A clean-cut heartthrob who racked up a handful of TV guest spots before landing his breakthrough role on the family-friendly
7th Heaven, Watson spent six seasons making teenage girls swoon. He segued to the big screen (
Teaching Mrs. Tingle and the cross-dressing comedy
Sorority Boys, which proved he could be equally dreamy in drag) during his tenure, before leaving the show in 2002 to pursue other projects. His plans came to a halt when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease that same year. After taking time off to tend to his health, Watson returned to the biz and to his small-screen family as a frequent
Heaven guest. In 2006, he landed a role as the title character in ABC's relationship drama
What About Brian. After ABC canceled that show, he landed on another ABC sitcom,
Samantha Who?, which starred Christina Applegate. When Applegate was diagnosed with breast cancer during the show's run, the actress turned to Watson for some advice since he had also dealt with a significant health crisis.
Barry Watson Fast Facts:
- Father was a lawyer and mother was a paralegal.
- Did some modeling as a teen; also parked cars at the House of Blues in Los Angeles.
- First professional acting job was a small role in the soap Days of Our Lives.
- Claimed to be the first person to drown on Baywatch in the episode "The Incident."
- Diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in 2002; helped out as a writer on 7th Heaven while undergoing chemotherapy.
- Barry Watson Relationships:
- Christie - Sister
- Karen Watson - Mother
- Kip Watson - Brother
- Laura Payne-Gabriel - Ex-wife
- Michael Watson - Father
- Oliver Watson - Son
- Scott Watson - Brother
- Tracy Hutson - Ex-fiancée
- Felix Watson - Son
- Natasha Gregson Wagner - Significant Other