Barry Moss, casting director for ‘The Cosby Show’ and Broadway productions, dies at 74

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Broadway and television casting director Barry Moss, who helped cast nearly 90 Broadway and touring productions, including the 1980 revival of “West Side Story,” ”Nine,” ”Torch Song Trilogy” and “The Who’s Tommy,” has died. He was 74.

Moss died June 17 of congestive heart failure at Mount Sinai Roosevelt in Manhattan, said his partner Bob Kale.

Among his casting credits are the 1995 revival of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” ”Titanic,” ”Woman of the Year,” ”My One and Only,” ”Black and Blue” and “Sweeney Todd,” He also was the casting director for “The Cosby Show “and was a founding member of The Casting Society of America.

Moss was a child actor who studied theatre arts at UCLA. He worked for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences before moving to New York to begin a career as a director. He joined the Mort Schwartz Agency, where he was put in charge of the theatrical department. He soon met Julie Hughes, with whom he founded Hughes Moss Casting in 1981. At one point, they had eight shows running simultaneously on Broadway.

Moss is survived by his longtime partner and business associate Kale, nephew Mark Ellman and nieces Laurie Levinsky and Gerry Ellman.