Barra Grant is an American actress, screenwriter, film director and playwright.

Personal life

Grant was born Barbara Carol Wayne in New York, New York, the daughter of Allan Wayne, a doll company executive, and Bess Myerson

Bess Myerson

Bess Myerson became the first Jewish woman to win the Miss America pageant in 1945. She appeared on various television shows in the 1950s and 1960s...

, Miss America 1945. Her parents divorced in 1958. She became Barra Grant when her mother married Arnold Grant and he formally adopted her in 1962.
Barra Grant is married to writer and producer Brian Reilly.

Career

Grant began her career as an actress in the mid 1970s, appearing on television and in film. While acting at The Mark Taper

Mark Taper Forum

The Mark Taper Forum is a 739 seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles...

 she was inspired to start writing. In 1978, she wrote and appeared in Slow Dancing in the Big City

Slow Dancing in the Big City

Slow Dancing in the Big City is a 1978 film directed by John G. Avildsen. It stars Paul Sorvino and Anne Ditchburn.This was the first film made by Avildsen after 1976's Rocky captured Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. It has never been released on video or DVD.-Plot:Lou Friedlander...

. She began her career in directing with an episode of NBC Special Treat called The Tap Dance Kid

The Tap Dance Kid

The Tap Dance Kid is a musical based on the novel Nobody's Family is Going to Change by Louise Fitzhugh. It was written by Charles Blackwell with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics by Robert Lorick.-Productions:...

 based on a novel by Louise Fitzhugh

Louise Fitzhugh

Louise Fitzhugh was an American author and illustrator of young adult and children's literature.Her work includes Harriet the Spy, its sequels The Long Secret and Sport, and Nobody's Family is Going to Change.-Early life:Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she soon experienced her parents' divorce, from...

.

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2009	Love Hurts Love Hurts (2009 film) Love Hurts is a 2009 romantic comedy film with Richard E. Grant, Carrie-Anne Moss, Johnny Pacar, Jenna Elfman, Janeane Garofalo, and Camryn Manheim. It was written and directed by Barra Grant.-Synopsis:...		Writer/ Director
2005	Life of the Party Life of the Party (2005 film) Life of the Party is a 2005 film with Eion Bailey and Ellen Pompeo. It was written and Directed by Barra Grant.-Synopsis:Michael Elgin, former high school track star, now in his thirties, is floundering. He keeps life's realities at bay by having too many cocktails a few nights too often...		Writer/ Director
1984	Misunderstood Misunderstood (1984 film) Misunderstood is a 1984 film directed by Jerry Schatzberg, based on the 19th-century novel by Florence Montgomery....		Writer
1978	Slow Dancing in the Big City Slow Dancing in the Big City Slow Dancing in the Big City is a 1978 film directed by John G. Avildsen. It stars Paul Sorvino and Anne Ditchburn.This was the first film made by Avildsen after 1976's Rocky captured Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. It has never been released on video or DVD.-Plot:Lou Friedlander...	Mildred	Writer
	Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force	Susan Hewman	TV movie
1977	The Sunshine Boys	Sylvia Grant	TV movie
1976	Mother, Jugs & Speed Mother, Jugs & Speed Mother, Jugs & Speed is a 1976 black comedy film directed by Peter Yates. It stars Bill Cosby , Raquel Welch , Harvey Keitel , and Larry Hagman as employees of an independent ambulance service trying to survive in Los Angeles.-Plot:...	Miss Crocker
1975	Let's Switch!	Morgan Ames	TV movie
1974	Roll, Freddy, Roll! Roll, Freddy, Roll! - Plot summary :A man tries to impress his son by breaking the world record for staying on roller skates.- Cast :*Tim Conway as Freddy Danton*Jan Murray as Big Sid Kane*Moosie Drier as Tommy Danton*Barra Grant as Sidni Kane*Scott Brady as Adm...	Sidni Kane	TV movie
	Trapped Beneath the Sea Trapped Beneath the Sea Trapped Beneath the Sea is a 1974 television movie about four men trapped in a mini-submarine in waters off the coast of Florida. Paul Michael Glaser, Joshua Bryant, Cliff Potts and Roger Kern play the victims in this movie. Lee J. Cobb and Martin Balsam are among those trying to rescue...	Grace Wallants	TV movie
1973	The Ted Bessell Show		TV movie
1972	It Ain't Easy	Ann
	Daughters of Satan	Chris Robertson
1971	Lulie IV		TV movie
	Jenny IV		TV movie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Living Single Living Single Living Single is an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 29, 1993 to January 1, 1998. The show centered on the lives of six friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone.Throughout its run, Living...		"U.N.I.T.Y." (Writer)
1992	Freshman Dorm		"The Last Sonnet" (Writer)
1991	CBS Schoolbreak Special CBS Schoolbreak Special CBS Schoolbreak Special is an American anthology series for teenagers that aired on CBS from April 1980 to January 1996. The series originally premiered under the title CBS Afternoon Playhouse, and was later changed during the 1984 - 85 season...		"Lies of the Heart" (Writer/ Director)
1990	The Earth Day Special		TV special (Writer)
1987	CBS Summer Playhouse CBS Summer Playhouse CBS Summer Playhouse is an American anthology series that ran from June 12, 1987 to August 22, 1989 on CBS. It aired unsold television pilots during the summer season.-Overview:...		"Mabel and Max" (Writer)
1978	NBC Special Treat		"Tap Dance Kid" (Writer (teleplay)/ Director)
1976	Jigsaw John		"Mourning Line" (Writer (teleplay)/ Director)
1976	Joe Forrester		"Fire Power"
1973	Barnaby Jones Barnaby Jones Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...	Mrs. Morris	"Stand-In for Death"
	Gunsmoke Gunsmoke Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....	Teresa	"The Widow-Maker"
	Love, American Style Love, American Style Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...		"Love and the Baby Derby"
	The Bold Ones: The New Doctors The Bold Ones: The New Doctors The Bold Ones: The New Doctors is an American medical drama that lasted for four seasons on NBC, from 1969 to 1973.-Overview:The series focuses on the life of Dr. David Craig The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (also known as The New Doctors) is an American medical drama that lasted for four seasons on...	Eve Tanner	"Tightrope to Tomorrow"
1972	The Mary Tyler Moore Show The Mary Tyler Moore Show The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...	Judy Conrad	"The Courtship of Mary's Father's Daughter"
1971	Sarge Sarge (TV series) Sarge was a Universal Television / Harbour Productions television series starring George Kennedy as Samuel Patrick Cavanaugh, a San Diego police detective sergeant who decides to retire and enter the priesthood after his wife is murdered...	Christina	"A Terminal Case of Vengeance"
	Take Three Girls Take Three Girls Take Three Girls is a drama series on BBC1 which ran between 1969 and 1971 about the lives of three girls sharing a flat in 'Swinging' London....	Lulie	"Release" "A School for Grievances" "Composition Out of Discord" "Freelance" "A Little Blindness" "Prelude to a New Arrangement" "Kitsch, or Protocols in a Chinese Laundry" "The Company of Madmen" "Duet for Two Left Feet" "Closed Circuit" "The Private Sector" "Coda and Resolution"