BARNAY, bär'nḯ, (1842—). A German
actor, born at Pesth. He made his début in
1860 at Trautenau, and appeared in his native
city the following year, after which he had
engagements of varying length in Gratz, Mainz,
Vienna, Prague, Riga, Mainz again, Leipzig, and
Weimar. From 1870 to 1875 he was at the
Stadt-Theater of Frankfort-on-the-Main, and for the
next five years at that of Hamburg, where he
acted as director. For several years thereafter
he traveled as a ‘star,’ visiting London with the
Meiningen Court Company in 1881, and in 1882
making a successful tour in the United States. From 1887 to 1894 he managed his Berliner Theater in Berlin. He has since made his home in Wiesbaden. Barnay's greatest talents have been shown in tragedy. Among his most noted rôles are Essex, Uriel Acosta, Othello, Antony, Tell, and Egmont. He was the leader in the movement which assembled the stage congress at Weimar in 1871, thus being founder of the ‘Association’ (Bühnengenossenschaft), which has proved of such value to the German theatrical profession.