Barry Livingston

Barry Gordon Livingston, born December 17, 1953, in Los Angeles, California, is an American actor whose career spans television, film, and stage. The son of Lillian Rochelle Palyash and Hilliard Livingston, he is the younger brother of actor and director Stanley Livingston. He is best known for his portrayal of Ernie Douglas on the ABC sitcom My Three Sons, a role he held from 1963 to 1972.

Livingston began working as a child actor in the late 1950s. He considers his film debut to be a role as one of Paul Newman's sons in Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958), a production on which his older brother Stanley was also cast. He was released from the film after being required to wear glasses to correct his astigmatism. His first confirmed onscreen appearance came in an uncredited role in the 1961 film The Errand Boy. Early television work followed, including appearances on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and The Dick Van Dyke Show, as well as the recurring role of Arnold Mooney, son of banker Theodore J. Mooney played by Gale Gordon, on The Lucy Show. In 1962, he appeared in the film My Six Loves alongside Debbie Reynolds.

In 1963, Livingston joined My Three Sons as Ernie Thompson, a next-door neighbor, at a time when his brother Stanley was already a series regular playing Chip Douglas. When Tim Considine departed the series two years later, Livingston's character was adopted into the Douglas family, allowing the show's title to remain accurate. He stayed with the series through its final episode in 1972. During this period, he also appeared in a 1964 episode of the ABC medical drama Breaking Point at the age of ten.

Following the conclusion of My Three Sons, Livingston took on roles in Room 222 and The Streets of San Francisco. He played Linus in a stage production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, a role he reprised when the musical was adapted for television in 1973. In 1974, he appeared in the short-lived CBS series Sons and Daughters. His Broadway career includes an appearance in The Skin of Our Teeth in 1975, and he performed in stage productions across the country throughout the decade, including additional off-Broadway work. His television credits through the 1970s and 1980s include Police Woman, Simon and Simon, and 1st and Ten, alongside appearances in made-for-TV movies and theatrical films such as Sidewinder 1.

In later years, Livingston appeared in the 2007 film Zodiac and held a major role in the Hallmark Channel film Final Approach. His subsequent film credits include You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), The Social Network (2010), Horrible Bosses (2011), and War Dogs (2016). On television, he appeared in episodes of Mad Men, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men, and Anger Management. In October 2011, he published an autobiography titled The Importance of Being Ernie, covering his career from My Three Sons through his later work including Mad Men. Livingston is noted as the only cast member of My Three Sons to maintain an active Screen Actors Guild card.