 |
 |
|
||
|
|||
This Chapter is from Emeralds in Tinseltown: The Irish in Hollywood, written by Steve Brennan and Bernadette O'Neill, and published by Appletree Press
The Abbey Theatre - Lost and Found in HollywoodThough Kieron Moore was feted by the studios and had regular encounters with Hollywood, he never settled down in the film town, preferring to commute from his home in England, much in the same way as a bevy of other former Abbey actors whom Hollywood briefly courted.Among these of course is Jackie McGowran, the rubber-faced genius who was the embodiment of the Beckett actor on stage and who showcased his talent for comedy and off-the-wall characters in such films as Darby O’Gill and the Little People and the Warner Brothers-Seven Arts Release Two Times Two with Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland. More substantial films included Doctor Zhivago and Lord Jim. He also appeared in Ford’s Irish movies Young Cassidy and The Quiet Man. Another fleeting Abbey visitor to Hollywood was Denis O’Dea, who was married to fellow Abbey luminary Siobhan McKenna. O’Dea played mostly character roles in the Hollywood productions in which he appeared and his credits include The Informer, Odd Man Out, The Mark of Cain and the role of Doctor Livesey in the RKO-Walt Disney Technicolor version of Treasure Island. The story of the Abbey players in Hollywood and their diverse experiences with the siren would not be complete without mention of Una O’Connor. The Abbey graduate, born Agnes Teresa McGlade in Belfast in 1880, had made her mark on the London and New York stages before arriving in the film town in 1924 to recreate for the screen her stage role as the housekeeper in Noel Coward’s Cavalcade for Fox Films. O’Connor was to prove no less an enigma in Hollywood than any of her fellow Abbey players. A curious biography put out by RKO Studios in 1946 would say of her, ‘When she went (from Hollywood) to New York in 1945 to do a stage play, she lost her apartment and since has lived at a hotel in Santa Monica. She drives a car back and forth to the studio. She is a teetotaler and never serves alcohol at any of the informal gatherings at her home. The friends she assembles at her home don’t play cards either but spend their time in the discussion of art, books, and topics of the day… Steak and kidney pie is one of Miss O’Connor’s favourite dishes. She cannot swim, but bathes in the ocean and loves to lie on the sand and let the breakers toss her about. She has a keen sense of humour, is reserved, but friendly if someone else takes the first advances; likes to have her fortune told with tea leaves; is never lonely as long as she can be outdoors in beautiful scenery or has a good book, believes that gremlin is a modern name for the Irish “little people”. ’ O’Connor, who died in New York in 1959 aged seventy-eight, included among her credits such films as Random Harvest, The Plough and the Stars, Lloyds of London, This Land is Mine, The Sea Hawk and The Bells of St Mary’s. She also appeared in numerous films by horror genre director James Whale including The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein. J.M. Kerrigan was another former Abbey actor to whom Hollywood beckoned. First appearing in Ford’s The Informer playing the Dublin joxer who befriends Victor McLaglen’s Gypo Nolan after he’s been paid for informing on his best friend, Kerrigan settled in Hollywood permanently in 1935. Kerrigan was assigned mostly character roles, including parts in numerous John Ford films. He also appeared in Gone With The Wind. The Abbey Theatre clearly was a breeding ground for a diverse group of passionate actors who would come to Hollywood, some to stay and thrive, some to pine and wilt. But all of them, in their own way, left an indelible imprint in the town’s legendary history.
|
[ Back to top ]
All Material © 1999-2009 Irelandseye.com and contributors
