Don Barclay

Who was Don Barclay?

Don Barclay was an American actor whose many roles stretched the period from the Keystone Cops in 1915 to Mary Poppins in 1964. Aside from being a talented comic/character actor and dialectician, he was also a cartoonist and painter heralded by both the Armed forces, the Library of Congress and art collectors such as Diane Keaton. Recently discovered photos show him drawing caricatures of two of "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man"'s lead stars, Ilona Massey and Lon Chaney, Jr. with one visitor to that film's set, Shemp Howard of The Three Stooges.

He portrayed Admiral Boom's first mate, Mr. Binnacle in Disney's family film "Mary Poppins". His character was a former naval officer and next door neighbour to the Banks family.

Two examples of his paintings featuring Bob Hope, "Old Four Eyes" and "Bob Hope and Elf", are featured on the official Library of Congress website devoted to Bob Hope. Actress Director Diane Keaton purchased a clown painting by artist Don Barclay which led to her collecting clown paintings and the publication of the book by the actress called "Clown Paintings".