Barry Fitzgerald (10 March 1888 – 14 January 1961) was an
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
stage, film and television actor.
He was born
William Joseph Shields in Walworth Road, Portobello,
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
,
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
. He is the older brother of Irish actor
Arthur ShieldsArthur Shields was an Irish stage and film actor.Born into an Irish Protestant family in Portobello, Dublin, he started acting in the Abbey Theatre when still a young man. He was also an Irish Nationalist and fought in the Easter Uprising of 1916...
. He went to Skerry's College, Dublin, before going on to work in the civil service, while also working at the
Abbey TheatreThe Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
. By 1929, he turned to acting full-time. He was briefly a roommate of famed playwright
Sean O'CaseySeán O'Casey was a major Irish dramatist and memoirist...
and starred in such plays as O'Casey's
Juno and the PaycockJuno and the Paycock is a play by Sean O'Casey, the second of his well-known "Dublin Trilogy" and one of the most highly regarded and oft-performed plays in Ireland. It was first staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1924...
'.
Fitzgerald went to Hollywood to star in another O'Casey work, The Plough and the StarsThe Plough and the Stars is a 1936 drama film directed by John Ford based on the play of the same name by Seán O'Casey.-Cast:* Barbara Stanwyck - Nora Clitheroe* Preston Foster - Jack Clitheroe'* Barry Fitzgerald - Fluther Good...
(1936), directed by John FordJohn Ford was an American film director of Irish heritage famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
.
Barry Fitzgerald (10 March 1888 – 14 January 1961) was an
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
stage, film and television actor.
Life
He was born
William Joseph Shields in Walworth Road, Portobello,
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
,
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
. He is the older brother of Irish actor
Arthur ShieldsArthur Shields was an Irish stage and film actor.Born into an Irish Protestant family in Portobello, Dublin, he started acting in the Abbey Theatre when still a young man. He was also an Irish Nationalist and fought in the Easter Uprising of 1916...
. He went to Skerry's College, Dublin, before going on to work in the civil service, while also working at the
Abbey TheatreThe Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
. By 1929, he turned to acting full-time. He was briefly a roommate of famed playwright
Sean O'CaseySeán O'Casey was a major Irish dramatist and memoirist...
and starred in such plays as O'Casey's
Juno and the PaycockJuno and the Paycock is a play by Sean O'Casey, the second of his well-known "Dublin Trilogy" and one of the most highly regarded and oft-performed plays in Ireland. It was first staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1924...
'.
Fitzgerald went to Hollywood to star in another O'Casey work, The Plough and the StarsThe Plough and the Stars is a 1936 drama film directed by John Ford based on the play of the same name by Seán O'Casey.-Cast:* Barbara Stanwyck - Nora Clitheroe* Preston Foster - Jack Clitheroe'* Barry Fitzgerald - Fluther Good...
(1936), directed by John FordJohn Ford was an American film director of Irish heritage famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
. He had a successful Hollywood career in such films as The Long Voyage HomeThe Long Voyage Home is an American drama film and directed by John Ford. It features John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell, Ian Hunter, Barry Fitzgerald, Wilfrid Lawson, John Qualen, Mildred Natwick, Ward Bond, among others....
(1940), How Green Was My ValleyHow Green Was My Valley is a 1941 American drama film directed by John Ford. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, written by Philip Dunne, and based on the Richard Llewellyn novel of the same name. The film stars Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp, and Roddy McDowall...
(1941), And Then There Were None
(1945), and The Quiet ManThe Quiet Man is a American romantic drama film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen and Barry Fitzgerald. It was based on a Saturday Evening Post short story by Maurice Walsh...
(1952). Fitzgerald achieved a feat unmatched in the history of the Academy AwardsThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
: he was nominated for both the Best Actor Oscar and
the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the same performance, as "Father Fitzgibbon" in Going My WayGoing My Way, a 1944 film directed by Leo McCarey. It is a light-hearted musical comedy/drama about a new young priest taking over a parish from an established old veteran . Crosby sings five songs in the film. It was followed the next year by a sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's. This picture was...
(1944). (Academy Award rules have since been changed to prevent this.) He won the Best Supporting Actor Award; an avid golfer, he later broke the head off his Oscar statue while practicing his golf swing. (During World War II, Oscar statues were made of plaster instead of gold, owing to wartime metal shortages.)
He returned to live in Dublin in 1959.
Fitzgerald has two stars on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, that serves as an entertainment museum...
, for movies at 6220 Hollywood Blvd. and for television at 7001 Hollywood Blvd.
Partial filmography
- Juno and the Paycock
Juno and the Paycock is a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Barry Fitzgerald, Maire O'Neill, Edward Chapman and Sara Allgood.The film was based on a successful play by Sean O'Casey.-Plot:...
(1930)
- The Plough and the Stars
The Plough and the Stars is a 1936 drama film directed by John Ford based on the play of the same name by Seán O'Casey.-Cast:* Barbara Stanwyck - Nora Clitheroe* Preston Foster - Jack Clitheroe'* Barry Fitzgerald - Fluther Good...
(1936)
- Bringing Up Baby
Bringing Up Baby is a 1938 screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It tells the story of a scientist winding up in various predicaments involving a woman with a unique sense of logic and a leopard named Baby...
(1938)
- Four Men and a Prayer
Four Men and a Prayer is a 1938 adventure film directed by John Ford.-Cast:* Loretta Young - Miss Lynn Cherrington* Richard Greene - Geoffrey Leigh* George Sanders - Wyatt Leigh* David Niven - Christopher Leigh* C. Aubrey Smith - Col. Loring Leigh...
(1938)
- The Dawn Patrol
The Dawn Patrol is a 1938 American war film, a remake of the pre-Code 1930 film of the same name. Both were based on the short story "The Flight Commander" by John Monk Saunders, an American writer said to have been haunted by his inability to get into combat as a flyer with the U.S...
(1938)
- The Long Voyage Home
The Long Voyage Home is an American drama film and directed by John Ford. It features John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell, Ian Hunter, Barry Fitzgerald, Wilfrid Lawson, John Qualen, Mildred Natwick, Ward Bond, among others....
(1940)
- The Sea Wolf
The Sea Wolf is a 1941 black-and-white film adaptation of Jack London's novel The Sea Wolf with Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino, and John Garfield...
(1941)
- How Green Was My Valley
How Green Was My Valley is a 1941 American drama film directed by John Ford. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, written by Philip Dunne, and based on the Richard Llewellyn novel of the same name. The film stars Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp, and Roddy McDowall...
(1941)
- Tarzan's Secret Treasure
Tarzan's Secret Treasure is a Tarzan film based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is the fifth in the MGM Tarzan series to star Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan.-Plot:...
(1941)
- Corvette K-225
Corvette K -225 is a 1943 film starring Randolph Scott and Ella Raines. It was released in the UK as The Nelson Touch. Tony Gaudio was nominated for the 1943 Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on the film....
(1943)
- Going My Way
Going My Way, a 1944 film directed by Leo McCarey. It is a light-hearted musical comedy/drama about a new young priest taking over a parish from an established old veteran . Crosby sings five songs in the film. It was followed the next year by a sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's. This picture was...
(1944)
- None but the Lonely Heart (1944)
- Incendiary Blonde
Incendiary Blonde is a 1945 musical biography of 1920s nightclub star Texas Guinan. Filmed in Technicolor by director George Marshall, it starred actress Betty Hutton in the title role. The music was written by Robert Emmett Dolan. It was nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Music, Scoring of...
(1945)
- The Stork Club
- Cast :*Betty Hutton as Judy Peabody*Barry Fitzgerald as Jerry B. 'J.B.' / 'Pop' Bates*Don DeFore as Sgt. Danny Wilton*Andy Russell as Jimmy 'Jim' Jones*Robert Benchley as Tom P. Curtis*Bill Goodwin as Sherman Billingsley*Iris Adrian as Gwen...
(1945)
- And Then There Were None (1945)
- Two Years Before the Mast
Two Years Before the Mast is a 1946 adventure film based on Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s novel of the same name. It starred Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix, Howard Da Silva and Esther Fernández.-Plot summary:...
(1946)
- The Naked City
The Naked City is a 1948 black-and-white film noir directed by Jules Dassin. The movie, shot in documentary style, was filmed on location on the streets of New York City, featuring landmarks such as the Williamsburg Bridge and the Whitehall Building in Manhattan. William H...
(1948)
- The Story of Seabiscuit
The Story of Seabiscuit is a 1949 American drama film directed by David Butler. The screenplay was written by John Taintor Foote. The film is a fictionalized account of the career of the racehorse Seabiscuit with a subplot involving the romance between the niece of a horse trainer and a jockey...
(1949)
- Union Station
Union Station is a film noir, directed by Rudolph Maté. The drama features William Holden, Barry Fitzgerald, and Nancy Olson, among others.-Plot:...
(1950)
- The Quiet Man
The Quiet Man is a American romantic drama film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen and Barry Fitzgerald. It was based on a Saturday Evening Post short story by Maurice Walsh...
(1952)
- The Catered Affair
The Catered Affair , also known as Wedding Party, is a family drama film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Richard Brooks and produced by Sam Zimbalist from a screenplay by Gore Vidal, based on a television play by Paddy Chayefsky...
(1956)
- Cradle of Genius
Cradle of Genius is a 1961 Irish short documentary film directed by Paul Rotha. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short....
(1961)
External links