Barry Fitzgerald
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Brother of actor Arthur Shields, with whom he performed in several films, most notably John Ford's The Quiet Man (1952). One of the very few character actors ever to achieve star status. Fitzgerald was the only player ever nominated for the Academy Award for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in the same year for the same role. The recognition was for Going My Way (1944). After he received this double nomination, the Academy immediately changed their rules to prevent this from happening again, rules which have remained unchanged to this day. 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 Going My Way (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.
Known for
Credits
The Quiet Man (1952)
as Michaleen Oge Flynn
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
as Mr. Gogarty
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
as Cyfartha
The Naked City (1948)
as Lt. Dan Muldoon
Going My Way (1944)
as Father Fitzgibbon
Incendiary Blonde (1945)
as Michael 'Mike' Guinan
The Sea Wolf (1941)
as Cooky
And Then There Were None (1945)
as Francis Quinncannon
Union Station (1950)
as Inspector Donnelly
Marie Antoinette (1938)
as Peddler (uncredited)
Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941)
as Dennis O'Doul
Variety Girl (1947)
as Barry Fitzgerald
The Story of Seabiscuit (1949)
as Shawn O'Hara
The Long Voyage Home (1940)
as Cocky
Bing Crosby: Rediscovered (2014)
as Self (archive footage)
Welcome Stranger (1947)
as Dr. Joseph McRory
Juno and the Paycock (1930)
as The Orator
Silver City (1951)
as R.R. Jarboe
The Catered Affair (1956)
as Jack Conlon
The Saint Strikes Back (1939)
as Zipper Dyson
Two Years Before the Mast (1946)
as Terence O'Feenaghty
Four Men and a Prayer (1938)
as Mulcahay
California (1947)
as Michael Fabian
The Stork Club (1945)
as Jerry B. 'J.B.' / 'Pop' Bates
The Dawn Patrol (1938)
as Bott
Happy Ever After (1954)
as Thady O'Heggarty
None But the Lonely Heart (1944)
as Henry Twite
Two Tickets to London (1943)
as Capt. McCardle
Ebb Tide (1937)
as Huish
Corvette K-225 (1943)
as Stooky
The Plough and the Stars (1936)
as Fluther Good
I Love a Soldier (1944)
as Murphy
Easy Come, Easy Go (1947)
as Martin L. Donovan
Top o' the Morning (1949)
as Sergeant Briany McNaughton
San Francisco Docks (1940)
as The Icky
Pacific Liner (1939)
as Britches
Duffy's Tavern (1945)
as Bing Crosby's Father
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943)
as Timothy Blake
Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948)
as Denno Noonan
The Sainted Sisters (1948)
as Robbie McCleary
Full Confession (1939)
as Michael O'Keefe
Broth of a Boy (1959)
as Patrick Farrell
Rooney (1958)
as Grandfather
Cradle of Genius (1960)
as Self
Guests of The Nation (1935)
as Captured British soldier
Ha da venì... don Calogero! (1952)
as Don Calogero
Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid (1955)
as Harold "Stretch" Sears