Like many child actors who happen to get an important film role in their lives yet their film careers doesn’t necessarily follow such path for too long, Cary Guffey certainly left an eternal mark in the movie business as Barry Guiler in Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). But he never thought this should be the main factor to define him. Guffey’s life took a different turn with a degree in marketing from the University of Florida, MBA from Alabama’s Jacksonville State University and working as a financial planner for Merrill Lynch. But early on, he was an actor with positive experiences.
He was born in 1972. His film debut around age 4 was in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) as Melinda Dillon’s son and he can be considered as a natural talent since he never had seen a movie in his life prior to this film experience (he was presented to a few films while making the film); and also the fact that director Steven Spielberg was really impressed by the kid’s abilities in delivering great performances in one or two takes to each scene he was part of. The movie went on to become a massive hit and Guffey was even considered to award nominations and later on considered by a deeply impressed Stanley Kubrick for the role of Danny Torrance in The Shining (1980). But that didn’t happen and Danny Lloyd was the chosen one.
Apart from Spielberg’s classic sci-fi, he’s best remembered as the humanoid alien H7-25 who partners Bud Spencer in Uno sceriffo extraterrestre… poco extra e molto terrestre (1979) and Chissà perché… capitano tutte a me (1980). Other credits include Martin Ritt’s Cross Creek (1983), Stroker Ace (1983), Mutant (1984) and The Bear (1984). In 1985, he appeared in one TV movie and one miniseries and then at age 13 he never returned to the entertainment world and turned his career to other businesses, but successful ones and now he’s a happily family man.
