BF
Barry Fitzgerald
Actor
Died January 14, 1961 (72 years)
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.
Filmography
| 2014 | Bing Crosby: Rediscovered · as Unknown |
| 1959 | Broth of a Boy · as Patrick Farrell |
| 1958 | Rooney · as Grandfather |
| 1956 | The Catered Affair · as Uncle Jack Conlon |
| 1955 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) · as Harold 'Stretch' Sears |
| 1954 | Tonight's the Night · as Thady O'Heggarty |
| 1953 | General Electric Theater (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1952 | The Quiet Man · as Michaleen Oge Flynn |
| 1951 | Silver City · as R.R. Jarboe |
| 1950 | Union Station · as Inspector Donnelly |
| 1950 | The Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) · as Barry Flynn |
| 1949 | The Story of Seabiscuit · as Shawn O'Hara |
| 1948 | The Naked City · as Det. Lt. Dan Muldoon |
| 1948 | The Sainted Sisters · as Robbie McCleary |
| 1947 | California · as Michael Fabian |
| 1945 | And Then There Were None · as Francis Quinncannon |
| 1945 | The Picture of Dorian Gray · as Street Preacher |
| 1945 | The Stork Club · as Jerry B. 'J.B.' / 'Pop' Bates |
| 1944 | Going My Way · as Father Fitzgibbon |
| 1944 | None But the Lonely Heart · as Henry Twite |
| 1941 | The Sea Wolf · as Cooky |
| 1941 | Tarzan's Secret Treasure · as Dennis O'Doul |
| 1941 | How Green Was My Valley · as Cyfartha |
| 1940 | The Long Voyage Home · as Cocky |
| 1939 | The Saint Strikes Back · as Zipper Dyson |
| 1938 | Bringing Up Baby · as Aloysius Gogarty |
| 1938 | Marie Antoinette · as Peddler (uncredited) |
| 1938 | The Dawn Patrol · as Bott |
| 1938 | Four Men and a Prayer · as Mulcahay |
| 1936 | The Plough and the Stars · as Fluther Good |
| 1929 | Juno and the Paycock · as The Orator |