Barry Moss

Barry Moss was a prolific casting director who worked in film and television but was best known for his work in the theater, which included dozens of acclaimed Broadway shows.

Born in Los Angeles, Moss was a performer as a child and studied theater arts at UCLA. He worked at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences before moving to New York to advance his career. He was running the theatrical department of the Mort Schwartz Agency when he met Julie Hughes, with whom he formed Hughes Moss Casting in 1981.

The partners went on to build one of the most successful casting firms in the business. They cast nearly 90 Broadway productions in all, and at one time they had eight shows running simultaneously.

Moss earned his first Broadway credit as casting director in 1977 with Chapter Two, written by Neil Simon. The two collaborated again when Moss cast Simon's They're Playing Our Song in 1979 and I Ought to Be in Pictures in 1980.

His credits with Hughes included Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Children of a Lesser God, Agnes of God, Torch Song Trilogy and dozens of others.

A partial list of other shows Moss was involved with included Woman of the Year, Nine, My One and Only, The Tap Dance Kid, Grand Hotel, The Will Rogers Follies, Crazy for You, Titanic, The Life, Jekyll & Hyde and Footloose. His revivals included West Side Story, Camelot, My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, On Your Toes, Show Boat, Sweeney Todd and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Moss also cast several feature films, including Friday the 13th, Endless Love, Blood Simple, The Cotton Club, A Chorus Line, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Dominick and Eugene and Little Nicky.

In addition, he made a significant impact on television when he cast The Cosby Show. His other TV projects included the Cosby Show spin-off A Different World and such telefilms as John and Yoko: A Love Story, Dreams Don't Die and The Demon Murder Case.

Moss died June 17, 2014, in New York City. He was 74.