Background:

“I think every actor should try to dip in to every aspect of the business in some way because I think it's really made me a better actor you know, knowing every single process of how everything gets done... and I want to try to do everything.” Barry Watson

American actor Barry Watson is famous for portraying Matt Camden on the hit television series “7th Heaven” (The WB: 1996–2006; The CW: 2006-2007), a gig he had from 1996 to 2005. He won a Teen Choice Award for his work, not mention two Teen Choice nominations and a Young Artist nomination. He also directed and wrote episodes of “7th Heaven.” After leaving the series, Watson starred in the television series “What About Brian” (ABC, 2006-2007) and “Samantha Who?” (ABC, 2007-2009), with the latter brought him another Teen Choice nomination. Watson has also starred in several films, such as “Teaching Mrs. Tingle” (1999, received nominations at the Teen Choice and MTV Movie Awards), “When Strangers Appear” (2001), “Sorority Boys” (2002, earned a Teen Choice nomination), “Boogeyman” (2005) and “The Chateau Meroux” (2011).      

One of People Magazine's “Sexiest Men Alive” in 2006, Watson has been married twice. His first marriage to actress Laura Payne-Gabriel lasted for three years (1997-2000). Watson and his second wife, designer Tracy Hutson, who is one of the original style consultants on ABC TV's television series “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” have two sons together. The family lives in Los Angeles. Watson is an avid fan of basketball and frequently attends his favorite team, Los Angeles Clippers, home games.

“I'm a real stubborn person. So nobody is going to tell me I'm going anywhere until I'm ready. So when I found out I had it, I was like, 'Alright, what do we need to do.' I said, 'I'm going to be fine. I know I am.” Barry Watson (on his battle against cancer) 

In May 2002, Watson was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and was forced to go on hiatus from “7th Heaven” while he received treatment. In April 2003, his cancer was reported in remission, and he started appearing on the show again.              


Bucky

Childhood and Family:

Barry Watson, whose real names is Michael Barrett Watson, was born on April 23, 1974, in Traverse City, Michigan, to an attorney father, Michael, and a paralegal mother, Linda. His family moved to Dallas, Texas when he was eight years old. Once in Dallas, Barry took acting classes at the Dallas Young Actors Studio and started modeling. His parents divorced when he was 14, and in the following year, he moved to Burbank, California, where he soon kicked off his professional acting career in “Days.” After his contract ended, he moved back to Texas, and graduated from Richardson High School in 1992. Barry has two older siblings, Scott and Christie (both older), and a younger one named Kip.

On November 21, 1997, Barry married Laura Payne-Gabriel, whom he met through actress Tori Spelling. The couple divorced in 2000. In 2003, Barry was reunited with high school classmate and former girlfriend Tracy Hutson. Barry proposed to her with a yellow Neil Lane diamond ring in August 2004. The couple welcomed their first child, son Oliver Watson, on May 2, 2005. Barry and Tracy married on July 14, 2006. Their second son, Felix Watson, was born on November 13, 2007.

Barry Watson got the nickname Bucky from his “7th Heaven” co-stars.


Teaching Mrs. Tingle

Career:

“You know when I first started off, before I was like a series regular starring or doing any movies or anything like that, I was always guest starring as like, the bad guy. Forever. But nobody will ever remember that because people only know me for playing like, you know, these nice guys.” Barry Watson

At age 16, Barry Watson landed a six month contract on the long running daytime soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” where he played Randy. After his contract ended, he left Los Angeles and returned back to Texas to complete his secondary education. Once he graduated, Watson moved back to Los Angeles to continue his acting occupation.

In 1993, Watson had small parts in the made for television films “Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald” (NBC), starring Helena Bonham Carter, Robert Picardo and Frank Whaley, and “Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman” (HBO), directed by Christopher Guest and starring Daryl Hannah, Daniel Baldwin and Frances Fisher. Following a an uncredited part in an episode of the Fran Drescher hit sitcom “The Nanny” (1994), he landed a two episode arc as Barney on The WB's “Sister, Sister” (1995). 

Watson, who worked parking cars at a House of Blues nightclub while auditioning for roles, eventually was selected for a minor role on the Aaron Spelling primetime teen drama/soap opera  “Malibu Shores” (1996), whose cast also included Keri Russell, Tony Lucca, Christian Campbell, Katie Wright, Greg Vaughan, Tia Texada, Charisma Carpenter, Jacob Vargas, Randy Spelling, Walter Jones and Susan Ward. He played Seth in five of a total 10 episodes aired. 1996 also saw him make guest appearances in CBS' “Nash Bridges” (as Trent) and “Baywatch” (as Thomas Edward 'Cowboy' O'Hara) as well as appear with Tori Spelling, Susan Blakely and Scott Plank in the CBS television film “Co-ed Call Girl.”    

However, Watson did not experience a huge break until he was cast as Matt Camden, the eldest child of the Camden family, on the family drama television series “7th Heaven,” which premiered on The WB on August 26, 1996. He left the show after its ninth season in 2005, but guest starred in two episodes of “7th Heaven” during its tenth season. He wrote the episode “Peer Pressure” (2002) and directed two episodes, “Brotherly Love” and “The Rat's Out of the Bag” (both 2005). For his acting efforts, Watson was nominated for Teen Choice Awards  in the category of TV- Choice Actor twice in 1999 and 2001 and eventually winning the award for TV - Choice Actor, Drama in 2002. HE also received a 1999 Young Artist nomination for Best Performance in a TV Series - Young Ensemble.   

During a nine year tenure on the show, Watson also took several other acting projects. In 1999, he starred in his first feature film along with fellow WB star Katie Holmes, Helen Mirren and Marisa Coughlan in “Teaching Mrs. Tingle,” the directing debut of screenwriter Kevin Williamson. Playing Luke Churner, he shared a Teen Choice nomination for Film - Choice Chemistry and a MTV Movie nomination for Best Kiss. The black comedy received generally negative reviews and was not a success at the box office.  Commenting on his co-star, Helen Mirren, he said, “Helen Mirren is like the sexiest woman on the planet to me. She is. Just the way she goes about everything - she's just sexy as all hell. Taylor Hackford [Mirren's husband] is a very lucky man. That's all I can say.”

Watson went on to star with Radha Mitchell, Josh Lucas and Kevin Anderson in the psychological thriller movie “When Strangers Appear” (2001), directed and written by Scott Reynolds, made a self appearance in Steven Soderbergh's critically and commercially successful film, “Ocean's Eleven” (2001), and portrayed Dave/Daisy in the Wallace Wolodarsky helmed comedy “Sorority Boys” (2002), opposite Michael Rosenbaum and Harland Williams. He was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for Film - Choice Actor, Comedy for the latter film. Watson supported Marla Sokoloff, Jennifer Tilly and Monika Schnarre in “Love on the Side” (2004), a romance/comedy film directed by Vic Sarin and written by Brigitte Talevski, and starred as Tim Jensen in the horror hit “Boogeyman” (2005).  

In April 2006, Watson began his leading role of Brian Davis in the ABC comedy/drama series “What About Brian,” opposite Sarah Lancaster, Rosanna Arquette, Matthew Davis, Rick Gomez and Amanda Detmer. The show ended  its run after two seasons on March 26, 2007. He went on to portray  Todd Deepler, Samantha's ex boyfriend in the television sitcom “Samantha Who?,” starring Christina Applegate as the title character. Premiered on ABC on October 15, 2007, the show enjoyed high ratings  during its first season but lost momentum and audiences throughout its second season, which eventually led to its cancellation in May 2009. The last episode broadcast on July 23, 2009. Watson was nominated for a 2008 Teen Choice Award in the category of Choice TV Actor: Comedy for his work on “Samantha Who?”

In 2010, Watson appeared as Evan Robbins in Lifetime's legal drama series, “Drop Dead Diva,”   called “Good Grief.” In the next year, he co-starred with Christine Taylor and Sherri Shepherd in the TV film “Rip City”(TV Land), directed by Gil Junger, and portrayed Pax in the ABC Family original movie “My Future Boyfriend,” with Sara Rue.

Watson revisited the big screen when he played Chris in the romance film “The Chateau Meroux,” directed by Bob Fugger and written by Tim Carter and Adam Morrison. The film was released straight to video in the US on January 3, 2012. The cast also included Daniel Bastreghi, Christopher Lloyd and Taylor Negron.

Watson has completed filming the starring role of Luke on the television film “Kiss at Pine Lake,” directed by Michael Scott and written by David Golden. It will be released in the US on May 6, 2012.           


Awards:

Teen Choice: TV - Choice Actor, Drama, “7th Heaven,” 2002
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