R.I.P. Howard G. Barnes

Veteran film, TV & radio producer Howard G. Barnes. Howard G. Barnes died of natural causes December 8 at the Motion Picture Television Country House & Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA, his daughter Christie Barnes Stafford told the Los Angeles Times. He would have turned 101 tomorrow. Barnes was best known as executive producer of the classic Australian feature Wake In Fright (aka Outback), which was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, and considered one of the seminal films in the development of modern Australian cinema. Believed lost for decades, it was digitally restored and re-released in Australian theaters and on DVD and Blu-Ray in 2009.

Barnes began his career in radio, becoming VP in Charge of Programming at CBS Radio, later moving to CBS Television in that same role where he worked on such shows as Route 66, Rawhide and Twilight Zone. He went on to work as a talent supervisor for Ashley Famous Talent Agency where he supervised the development of The Danny Kaye Show, among others. On the film side, at Westinghouse’s Group W, his producing credits include One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovitch, Squeeze A Flower and Amsterdam Affair.