J.M. Kerrigan
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 16, 1884
- Died
- April 29, 1964 (aged 79)
- Birthplace
- Dublin, Ireland
Biography
Joseph Michael Kerrigan (16 December 1884 – 29 April 1964), better known as J.M. Kerrigan, was an Irish character actor. Kerrigan was born in Dublin, Ireland. He worked as a newspaper reporter until 1907 when he joined the famous Abbey Players. There he became a stalwart, appearing in plays by Lady Gregory, William Butler Yeats and John Millington Synge (for whom he played the role of Shawn Keogh in The Playboy of the Western World. His first screen appearance was in the silent film Food of Love in 1916. By the 1920s he was appearing on Broadway, often in plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Sheridan. He settled permanently in Hollywood in 1935, having been recruited along with several other Abbey performers, to appear in John Ford's The Informer. In that film and in Ford's The Long Voyage Home, he plays similar roles, that of a leech who attaches himself to men until they run out of money. Perhaps his best known role was in The General Died at Dawn, where he plays a character actually named Leach, in which he steals scenes from Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll and William Frawley. In it he plays a sinister little petty thief who, holding a gun on Cooper, says, "I may be fat, but I'm agile." He had little screen time in films which he starred as minor roles, such as the "First Drayman" in Merely Mary Ann (1931) with Janet Gaynor. One of his most recognizable minor roles was in Gone with the Wind (1939), in which he played John Gallegher, the seemly jovial mill owner who whips his convict labour in to "co-operation". He appeared in Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), the famous film version of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in a minor role at the beginning of the film. In 1946, he tried breaking into Broadway shows, playing the discombobulated leprechaun Jackeen J. O'Malley in the show "Barnaby and Mr. O'Malley", based on the Crockett Johnson comic strip. J. M. Kerrigan died in Hollywood on 29 April 1964, aged 79. Kerrigan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6621 Hollywood Blvd.
Known For
Filmography
Shirley Temple's Storybook
TV · as Mr Pickles · 1 ep
The Fastest Gun Alive
Movie · as Kevin McGovern
It's a Dog's Life
Movie · as Paddy Corbin
Matinee Theater
TV · 1 ep
Frontier
TV · 1 ep
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Movie · as Billy
The Silver Whip
Movie · as Riley
General Electric Theater
TV · as Jimmy, Dennis Malloy · 1 ep
Letter to Loretta
TV · as Mr. Thomas J. Flaherty · 1 ep
Park Row
Movie · as Dan O'Rourke
My Cousin Rachel
Movie · as Reverend Pascoe
The Wild North
Movie · as Callahan
Sealed Cargo
Movie · as Skipper Ben
Two of a Kind
Movie
Lux Video Theatre
TV · as Dr. Makery · 1 ep
Mrs. Mike
Movie · as Uncle John
The Fighting O'Flynn
Movie · as Timothy
Call Northside 777
Movie · as Sullivan - Court Bailiff (uncredited)
The Luck of the Irish
Movie · as Tatie the Innkeeper
Studio One
TV · as Pether Flynn · 1 ep
Black Beauty
Movie · as John
Abie's Irish Rose
Movie · as Patrick Murphy
The Spanish Main
Movie · as Pillery Gow
The Great John L.
Movie · as Father O'Malley
The Crime Doctor's Warning
Movie · as Robert MacPherson (uncredited)
She Went to the Races
Movie · as Jeff Habbard
Tarzan and the Amazons
Movie · as Splivens
The Fighting Seabees
Movie · as Sawyer Collins
The Big Bonanza
Movie · as 'Judge' Jasper Kincaid
Wilson
Movie · as Edward Sullivan
Action in the North Atlantic
Movie · as Caviar Jinks (uncredited)
Mr. Lucky
Movie · as Mr. McDougal (uncredited)
Captains of the Clouds
Movie · as Foster
The Vanishing Virginian
Movie · as John Phelps
The Wolf Man
Movie · as Charles Conliffe
Appointment for Love
Movie · as Timothy
Congo Maisie
Movie · as Captain Finch
One Crowded Night
Movie · as Brother 'Doc' Joseph
Untamed
Movie · as Mr. Angus McGavity
The Long Voyage Home
Movie · as Crimp
The Sea Hawk
Movie · as Eli Matson
Young Tom Edison
Movie · as Mr. McCarney
No Time for Comedy
Movie · as Jim
Curtain Call
Movie · as Mr. Middleton
Gone with the Wind
Movie · as Johnny Gallagher
The Witness Vanishes
Movie · as Flinters
Sorority House
Movie · as Lew Fisher
Union Pacific
Movie · as Monahan
The Kid From Texas
Movie · as Farr
Undercover Agent
Movie · as Tom 'Pop' Madison
The Great Man Votes
Movie · as Hot Shot Gillings
The Zero Hour
Movie · as Timothy
6,000 Enemies
Movie · as Dan Barrett
Two Thoroughbreds
Movie · as Jack Lenihan
The Flying Irishman
Movie · as Mr. Clyde Corrigan Sr.
Sabotage
Movie · as Mel
Two Bright Boys
Movie · as Mike Casey
Ride a Crooked Mile
Movie · as Sgt. Flynn
Spring Madness
Movie · as Mr. Maloney (uncredited)
Little Orphan Annie
Movie · as Tom Jennings
Vacation from Love
Movie · as Danny Dolan, Hansom Cabbie
London by Night
Movie · as Tims
Motor Madness
Movie · as Henry John 'Cap' McNeil
The Barrier
Movie · as Sgt. Thomas
Lloyd's of London
Movie · as Brook Watson
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Movie · as Judge Maiben
Colleen
Movie · as Pop Reilly
Timothy's Quest
Movie · as Dr. Cudd
The Plough and the Stars
Movie · as Uncle Peter
Spendthrift
Movie · as Pop O'Connell
Special Investigator
Movie · as Judge Plumgate
The General Died at Dawn
Movie · as Leach
Laughing Irish Eyes
Movie · as Tim
Let's Make a Million
Movie · as Sam Smith
Werewolf of London
Movie · as Hawkins
The Informer
Movie · as Terry
Barbary Coast
Movie · as Judge Harper
A Feather in Her Hat
Movie · as Pobjoy
Vanessa: Her Love Story
Movie · as Perkins (uncredited)
Hot Tip
Movie · as Matt
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Movie · as Chief Verger Tope
The Lost Patrol
Movie · as Quincannon
The Key
Movie · as O'Duffy
A Modern Hero
Movie · as Mr. Ryan
The Fountain
Movie · as Shordley
A Study in Scarlet
Movie · as Jabez Wilson
Air Hostess
Movie · as Pop Kearny
Lone Cowboy
Movie · as Mr. Curran
Paddy the Next Best Thing
Movie · as Collins
Vanity Street
Movie · as Dan - Irish Cop (uncredited)
Rockabye
Movie · as Fagin
Careless Lady
Movie · as Trowbridge
The Rainbow Trail
Movie · as Paddy Harrigan
The Black Camel
Movie · as Thomas MacMasters
Don't Bet on Women
Movie · as Chipley Duff
Merely Mary Ann
Movie · as First Drayman
Lightnin'
Movie · as Judge Lemuel Townsend
Song o' My Heart
Movie · as Peter
New Movietone Follies of 1930
Movie · as Gateman in Show
Under Suspicion
Movie · as Doyle
Lucky In Love
Movie · as Connors
Little Old New York
Movie · as John O'Day