ERIC BARR taught acting and directing at University of California, Riverside from 1975 until 2013 and he is now a UCR professor emeritus of theatre. He has worked as a theatre director and acting coach for many years. He was the Artistic Director of the Porthouse Theatre in Cleveland, taught acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting in Los Angeles, and worked as an acting coach with the National Theatre of the Deaf.

In April of 2013, Eric Barr had a series of strokes caused by clots being dislodged from a heart infection which was the result of open heart surgery the prior year. The clots caused him to lose his ability to speak and the use of his left side while the heart’s electrical system was also under attack. Having almost died from the illness, Eric took this life altering experience and turned it into his one man show - A Piece of My Mind. As is written on his website - the show takes you on his journey from near-death to recovery and reinvention, it is a celebration of life, love, and the human spirit.