Barry Fitzgerald(1888-1961)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
One of Hollywood's finest character actors and most accomplished scene
stealers, Barry Fitzgerald was born William Joseph Shields in 1888 in
Dublin, Ireland. Educated to enter the banking business, the diminutive
Irishman with the irresistible brogue was bitten by the acting bug in
the 1920s and joined Dublin's world-famous Abbey Players. He
subsequently starred in the Abbey Theatre production of
Sean O'Casey's Juno And The Paycock, a role
that he recreated in his film debut for director
Alfred Hitchcock in 1930. He
was coaxed to the U.S. in 1935 by
John Ford to appear in Ford's film
adaptation of another O'Casey masterpiece,
The Plough and the Stars (1936).
Fitzgerald took up residence in Hollywood and went on to give
outstanding performances in such films as
The Long Voyage Home (1940),
How Green Was My Valley (1941),
None But the Lonely Heart (1944),
And Then There Were None (1945),
Two Years Before the Mast (1946)
and what is probably the role for which he is most fondly remembered,
The Quiet Man (1952). He won the
Academy Award For Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of gruff,
aging Father Fitzgibbon in
Con Đường Tôi Chọn (1944). He was also
nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for the same role and was the only
actor to ever be so honored. Barry Fitzgerald died in his beloved
Dublin in 1961.