Body Bags
1993 · Movie
as Minister
Sean McClory
1924-03-08
•
Dublin, Ireland
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.
Filmography
The Dead
1987 · Movie
as Mr. Grace
Young Harry Houdini
1987 · Movie
as Sean O'Casey
My Chauffeur
1986 · Movie
as O'Brien
Murder, She Wrote
1984 · TV Show
as Ross Barber
Bring 'Em Back Alive
1982 · TV Show
Falcon Crest
1981 · TV Show
as Frank O'Neal
Roller Boogie
1979 · Movie
as Jammer Delany
Battlestar Galactica
1978 · TV Show
as Assault 9
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
1976 · Movie
as Codge Collier
Kate McShane
1975 · Movie
as Pat McShane
S.W.A.T.
1975 · TV Show
Kate McShane
1975 · TV Show
as Pat McShane
The Day of the Wolves
1971 · Movie
as The Sheriff
Columbo
1971 · TV Show
as Captain
Bandolero!
1968 · Movie
as Robbie O'Hare
The Outcasts
1968 · TV Show
Lancer
1968 · TV Show
as Coley McHugh
The Gnome-Mobile
1967 · Movie
as Horatio Quaxton
The Happiest Millionaire
1967 · Movie
as Police Sergeant
The King's Pirate
1967 · Movie
as Sparkes
Mannix
1967 · TV Show
The High Chaparral
1967 · TV Show
as Sandy McIntire
The Guns of Will Sonnett
1967 · TV Show
Follow Me, Boys!
1966 · Movie
as Edward White, Sr.
Family Affair
1966 · TV Show
Tarzan
1966 · TV Show
Lost in Space
1965 · TV Show
as Hamish
Honey West
1965 · TV Show
as Insurance Investigator Booth
No image
Convoy
1965 · TV Show
as Major Perth-Whittaker
Cheyenne Autumn
1964 · Movie
as Dr. O'Carberry
Daniel Boone
1964 · TV Show
as Liam O'Hara, Bartender, Ephron Marsh
The Great Adventure
1963 · TV Show
as Major Carlton
No image
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963 · TV Show
The Dakotas
1963 · TV Show
The Outer Limits
1963 · TV Show
as Karl Emmet
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962 · TV Show
The Virginian
1962 · TV Show
as Cobb
General Electric True
1962 · TV Show
Valley of the Dragons
1961 · Movie
as Michael Denning
Surfside 6
1960 · TV Show
The Islanders
1960 · TV Show
as Quinn
Thriller
1960 · TV Show
as Sean O'Danagh, Patrick Galt
Checkmate
1960 · TV Show
as Stamper
Rawhide
1959 · TV Show
as Finn
One Step Beyond
1959 · TV Show
as Michael Barry
Adventures in Paradise
1959 · TV Show
as Mike Milligan, Shay
The Detectives
1959 · TV Show
The Swamp Fox
1959 · TV Show
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959 · TV Show
as Father Ray
Bonanza
1959 · TV Show
as Mark Connors
Bronco
1958 · TV Show
Wanted: Dead or Alive
1958 · TV Show
as 'Doc' Phillips
The Rifleman
1958 · TV Show
The Guns of Fort Petticoat
1957 · Movie
as Emmett Kettle
Perry Mason
1957 · TV Show
as Fred Wenzel, Harry Fothergill, Hannibal Harvey
The Californians
1957 · TV Show
as Jack McGivern
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957 · TV Show
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957 · TV Show
as Ted O'Malley
Diane
1956 · Movie
as Count Michel Montgomery
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
1956 · TV Show
Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers
1956 · TV Show
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956 · TV Show
as Graham Clague
Telephone Time
1956 · TV Show
Moonfleet
1955 · Movie
as Elzevir Block
The Long Gray Line
1955 · Movie
as Dinny Maher
The King's Thief
1955 · Movie
as Sheldon
I Cover the Underworld
1955 · Movie
as Gunner O'Hara / John O'Hara
Gunsmoke
1955 · TV Show
as Clete Bolden, Sham
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955 · TV Show
as Brother Gerard, Irish Bar Patron
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
1955 · TV Show
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955 · TV Show
Matinee Theater
1955 · TV Show
Frontier
1955 · TV Show
Them!
1954 · Movie
as Maj. Kibbee
Ring of Fear
1954 · Movie
as Dublin O'Malley
No image
The Child
1954 · Movie
as Reverend Smith
Lassie
1954 · TV Show
Climax!
1954 · TV Show
as Mark Yorke
Charade
1953 · Movie
as Jack Stuydevant
Island in the Sky
1953 · Movie
as Frank Lovatt, Dooley's co-pilot
Man in the Attic
1953 · Movie
as Constable #1
Plunder of the Sun
1953 · Movie
as Jefferson
Niagara
1953 · Movie
as Sam (uncredited)
General Electric Theater
1953 · TV Show
The Quiet Man
1952 · Movie
as Owen Glynn
Les Miserables
1952 · Movie
as Bamtasbois (uncredited)
Cavalcade of America
1952 · TV Show
as Andrew Johnson
Four Star Playhouse
1952 · TV Show
as Robert Upton
Lorna Doone
1951 · Movie
as Charleworth Doone
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
1951 · Movie
as Jock
Storm Warning
1951 · Movie
as Shore
Anne of the Indies
1951 · Movie
as Hackett
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
1950 · Movie
as James Moore
No image
Lux Video Theatre
1950 · TV Show
as Albert
Roughshod
1949 · Movie
as Fowler
Beyond Glory
1948 · Movie
as Barney
Dick Tracy's Dilemma
1947 · Movie
as Officer Dillon (uncredited)
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
1947 · Movie
as Officer Carney (uncredited)
