Sean McClory
Acting • Born 1924-03-08 – Died 2003-12-10
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.
Filmography
105 credits
The Quiet Man
Movie • 1952
Owen Glynn
Them!
Movie • 1954
Maj. Kibbee
Body Bags
Movie • 1993
Minister
The Gnome-Mobile
Movie • 1967
Horatio Quaxton
The Happiest Millionaire
Movie • 1967
Police Sgt.
Charade
Movie • 1953
Jack Stuydevant
Follow Me, Boys!
Movie • 1966
Edward White, Sr.
Island in the Sky
Movie • 1953
Frank Lovatt, Dooley's co-pilot
Man in the Attic
Movie • 1953
Constable #1
Cheyenne Autumn
Movie • 1964
Dr. O'Carberry
Moonfleet
Movie • 1955
Elzevir Block
The Long Gray Line
Movie • 1955
Dinny Maher
My Chauffeur
Movie • 1986
O'Brien
Roller Boogie
Movie • 1979
Jammer Delany
Plunder of the Sun
Movie • 1953
Jefferson
Valley of the Dragons
Movie • 1961
Michael Denning
Les Miserables
Movie • 1952
Bamtasbois (uncredited)
The King's Thief
Movie • 1955
Sheldon
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
Movie • 1950
James Moore
Ring of Fear
Movie • 1954
Dublin O'Malley
Lorna Doone
Movie • 1951
Charleworth Doone
Bandolero!
Movie • 1968
Robbie O'Hare
The King's Pirate
Movie • 1967
Sparkes
Kate McShane
Movie • 1975
Pat McShane
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
Movie • 1951
Jock
I Cover the Underworld
Movie • 1955
Gunner O'Hara / John O'Hara
Dick Tracy's Dilemma
Movie • 1947
Officer Dillon (uncredited)
Beyond Glory
Movie • 1948
Barney
The Guns of Fort Petticoat
Movie • 1957
Emmett Kettle
Niagara
Movie • 1953
Sam (uncredited)
Storm Warning
Movie • 1951
Shore
Diane
Movie • 1956
Count Michel Montgomery
The Day of the Wolves
Movie • 1971
The Sheriff
Anne of the Indies
Movie • 1951
Hackett
The Dead
Movie • 1987
Mr. Grace
The Child
Movie • 1954
Reverend Smith
Roughshod
Movie • 1949
Fowler
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
Movie • 1976
Codge Collier
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
Movie • 1947
Officer Carney (uncredited)
Young Harry Houdini
Movie • 1987
Sean O'Casey
Falcon Crest
TV • 1981
Frank O'Neal
Murder, She Wrote
TV • 1984
Ross Barber
Family Affair
TV • 1966
The Great Adventure
TV • 1963
Major Carlton
The Beverly Hillbillies
TV • 1962
Mannix
TV • 1967
Surfside 6
TV • 1960
Lost in Space
TV • 1965
Hamish
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Fred Wenzel
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Clete Bolden
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Lassie
TV • 1954
The Islanders
TV • 1960
Quinn
The Californians
TV • 1957
Jack McGivern
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV • 1955
Brother Gerard
Rawhide
TV • 1959
Finn
Have Gun, Will Travel
TV • 1957
Daniel Boone
TV • 1964
Liam O'Hara
The Outcasts
TV • 1968
The High Chaparral
TV • 1967
Sandy McIntire
S.W.A.T.
TV • 1975
The Virginian
TV • 1962
Cobb
Bring 'Em Back Alive
TV • 1982
Lancer
TV • 1968
Thriller
TV • 1960
Sean O'Danagh
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Albert
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
TV • 1955
One Step Beyond
TV • 1959
Michael Barry
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
TV • 1957
Ted O'Malley
Climax!
TV • 1954
Mark Yorke
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV • 1963
Adventures in Paradise
TV • 1959
Mike Milligan
Bronco
TV • 1958
The 20th Century Fox Hour
TV • 1955
Matinee Theater
TV • 1955
Tarzan
TV • 1966
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
TV • 1956
Wanted: Dead or Alive
TV • 1958
'Doc' Phillips
The Rifleman
TV • 1958
The Dakotas
TV • 1963
The Guns of Will Sonnett
TV • 1967
The Detectives
TV • 1959
Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers
TV • 1956
Cavalcade of America
TV • 1952
Andrew Johnson
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Graham Clague
Honey West
TV • 1965
Insurance Investigator Booth
The Swamp Fox
TV • 1959
General Electric True
TV • 1962
Telephone Time
TV • 1956
Frontier
TV • 1955
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
TV • 1959
Father Ray
Kate McShane
TV • 1975
Pat McShane
Columbo
TV • 1971
Captain
Adventures in Paradise
TV • 1959
Shay
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Sham
The Outer Limits
TV • 1963
Karl Emmet
Four Star Playhouse
TV • 1952
Robert Upton
Daniel Boone
TV • 1964
Bartender
Daniel Boone
TV • 1964
Ephron Marsh
Checkmate
TV • 1960
Stamper
Thriller
TV • 1960
Patrick Galt
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Harry Fothergill
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Hannibal Harvey
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV • 1955
Irish Bar Patron
Battlestar Galactica
TV • 1978
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