Betty Barlia; Singer, Actress and Producer in Small Theaters

Betty McNamara Barlia, a singer, actress and prolific producer in small theaters, died June 5 in Los Angeles of stomach cancer. She was a mature grandmother who refused to divulge her age.

A native of San Francisco, Barlia studied at the San Francisco Conservatory and first appeared professionally on a weekly television show in the Bay Area. She performed in musical theater for many years, working with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera in “Kiss Me Kate” and in Los Angeles and on Broadway in “Plain and Fancy.”

She was in the off-Broadway productions of “The Fantasticks” and “The Decameron,” and worked regularly in summer stock and regional theater.

Barlia, also a nightclub singer in New York, Atlantic City and San Francisco, became an accomplished pilot and flew competitively. She was active in the “99s,” an international organization of women pilots.

In Los Angeles, Barlia made a name as a producer in such local theaters as Theatre West, the Tiffany, the Coast Playhouse, the Court and Two Roads Theatre. She earned a Drama-Logue Award for her production of “Once a Man, Twice a Boy.”