During
the run of Northern Exposure, Corbin was reunited with
a daughter he didn't know about. The actor discovered in late June
1991 he had a 26-year-old daughter when Shannon Ross, who was adopted
as an infant, tracked down her biological parents. Ross' mother
gave her baby up for adoption at San Antonio's Methodist Mission
Home in February 1965 without telling Corbin she was pregnant with
his child. She is seen dancing with him at the end of 4.2
Midnight Sun.
In December
1993, Corbin broke his leg after he fell off his horse. This changed
the story line for 5.15 Hello I Love You.
Originally, it was Maurice who was supposed to travel to Cantwell
with Ruth-Anne (minus the romance part). Moultrie Patten's character
of Walt had shown up in small parts but was written into the episode
to take Maurice's place and also to court Ruth-Anne, thus making
him a bigger character in the series. Corbin's injury was written
into 5.19 The Gift of the Maggie, when he
appears on crutches.
Corbin continues
to act in film and television. In 2002, he appeared in the independent
film Waitin' to Live,
directed by Joey Travolta (John's brother). In 2003, he appeared
in two television films, Monte
Walsh and Hope
Ranch.
Corbin won
a Buffalo Bill Cody Award for quality family entertainment and the
Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame for
his performance in Connagher, and was nominated for two
Emmy Awards (for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1993 and 1994 for Northern Exposure), a Media Owl Award, and an
American Television Award for his work in Northern Exposure.
In 2003, Corbin
returned to TV drama as "Whitey Durham" in the WB's One
Tree Hill. Whitey is the long-time high school basketball
coach in the town of Tree Hill. Season five returned as a midseason replacement in 2008. One Tree Hill changes gears in season five as the cast and storylines move four years into the future. Barry has brief appearences as Coach Whitey.
He also reunited
with actor John Cullum ("Holling")
in an award-winning independent short film, Blackwater
Elegy. Corbin and Cullum play old friends who come to terms
with their life following the death of a friend.
In the summer
of 2004, Corbin filmed the role of Sheriff Buster Watkins in the
feature River's End (previously titled Molding Clay), directed by William Katt. Filmed on location in Central,
South and West Texas. Corbin plays a fictional Menard County sheriff
who uses country savvy and cowboy logic to straighten out his angry
teen-aged grandson, Clay, a high school senior who can't seem to
stay out of trouble. The movie was filmed in Menard, Texas, and
was released in 2005.
In 2005, he also appeared
in the independent movie Godless,
which made the film festival rounds in 2005.
In 2006, Corbin appeared in Beautiful Dreamer, which also starred Colin Egglesfield (All My Children), Brooke Langton (Melrose Place), James Denton (Desperate Housewives). The film tells the story of a World War II fighter pilot, Joe Kelly (Colin), who is shot down over Europe and declared dead. Two years later, his wife, Claire (Langton), finds him in a small town, but he doesn't remember her.
Corbin's distinctive
voice has been lent to advertising over the last several years,
most recently for Econo Lodge motels. He also narrates many projects, including A Fair to Remember: State Fair of Texas documentary.
Corbin appeared in several episodes of The Closer, starting with the August 20, 2007 episode, as Brenda Johnson's (Kyra Sedgewick) father. He had several films in 2007: No Country for Old Men, Lake City, In the Valley of Elah, and the short films Trail End, and A Death in the Woods.
When not on
a film or television set, Corbin raises horses and cattle on his
ranch in Fort Worth, Texas, where he lives with his daughter (Shannon, b. 1965) and grandchildren.
He also has three sons: Bernard (b. 1970), Jim (b. 1979) and Chris (b. 1982). He and his second wife, Susan, divorced in 1992. Corbin appears at many roping and charity events. He recently helped the city of Lubbock, Texas celebrate 100 years.
See Barry's Clip Reel (from the Austin Film Society).
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