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person_profile-Sean McClory

Sean McClory Died at age: 79

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Sean McClory

Date of Birth:

Mar 08, 1924

Country of birth:

Ireland

Died:

Dec 10, 2003

Biography of

Sean McClory

    Sean McClory was born in Dublin, Ireland, but spent his early life in Galway. He was the son of Hugh Patrick, an architect and civil engineer, and Mary Margaret Ball, who had been a model.

    Sean decided to become an actor and joined Dublin's renowned Abbey Theater (also known as the National Theater of Ireland, opened in 1904). He rose through the ranks playing in productions of the works of such authors as William Butler Yeats and George Bernard Shaw, and soon began to play leads mostly in comedies (popular through most of the 1940s and into the 1950s).

    When comedies began to fade from the theater after World War II, McClory turned an eye toward film. In early 1947 he decided to make the jump to America and break into Hollywood. His first roles were that of a staple in American films: the Irish cop, which he played in two of the Dick Tracy series in 1947. In 1949 he signed a short contract with 20th Century-Fox. By 1950 he was showing up in more notable films - though uncredited, particularly in The Glass Menagerie (1950).

    Within a year McClory's talents were being showcased in various small feature roles. John Ford finally began casting - a painstaking process for the finicky director - for his long conceived The Quiet Man (1952) and chose McClory for a small but showy part, in which he was seen throughout the film feature with Charles B. Fitzsimons, the younger brother of the film's star, Maureen O'Hara, playing an Irish villager. Although some of the cast were familiar members of the "John Ford Stock Company", many roles were filled by actual Irish villagers (the film was shot on location) and included a generous helping of Abbey Theater alumni: the Shields brothers (Barry Fitzgerald and Arthur Shields) and Jack MacGowran, in addition to O'Hara McClory. Ford wanted him for roles in several of his subsequent films, however McClory's busy film and TV schedule only allowed him to accept roles in two other Ford films, The Long Gray Line and Cheyenne Autumn.

    McClory had a cultured, neutral Irish brogue that fit well in small- or big-screen performances, unlike such Irish actors as Barry Fitzgerald who, though very effective and beloved, had a thick brogue that kept him forever cast as an Irishman. As a result, McClory was much more at home in American TV and had many memorable roles from 1953 onward, appearing in a gamut of episodic TV in addition to his feature film work. However, it was his frequent appearances on the small screen that enabled McClory to stand out in viewers' memories, especially in a range of western and adventure series (in which he played a good sprinkling of Irish characters) well into the 1970s.

    Though not as busy in the 1980s as he was in the '70s, one role in which he truly stood out was in an adaptation by John Huston of Irish writer James Joyce's famous 1907 short story "The Dead" made in 1987 (The Dead (1987)), his final film appearance. McClory's role as Mr. Grace was not a character in the original story but was created by Huston and his son Tony Huston to provide McClory with a reading of the medieval Irish poem "Young Donal", which was very effective to the mood of this look at Irish family remembrance.

Photos of

Sean McClory

Photos ( 3 Photos

Filmography of

Sean McClory

Found 41 Movies in total

Body Bags

Minister ( Actor )

... 1993

The Dead

Mr. Grace ( Actor )

... 1987

Young Harry Houdini

Sean O'Casey ( Actor )

... 1987

My Chauffeur

O'Brien ( Actor )

... 1986

Roller Boogie

Jammer Delany ( Actor )

... 1979

The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe

Codge Collier ( Actor )

... 1976

Kate McShane

Pat McShane ( Actor )

... 1975

The Day of the Wolves

The Sheriff ( Actor )

... 1971

Bandolero!

Robbie O'Hare ( Actor )

... 1968

The Happiest Millionaire

Police Sgt. ( Actor )

... 1967

The King's Pirate

Sparkes ( Actor )

... 1967

The Gnome-Mobile

Horatio Quaxton ( Actor )

... 1967

Follow Me, Boys!

Edward White, Sr. ( Actor )

... 1966

Mary Poppins

Hound / Reporter #4 (voice) (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1964

Cheyenne Autumn

Dr. O'Carberry ( Actor )

... 1964

Valley of the Dragons

Michael Denning ( Actor )

... 1961

The Guns of Fort Petticoat

Emmett Kettle ( Actor )

... 1957

Diane

Count Michel Montgomery ( Actor )

... 1956

The King's Thief

Sheldon ( Actor )

... 1955

Moonfleet

Elzevir Block ( Actor )

... 1955

I Cover the Underworld

Gunner O'Hara / John O'Hara ( Actor )

... 1955

The Long Gray Line

Dinny Maher ( Actor )

... 1955

Ring of Fear

Dublin O'Malley ( Actor )

... 1954

Them!

Maj. Kibbee ( Actor )

... 1954

Man in the Attic

Constable #1 ( Actor )

... 1953

Charade

Jack Stuydevant ( Actor )

... 1953

Island in the Sky

Frank Lovatt, Dooley's co-pilot ( Actor )

... 1953

Plunder of the Sun

Jefferson ( Actor )

... 1953

Niagara

Sam (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1953

Les Miserables

Bamtasbois (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1952

The Quiet Man

Owen Glynn ( Actor )

... 1952

Anne of the Indies

Hackett ( Actor )

... 1951

... 1951

Lorna Doone

Charleworth Doone ( Actor )

... 1951

Storm Warning

Shore ( Actor )

... 1951

The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady

James Moore ( Actor )

... 1950

Roughshod

Fowler (as Shawn McGlory) ( Actor )

... 1949

Beyond Glory

Barney ( Actor )

... 1948

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome

Officer Carney (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1947

Dick Tracy's Dilemma

Officer Dillon (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1947