Denis O'Dea
Acting • Born 1905-04-26 – Died 1978-11-05
Biography
Denis O'Dea (26 April 1905 – 5 November 1978) was an Irish stage and film actor. He was born in Dublin and attended Synge Street CBS. When very young he and his mother Kathleen (from County Kerry) moved in with her sister, who kept a boarding house at 54 South Richmond Street. He worked in insurance until taking up acting. O'Dea was a leading member of Dublin's Abbey Theatre where he had a great acting career from 1929 to 1953; a list of his performances can be found in the Abbey archives. He also appeared in numerous plays by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy, some of which toured New York and England. His work led to a number of notable film roles, including two mid-1930s John Ford films, The Informer and The Plough and the Stars (1936), and the part of the police inspector in pursuit of IRA man James Mason in Carol Reed's Odd Man Out (1947).
Filmography
25 credits
The Fallen Idol
Movie • 1948
Inspector Crowe
Treasure Island
Movie • 1950
Dr. Livesy
Mogambo
Movie • 1953
Father Josef
Guests of The Nation
Movie • 1935
Odd Man Out
Movie • 1947
Inspector
Niagara
Movie • 1953
Inspector Starkey
Sea Devils
Movie • 1953
Lethierry
Esther and the King
Movie • 1960
Mordecai
The Plough and the Stars
Movie • 1936
The Covey
The Rising of the Moon
Movie • 1957
Police Sergeant Tom O'Hara (segment '1921')
Landfall
Movie • 1949
Captain Burnaby
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.
Movie • 1951
RAdm. Sir Rodney Leighton
Beloved Enemy
Movie • 1936
Sean's I.R.A. Friend (Uncredited)
Never Take No for an Answer
Movie • 1951
Father Damico
Under Capricorn
Movie • 1949
Mr. Corrigan
The Bad Lord Byron
Movie • 1949
Prosecuting Counsel
Cradle of Genius
Movie • 1960
Self
Captain Lightfoot
Movie • 1955
Regis Donnell
Marry Me
Movie • 1949
George Saunders
Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Movie • 1959
Father Murphy
The Informer
Movie • 1935
Street Singer
The Long Dark Hall
Movie • 1951
Sir Charles Morton
The Story of Esther Costello
Movie • 1957
Father Devlin
I Captured the King of the Leprechauns
Movie • 1959
Father Murphy
The Mark of Cain
Movie • 1947
Sir William Godgrey