Sean McClory
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- March 8, 1924
- Died
- December 10, 2003 (aged 79)
- Birthplace
- Dublin, Ireland
Biography
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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Body Bags
Movie · as Minister
The Dead
Movie · as Mr. Grace
Young Harry Houdini
Movie · as Sean O'Casey
My Chauffeur
Movie · as O'Brien
Murder, She Wrote
TV · as Ross Barber · 1 ep
Bring 'Em Back Alive
TV · 17 eps
Falcon Crest
TV · as Frank O'Neal · 1 ep
Roller Boogie
Movie · as Jammer Delany
Battlestar Galactica
TV · as Assault 9 · 1 ep
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
Movie · as Codge Collier
Kate McShane
Movie · as Pat McShane
S.W.A.T.
TV · 1 ep
Kate McShane
TV · as Pat McShane · 10 eps
The Day of the Wolves
Movie · as The Sheriff
Columbo
TV · as Captain · 1 ep
Bandolero!
Movie · as Robbie O'Hare
The Outcasts
TV · 1 ep
Lancer
TV · as Coley McHugh · 1 ep
The Gnome-Mobile
Movie · as Horatio Quaxton
The Happiest Millionaire
Movie · as Police Sergeant
The King's Pirate
Movie · as Sparkes
Mannix
TV · 1 ep
The High Chaparral
TV · as Sandy McIntire · 1 ep
The Guns of Will Sonnett
TV · 2 eps
Follow Me, Boys!
Movie · as Edward White, Sr.
Family Affair
TV · 1 ep
Tarzan
TV · 1 ep
Lost in Space
TV · as Hamish · 1 ep
Honey West
TV · as Insurance Investigator Booth · 1 ep
Convoy
TV · as Major Perth-Whittaker · 1 ep
Cheyenne Autumn
Movie · as Dr. O'Carberry
Daniel Boone
TV · as Liam O'Hara, Ephron Marsh, Bartender · 1 ep
The Great Adventure
TV · as Major Carlton · 1 ep
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV · 1 ep
The Dakotas
TV · 1 ep
The Outer Limits
TV · as Karl Emmet · 1 ep
The Beverly Hillbillies
TV · 1 ep
The Virginian
TV · as Cobb · 1 ep
General Electric True
TV · 1 ep
Valley of the Dragons
Movie · as Michael Denning
Surfside 6
TV · 1 ep
The Islanders
TV · as Quinn · 1 ep
Thriller
TV · as Sean O'Danagh, Patrick Galt · 1 ep
Checkmate
TV · as Stamper · 1 ep
Rawhide
TV · as Finn · 2 eps
One Step Beyond
TV · as Michael Barry · 1 ep
Adventures in Paradise
TV · as Mike Milligan, Shay · 1 ep
The Detectives
TV · 1 ep
The Swamp Fox
TV · 8 eps
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
TV · as Father Ray · 1 ep
Bonanza
TV · as Mark Connors · 1 ep
Bronco
TV · 1 ep
Wanted: Dead or Alive
TV · as 'Doc' Phillips · 1 ep
The Rifleman
TV · 2 eps
The Guns of Fort Petticoat
Movie · as Emmett Kettle
Perry Mason
TV · as Fred Wenzel, Harry Fothergill, Hannibal Harvey · 1 ep
The Californians
TV · as Jack McGivern · 69 eps
Have Gun, Will Travel
TV · 1 ep
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
TV · as Ted O'Malley · 1 ep
Diane
Movie · as Count Michel Montgomery
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
TV · 2 eps
Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers
TV · 1 ep
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV · as Graham Clague · 1 ep
Telephone Time
TV · 1 ep
Moonfleet
Movie · as Elzevir Block
The Long Gray Line
Movie · as Dinny Maher
The King's Thief
Movie · as Sheldon
I Cover the Underworld
Movie · as Gunner O'Hara / John O'Hara
Gunsmoke
TV · as Clete Bolden, Sham · 1 ep
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV · as Brother Gerard, Irish Bar Patron · 1 ep
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
TV · 1 ep
The 20th Century Fox Hour
TV · 1 ep
Matinee Theater
TV · 1 ep
Frontier
TV · 1 ep
Them!
Movie · as Maj. Kibbee
Ring of Fear
Movie · as Dublin O'Malley
The Child
Movie · as Reverend Smith
Lassie
TV · 1 ep
Climax!
TV · as Mark Yorke · 1 ep
Charade
Movie · as Jack Stuydevant
Island in the Sky
Movie · as Frank Lovatt, Dooley's co-pilot
Man in the Attic
Movie · as Constable #1
Plunder of the Sun
Movie · as Jefferson
Niagara
Movie · as Sam (uncredited)
General Electric Theater
TV · 2 eps
The Quiet Man
Movie · as Owen Glynn
Les Miserables
Movie · as Bamtasbois (uncredited)
What Price Glory
Movie · as Lt. Austin (uncredited)
Cavalcade of America
TV · as Andrew Johnson · 1 ep
Four Star Playhouse
TV · as Robert Upton · 1 ep
Lorna Doone
Movie · as Charleworth Doone
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
Movie · as Jock
Storm Warning
Movie · as Shore
Anne of the Indies
Movie · as Hackett
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
Movie · as James Moore
Lux Video Theatre
TV · as Albert · 1 ep
Roughshod
Movie · as Fowler
Beyond Glory
Movie · as Barney
Dick Tracy's Dilemma
Movie · as Officer Dillon (uncredited)
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
Movie · as Officer Carney (uncredited)