According to Baragrey's "Variety" obituary, the actor had a brush with greatness in the early '60s. At the Independence Day Celebration in Philadelphia on July 4, 1962, at which President John F. Kennedy was the principal speaker, Baragrey read the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. When they were introduced during the preliminaries, the President told the actor, "I'm one of your admiring fans. When I was hospitalized with a bad back, I used to watch you on television.".