George Barrie

BARRIE GEORGE, passed away in the early morning of November 16, 2002, at Aventura Hospital, in Aventura, FL, where he lived. Born in 1912, he supported himself during and after high school by playing in several bands. He entered the beauty business initially by working for a hair products company, Rayette, in the late thirties and early forties, then started his own company in the mid-1940's called Caryl Richards (named for his two children). Years later, Caryl Richards and Rayette merged, went public, and George built the combined company into a top beauty salon and retail hair products group, extending the growth to the frangrance industry by acquiring the privately held Faberge Company in 1964. He created the Brut men's fragrance line a few years later and built that into a multimillion dollar international brand by the mid-70's. Mr. Barrie was a pioneer in the use of celebrities in business. Cary Grant was on the Board of Faberge for many years and became a close friend. George also brought Muhammed Ali, Pele, Joe Namath, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, and others into the Faberge family. In addition to this business focus, George was an accomplished songwriter (two songs were nominated for an Academy Award), movie producer ("A Touch of Class"), pilot, golfer, boatsman, and tennis player. A New York Stock Exchange firm, Faberge was sold in 1984 and Mr. Barrie moved to Florida and concentrated mostly on his musical and charitable endeavors. George Barrie is survived by his wife, Dorothy Barrie; three children; Caryl Barrie Kaplan and her husband, Roy; son, Richard and his wife, Lynn; and son, Craig; his brother, Milton; sister-in- law, Lee Barrie; ten grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. The family respectfully requests those wishing to honor Mr. Barrie to do so with charitable donations in lieu of sending flowers. Please contact the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center for information on a memorial service.