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Steve Barton (June 26, 1954 – July 21, 2001) was an American actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, stage director and teacher.Steven Neal Barton was born on June 26, 1954, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States, the youngest of three children of Tom and Mary Barton. He was raised in Nederland, Texas.He won a scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin (UTA), where he majored in theater, dance and voice, and appeared in over 30 productions with UTA and the Ballet of Austin. A UTA endowed Presidential Scholarship is now named for him. After graduation he went to Europe and landed his first professional role in St. Gallen, Switzerland, then performed in several major Swiss, German and Austrian theater companies.He played leading roles in West Side Story, Godspell, Romeo and Juliet, The Fantasticks, The Threepenny Opera, Oklahoma!, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Guys and Dolls, and Camelot, before playing the role of Munkustrap in the original Vienna cast of Cats, at the Theater an der Wien. At the Theater des Westens in Berlin he played roles in Guys and Dolls, Jesus Christ Superstar (as Jesus), La Cage aux Folles (as both Jean Michel and Albin/Zaza) and Robert in Company. In 1986 he originated the role of Raoul in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera in London, and in 1988 reprised that role in the original Broadway cast.Barton was married to swing dancer and choreographer Denny Berry, who served as dance supervisor for the North American productions of The Phantom of the Opera, whom he met at college. A son, Edward, was born in Vienna in 1984; the couple separated at an unspecified later date. He was an Honorary Chairperson of the Steadman Hawkins Sports Medicine Foundation and an honorary member of the UTA Board of Education.In 1996 Barton returned to Vienna, where he took over the part of the Beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. In his final project, he originated the role of Graf von Krolock in Roman Polanski's Tanz der Vampire, for which he won an IMAGE (International Music Award Germany) in 1998. Barton celebrated his 30-year onstage anniversary in 1997 during his run as von Krolock.Barton died on July 21, 2001 in Bremen, Germany at the age of 47.[1] While his death was initially attributed to heart failure, according to obituary information released by the press office for the New York production of The Phantom of the Opera, it was later ruled a suicide by the district attorney in Bremen.[2] His burial location was not made public at the request of his family.[3]