THE ICON WALK: Irish Actors & Actresses
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FAMOUS, INFAMOUS AND SOME NOT SO (INTERNATIONALLY)
FAMOUS IRISH ACTORS & ACTRESSES
CAN YOU NAME ALL THE IRISH ACTORS & ACTRESSES?
(see below for answers!)
FAMOUS IRISH ACTORS & ACTRESSES
The history of Irish literature is dominated by our poets and playwrights. Most people assume that it was our novelists that earned us this reputation, but none of our Noble Prize winners for literature was a novelist. So it is no surprise that we also have a tradition of great actors especially after Yeats and Lady Gregory set up the Abbey Theatre. However it was wrong to assume that Irish acting bega then. For centuries we had produced the greatest playwrights in the English speaking world, William Congreve, Oliver Goldsmith, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Dion Boucicault, Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw.
The list of actors we feature are all of the post Abbey Theatre generation and nearly all of them thread it’s famous boards at one time or another. The most notable and now probably the most forgotten was probably F.J. McCormick who resisted all offers of wealth abroad. Two of his contemporaries from the Abbey who accepted offers from Hollywood and became rich and famous were Barry Fitzgerald and his brother Arthur Shields (the family name). Barry Fitzgerald is the only actor to have been nominated for two best actor awards for the same role, best actor and best supporting actor in “Going My Way’. After this they changed the rules.
Following in this great Irish acting tradition we have many current actors who went on to equal and even exceed these standards. Since it is our purpose to show the underpinnings of our tradition, actors currently working have been omitted from this list, except for a few who defied logic and continued on (e.g. Peter O’Toole). We would like here to acknowledge the current contribution of Brenda Fricker, Liam Neeson, Sinead Cusack, Fionnula Flanagan, Colin Farrell, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Cillian Murphy, Stephen Rea, David Kelly and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Two of our giant omissions Hilton Edwards and Micheal Mac Liammoir who founded The Gate Theatre.
FEATURED ACTORS & ACTRESSES:
1. DONAL DONNELLY
Artwork By: Sarah Tobin (Contact: sarahtobin773@hotmail.com)
Donal Donnelly (6th July 1931 – 4th January 2010)
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- The Knack …and How to Get It (1965)
- The Dead (1987)
- Twister (1989)
- The Godfather Part III (1990)
2. DONAL McCANN
Artwork By: Caomhán Mac Con Iomaire (Contact: caomhanmac@hotmail.com)
Donal McCann (7th May 1943 – 17th July 1999)
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- The Playboy of the Western World (TV movie) (1974)
- Philadelphia Here I Come (1975)
- Strumpet City (TV Series) (1980)
- The Dead (1987)
- Stealing Beauty (1996)
Artwork By: Warren Faye (Contact: warrenfayser@gmail.com)
Maureen O’Hara (17th August 1920 – )
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
- How Green Was My Valley (1941)
- The Black Swan (1942)
- Sinbad the Sailor (1946)
- Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
- Rio Grande (1950)
- The Quiet Man (1952)
- Our Man in Havana (1959)
- The Parent Trap (1961)
- McLintock! (1963)
- Only the Lonely (1991)
Artwork By: Paula McGloin (Contact:paula@rubywave.ie)
Siobhán McKenna ( 24th May 1923 – 16th November 1986)
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- Saint Joan (1958)
- King of Kings (1961)
- Of Human Bondage (1964)
- Doctor Zhivago (1965)
- Philadelphia, Here I Come (1975)
5. MILO O’SHEA
Artwork By: Austin Lysaght (Contact: austo77@gmail.com)
Milo O’Shea (2nd June 1926 – )
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- Ulysses (1967)
- Romeo and Juliet (1968)
- Barbarella (1968)
- Theatre of Blood (1973)
- Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973)
- The Verdict (1982)
- The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
- The Dream Team (1989)
- Only the Lonely (1991)
- The Butcher Boy (1997)
- Oz (TV series) (1999)
- The West Wing (TV Series) (2003/04)
6. STEPHEN BOYD
Artwork By: Anna Deegan (Contact: vfringe@gmail.com)
Stephen Boyd (4th July 1931 – 2nd June 1977)
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- Ben-Hur (1959)
- The Third Secret (1964)
- The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
- Genghis Khan (1965)
- Fantastic Voyage (1966)
- The Bible: In the Beginning… (1966)
- The Squeeze (1977)
Artwork By: Jessica Tobin (Contact: jesstobincys@gmail.com)
Barry Fitzgerald (10th March 1888 – 14th January 1961)
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- Juno and the Paycock (1930)
- The Plough and the Stars (1936)
- Bringing Up Baby (1938)
- The Dawn Patrol (1938)
- How Green Was My Valley (1941)
- And Then There Were None (1945)
- The Naked City (1948)
- The Story of Seabiscuit (1949)
- The Quiet Man (1952)
8. RAY McANALLY
Artwork By: Kevin Bohan (Contact: info@kevinbohan.ie)
Ray McAnally (30th March 1926 – 15th June 1989)
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- Shake Hands with the Devil (1959)
- The Naked Edge (1961)
- The Sleep of Death (1981)
- Cal (1984)
- The Mission (1986)
- White Mischief (1987)
- We’re No Angels (1989)
- My Left Foot (1989)
Artwork By: Pablo Mayer (Contact: braboscomics@gmail.com)
Jack MacGowran (13th October 1918 – 31st January 1973)
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- The Quiet Man (1952)
- The Rising of the Moon (1957)
- Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959)
- Tom Jones (1963)
- Lord Jim (1965)
- Doctor Zhivago (1965)
- The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
- How I Won the War (1967)
- Age of Consent (1969)
- King Lear (1971)
- The Exorcist (1973)
10. PETER O’TOOLE
Artwork By: Tarsila Krüse (Contact: tarsila.kruse@gmail.com)
Peter O’Toole (2nd August 1932 – )
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960)
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- Becket (1964)
- Lord Jim (1965)
- The Night of the Generals (1967)
- The Lion in Winter (1968)
- Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
- Murphy’s War (1971)
- Zulu Dawn (1979)
- Caligula (1979)
- Strumpet City (TV Series) (1980)
- The Stunt Man (1980)
- My Favorite Year (1982)
- The Last Emperor (1987)
- Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (1999)
- Bright Young Things (2003)
- Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)
- Troy (2004)
- Venus (2006)
- Stardust (2007)
- Dean Spanley (2008)
11. RICHARD HARRIS
Artwork By: Kevin Bohan (Contact: info@kevinbohan.ie)
Richard Harris (1st October 1932 – 25th October 2002)
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- Shake Hands with the Devil (1959)
- The Guns of Navarone (1961)
- Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
- This Sporting Life (1965)
- Major Dundee (1965)
- Camelot (1967)
- The Molly Maguires (1970)
- A Man Called Horse (1970)
- The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)
- Orca (1977)
- The Wild Geese (1978)
- The Field (1990)
- Patriot Games (1992)
- Unforgiven (1992)
- Gladiator (2000)
- My Kingdom (2001)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
12. F.J. McCORMICK
Artwork By: Warren Faye (Contact: warrenfayser@gmail.com)
F.J. McCormick (1890 – 24th April 1947)
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- The Plough and the Stars (1939)
- Hungry Hill (1947)
- Odd Man Out (1947)
13. MICK LALLY
Artwork By: Kevin Bohan (Contact: info@kevinbohan.ie)
Mick Lally (10th November 1945 – 31st August 2010)
MOST FAMOUS ROLES:
- Strumpet City (TV Series) (1980)
- Glenroe (1983 – 2001)
- Circle of Friends (1995)
- Alexander (2004)
- The Secret of Kells (2009)
