From Mary Pickford to John Wayne to George Clooney, Hollywood’s biggest movie stars have always been keen to promote their Irish credentials. Michael Doherty looks at eight stars, old and new, who have more reason than most to fly the green flag.
Olivia Wilde
Part of the new breed of Irish American stars, Olivia Jane Cockburn was born in New York but raised in Ireland, and her acting talents were honed at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin. One of US TV’s most prominent stars, (House, The OC, The Black Donnellys) Olivia is also a darling of the lads’ mags and she regularly tops those Sexiest Gals polls. She took her surname from the Irish playwright and it looks like her movie career will have her looking at the stars.
Gene Kelly
He may have been born in Pittsburgh, but Eugene Curran Kelly was Irish to the core. The greatest dancer of them all (sorry, Fred) he had devilish charm, a twinkle in his eye and magic in his feet.
Grace Kelly
She looked the archetypal WASP, but Grace Kelly was the granddaughter of a Mayo man, who raised all of his family in the Irish Catholic tradition. The Princess Grace Irish Library helped the Philly gal to pay homage to her Irish roots and her visit here in 1961 remained a highlight of her life.
Pat O’Brien
The Wisconsin born character actor was part of the first Hollywood Irish rat pack (alongside Jimmy Cagney and Spencer Tracy). He played so many priests, his nickname in Tinseltown was ‘’Irishman in Residence’’.
John Ford
The son of a Spiddal man and a woman from the Aran Islands, Sean Aloysius Feeney may have been born in Maine, but he was as Irish as corned beef. The multi-Oscar-winner directed more than 140 films but the people’s favourite remains The Quiet Man (1952), the movie that defined Irishness for a generation of moviegoers.
Errol Flynn
He was born in Tasmania, but Flynn called himself Irish when he arrived in Tinseltown and proceeded to live the stereotype for the rest of his brief but glittering life and career.
Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen isn’t one of those Hollywood stars who pay lip service to their Irish roots; he’s a regular visitor to these shores and indeed has just finished filming Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s Stella Days, not far from where his Tipperary mother was born.
Maggie Q
Another of the new breed of Irish American stars, Maggie Q is actually Margaret Quigley, a Hawaiian-born model of Irish extraction who made her name on TV as Nikita, but already has a string of big movies (sequels, as it happens!) to her name, including Rush Hour 2, Mission Impossible: III, Die Hard 4.
Hall of Fame
Gone, but never forgotten
Ray McAnally (1926 – 1989)
The greatest actor of the lot, McAnally’s magnificent reputation had already been sealed for his work on stage and TV (notably A Very British Coup) before he began to make his mark on the big screen. In the late 1980s, the movie roles were flooding in and he committed some superb performances to film before his untimely death.
3 key films: No Surrender (1985), The Mission (1986), My Left Foot (1989)
Cyril Cusack (1910 – 1993)
Three are many scene-stealers on this Hall of Fame list, but none had quite the skill of Cyril Cusack. Cusack appeared in more than 90 movies and the size of the role didn’t matter because he always made his mark. Cusack is the patriarch of an acting dynasty that includes Sinéad, Sorcha, Niamh and Catherine.
3 key films: Odd Man Out (1947), Ill Met By Moonlight (1957), The Day of the Jackal (1973)
Donal McCann (1943 – 1999)
Arguably our greatest ever theatre actor, McCann made irregular forays onto the big screen but he was never less than memorable. Often a brooding presence on screen, McCann’s working motto was ‘It must be done right’. With him, it always was.
3 key films: Poitín (1978), The Dead (1987), December Bride (1991)
Eddie Byrne (1911 – 1981)
This marvellous Dublin character actor was a solid presence in British movies throughout the1950s, ’60s and ’70s. Eddie’s acting tradition carries on through his daughter, Catherine, also a stage actor of note and a familiar figure in Carrigstown.
3 key films: Rooney (1958), The Mummy (1959), The Bridal Path (1959)
Barry Fitzgerald (1888 – 1961)
This legendary Abbey star would become one of Hollywood’s greatest character actors. His impish charm often belied his skill as an actor, but he remained a beloved screen presence throughout his career.
3 key films: How Green Was My Valley (1941), Going My Way (1944), The Quiet Man (1952)
Richard Harris (1930 – 2002)
Forget the hell-raising tag, the Limerick man could deliver the goods where it mattered, on screen. Younger audiences will always know him as Dumbledore; the rest of us remember him as a screen great.
3 key films: This Sporting Life (1963), A Man Called Horse (1970), The Field (1990)
Maureen O'Sullivan (1911 – 1988)
The Roscommon woman was a Hollywood star long before daughter Mia Farrow. She was Johnny Weismuller's Jane and also delivered fine performances in a number of classic literary adaptations.
3 key films: Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), The Thin Man (1934), A Day at the Races (1937)
Noel Purcell (1900 – 1985)
A towering figure in every sense of the word, Purcell was a classic character actor, often called upon to play seafaring types. And no matter who he played, you could cut the Dublin accent with a knife.
3 key films: The Crimson Pirate (1952), Moby Dick (1956), Mutiny of the Bounty (1962)
