Barbier began his career in light opera and spent several years in repertory and stock companies.

He eventually played on Broadway, where he appeared in seven productions between 1922 and 1930, among them The Hunchback of Notre Dame,[1] The Front Page and The Man Who Came Back.

[citation needed] He signed a contract with Paramount Pictures in 1929 and later worked as a character actor for most of the major studios.

The weighty, white-haired Barbier often played pompous, but mostly kind-hearted businessmen or patriarchs in supporting roles.

"[2] Barbier was originally interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California but was disinterred and reburied in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.