Gene Barry, 90, a debonair leading man who was best known as the sharply dressed lawmen of the television series "Bat Masterson" and "Burke's Law, and then earned a Tony Award nomination as a gay nightclub owner raising a son in "La Cage aux Folles," died Wednesday at an assisted living home in Woodland Hills, Calif. After an early stage career that included acting opposite Mae West in a Broadway comedy, Barry went to Hollywood and starred in a series of films that included the 1953 alien-invasion movie "The War of the Worlds." But it was on television that he thrived over the next 20 years, usually specializing in affable and urbane characters. He had a recurring role as a teacher who romances Eve Arden on CBS's "Our Miss Brooks" before earning top billing on "Bat Masterson" for NBC in 1958. WASHINGTON POST
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