very uncomfortable.

Recall our 'lavender marriages' discussion a while back ? We may need new descriptions for our bi-sexual couples. Like the Marge and Gower Champion marriage etc. What do you think ? Lilac weddings ? Violet unions ? Purple partners ? LOL

Kerry

Kerry/Gloria...Moss Hart was married to Kitty Carlisle (actress, singer, game show panelist fame)...that really suprises me about Moss Hart...oh well, I don't really know that much about him except that he was a playwright and married to Kitty...apparently he had diverse interests.. LOL

Ginger: yes, that's the Kitty hart I was referring to. They were married, but a lot of folks thought it was another marriage of convenience. Or maybe he really was bi-sexual.

Gloria...I'm sorry.. for some reason I didn't scroll down further when I first read your note.. I had stopped at "You Can't Take It With You."....well, that's pretty interesting about Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle. I watch the gameshow network a lot.. "black and white late at night"...and have gotten familiar with Kitty Carlisle on To Tell The Truth.