Barry Dennen
Barry Dennen (February 22, 1938 – September 26, 2017) was an American actor and writer best known for playing Pontius Pilate on the original 1970 recording of Jesus Christ Superstar, and in the 1971 Broadway production and the 1973 film version. He was born in Chicago and spent 15 years in London, where in 1968 he starred as the Master of Ceremonies in the West End version of Cabaret.
In film, Dennen played Mendel in Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and later portrayed Pilate again in the Jesus Christ Superstar film (1973). He appeared on American TV in shows such as Batman and Wonder Woman (as a clone of Adolf Hitler) and did voice work for The Dark Crystal (Chamberlain SkekSil) and The Shadow (Tulku). He also lent his voice to cartoons like DuckTales, Batman: The Animated Series, Animaniacs, Avatar: The Last Airbender and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and took parts in many video games, including Fatman in Metal Gear Solid 2 and Master Li in Jade Empire.
Dennen wrote the lyrics for the children's musical Wanna Play?! in 1984, and he contributed to television and other projects, including Amazing Stories and The Comic Strip Presents…. He had a famous early relationship with Barbra Streisand in 1960–61; his 1997 memoir My Life with Barbra: A Love Story discusses their time together and his later realization that he was gay.
In June 2017, Dennen suffered a fall at his Burbank home and did not recover, dying on September 26, 2017, at age 79. He is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 21:07 (CET).