Growing up as an only child in Fort Wayne, Barr made her acting debut at the age of 13 in a production of Peter Pan.

This helped her decide to pursue acting as a career, and by the time she graduated from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, she had performed in 25 professional productions.

Barr broke into soap operas with a short stint as bad girl Reenie Szabo on Ryan's Hope.

Barr became close friends with noted actress Ruth Warrick, who portrayed her aunt Phoebe on the show until her death in 2005.

In late 2006, executives at ABC did not renew Barr's contract, and offered her recurring status (without a guarantee of appearances).

[2] In 2007, Barr teamed up her with All My Children co-star Jill Larson to produce and write a web series titled The Vindicated, which about three women, who are at a point in their lives in which they are without their male counterparts for different reasons.

Barr again returned to AMC in February 2010 for a brief stint coinciding with the retirement of David Canary (Adam Chandler) on April 23, 2010.