was a
Fictional Character in the popular
BBC Soap Opera ''
Eastenders ''. He was played by
Shaun Williamson .
Although Barry saw himself as a business entrepreneur, he was generally deemed by others as being a bit of a pathetic Buffoon. Although he was often immature and irritating, Barry did have a soft heart and all he ever really wanted in life was his fathers respect and the love of a good woman. It was being a soft touch that led to his untimely demise.
Barry arrived in
Albert Square in
1994 as an acquaintance to
David Wicks , and his initial role was to provide a trysting spot for David's adulterous affair with
Cindy Beale . Barry later aided Cindy's escape from
Walford , after she was wanted by the police for the attempted murder of her husband
Ian Beale .
Barry was son to car dealer
Roy , played by
Tony Caunter . He moved to Albert Square when Roy and new romantic interest,
Pat , moved in together. When Roy became owner to the
Car Lot , Barry was given a chance to prove his capabilities by running the business for him whilst Roy enjoyed retirement.
Barry was forever searching for the respect and pride of his father, but however hard he tried he always messed things up and ended up trying his father's patience instead. Barry's management of the car lot was no exception. Barry risked the business and his family's savings by handing his monetary assets over to con-woman
Vanessa Carlton . Barry was fooled into believing that Vanessa loved him, and after persuading him to invest the money in a fabricated business venture, she disappeared and left Barry to face up to a furious Roy. Barry's blunder forced Roy out of retirement and Barry was never able to regain Roy's full trust again.
Losing his job at the car lot, Barry was forced to seek employment elsewhere. He soon replaced
Robbie Jackson (through back-stabbing) as manager of the local video shop. It was around this time when Barry began to desire the love of a woman and he sought the help of a local dating agency to get it. This led to his first encounter with
Walford returnee
Natalie Price (played by
Lucy Speed ). Years earlier Natalie was driven out of Walford by
Bianca Jackson when her affair with
Ricky Butcher was uncovered. Unaware of Natalie's history, the two grew closer while Natalie attempted to set him up on many disastrous dates. After much bumbling from Barry, he eventually realised his true feelings for Natalie and a romance began. Natalie soon moved in with Barry, Roy and Pat and they married in a
Millennium double wedding with
Ian Beale and
Melanie Healy .
Barry and Natalie remained happy for a while, until Natalie discovered she was pregnant with Barry's baby. Whilst Barry was over the moon about the news, Natalie wasn't so pleased and almost
Aborted the baby. However Barry promised to help out with the baby duties so Natalie could continue with her career and in
2002 Jack was born.
Barry had a turbulent time when his stepbrother
Nathan Williams came onto the scene. Nathan, born out of an adulterous affair between Barry's father and Nathans mother Jane Williams, was resentful towards Barry for having his fathers unconditional love whilst he had never even known him. Meanwhile Barry was extremely angry with his father for being unfaithful to his mother and their relationship was severely tested. Despite attempts by both Barry and Roy to accept Nathan into the fold, Nathan did his best to exclude and diminish Barry. Things reached a head when Barry discovered that Nathan had kissed his wife Natalie, and realising Nathan's agenda Roy disowned him. Barry eventually came to forgive Natalie for her brief fling, but he never really trusted her fully again.
Although Barry tried to make his marriage work, Natalie had fallen out of love with him and it wasn't long before she strayed again with old flame
Ricky . Unbeknownst to Barry, Natalie and Ricky planned to leave Walford with their sons Jack and
Liam . However Barry discovered them just before they planned to leave, and although Natalie called off the affair with Ricky, she also left Barry. In a cruel twist of fate, Barry's night got worse, when his father was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack, and died not long after. Devastated Barry blamed his father's death on his step-mother Pat, who he had never forgiven after she cheated on his father with prior husband
Frank Butcher . With Barry being sole beneficiary to his father's house and business, he threw Pat out onto the street and left the grieving widow with nothing.
Barry spent a long time after this feeling sorry for himself and became a bit of a recluse. It was around this time that Barry's employee
Janine (sensing an opportunity to manipulate some money out of her boss) started worming her way into Barry's affections. With the help of her secret boyfriend
Paul Trueman , she concocted a plan to make Barry fall in love with her, so she could get her hands on Barry's wealth. Feeling vulnerable since his split with Natalie, Barry fell for Janine's lies and the two got engaged. Meanwhile a mix up with Barry's doctor had foolishly led Barry to believe that he was not long left for this world. Thinking that he would soon be dead and believing that Janine really loved him Barry whisked her away to
Scotland for his second New Years Eve wedding in
2003 . However feeling a sudden twang of guilt, Janine's accomplice, Paul, called off his affair with her after the wedding. To make matters worse Barry had discovered that he was not dying after all, leaving Janine with the realisation that she was stuck married to Barry and couldn't get her hands on his money for the forseeable future. The very next day on
January 1 2004 , a blissfully unaware Barry forced Janine to go for a romantic walk with him on the Scottish moors. However whilst at the edge of a
Ravine , Janine, unable to stand Barry any longer, hurled venomous abuse at him and confessed that their entire relationship was fake and that she had been sleeping with Paul behind his back. Barry still wanted to be with her however and said he could forgive her for sleeping with Paul if she'd only stay with him. He begged Janine not to leave him and went towards her trying to molest her. Janine pushed him away and this caused him to stumble back, falling straight over the edge of the ravine, where Janine left him to die, inheriting his business and his wealth in the process.
