Eric Barkley

Born near Lake Ontario in 1962. Eric Barkley grew up "doing a little fishing" as he puts it. He was born to an Italian -Irish Mother and his Father is of Irish, French, English, Scotch, and German decent. Eric has been involved in acting and writing since he was a child. Having performed in his first play at age 6 as a shepherd in his school's " Christmas Play " and the following year as the lead in the school's " Halloween Play ". He wrote his first of 800 poems "Love and Joy" in 1973 at age 10. Both of these talents are even more incredible when you realize that he was diagnosed with Athetoid Cerebral Palsy at age 10. This occurred due to an incident at birth when he was born breach and the umbilicle cord was wrapped around his throat twice. It is the mildest form of Cerebral Palsy, which effects the body more on the mental side, although there are several physical effects as well. To look at him you would not know this as he walks and talks normally thanks to surgery and physical therapy. He got more involved in theater in high school. Playing Sam Craig in "Our Town" while attending Santa Maria High in Santa Maria, CA and as well as Biondello in " Taming of The Shrew " (1978) and Freddy Eynsford-Hill in the straight version of "My Fair Lady" ( " Pygmalion " )( 1978 ) at Columbia High School in Richland, WA. It was while he was still in high school that he first got into making short films. Playing Capt. Linc Delfonso in a science fiction film called "Star Hunt" ( 1977 ) and James West in a "Wild Wild West" spoof "Night of The Mystery" ( 1978 )in which he also wrote the script. From there he joined the Navy briefly. In college he went on to study at the prestigious Pacific Conservatory of The Performing Arts or PCPA Theaterfest. Working first as a set builder ( 1983 )and returning three years later to play a soldier in Shakespeare's "Richard II" ( 1986 ). During this time he also performed in a soap opera "Rancho Santa Maria" ( 1985 ) playing record store employee Blair Curtis. Later that year he performed in two more plays "Curtain Going Up" & "A Doll's House" and a science fiction/fantasy film "Lesions" ( 1986 ) as Paul Flaherty. He then took a hiatus from 1986 to 1990. In 1990 he joined the cast of Disney's "The Rocketeer" as an extra and stand in for Alan Arkin. Then in 1992 he joined a Drama Ministry called "Covenant Players" traveling the USA, performing in Bible based plays, which ran from farce to intensely serious. He performed in a total of 200 plays with over 1100 performances nationwide ( including 4 months in Alaska ) from 1992-1994; 2000-2004. During this he wrote 3 plays "Perfect Timing" a WWII drama ( 1993 ), "Heaven Sent" a drama about loneliness ( 1994 ), and "A Matter of Murder" a comedy/mystery ( 1994 ). Also at this time he co-starred as King Henry VIII in "A Man For All Seasons" ( 1996 ) at the Middlesex Theater in Edison, New Jersey. In the past few years he has continued to write and act, he has now written 800 poems for both religious and secular venues, as well as several plays with his best being "The Conspirators" ( 2006 ) a WWII drama about an assassination attempt on Hitler, "An Evening With Friends" ( 2006 ) a murder mystery and two screenplays " Cries For The Innocent " a drama about a street preacher and "Among Friends" a murder mystery about a private eye who finds out that his friends are the culprits. In 2013 Eric has turned his focus on short films, having completed his first since high school this past November a blackmail drama called " The End of The Day " ( 2013 ) where he wrote, directed and starred. Now he is pre-production on his next project, a little drama best described as a drunken nightmare called "Once in Oblivion", due to go into production in just a few weeks for internet release later this year. Since 2013, Eric has completed several more films. Including: " Mystery Man " ( 2014 ) and " Ill Gotten Gains " ( 2015 ) with his production company Fitzley Brothers Productions. As well as " 28 Minute Epic " (2015 ) for Gorilla Ocho Films, "Prince of Bollywood " ( 2017 ) for Sara Jahan Films, "Faceless " ( 2013 ) and "The Package " ( 2013 ) for Jersey Cowboy Productions and " All Square " ( 2013 ) for Brian Andrews Productions. Most recently, he has two films in various stages of production " Beachhead " and the upcoming " The Interrogation " which is due to start filming in late July or August.