Dan O’Herlihy dies

Irish actor Dan O’Herlihy dies, 85
The death has been announced of the Wexford-born Hollywood film actor and director Dan O’Herlihy at his home in Malibu in California. He was 85.

O’Herlihy, an Oscar nominee, starred in several Hollywood movies and worked with among others Orson Welles, Gregory Peck and John Huston.

Born on May Day in 1919 in Co Wexford, O’Herlihy studied architecture at the National University of Ireland, but his real love was acting.

He worked with the Gate Theatre and the Abbey Players, where he appeared in over 70 plays, including the lead in the original production of ‘Red Roses for Me’ by Sean O’Casey, and the world premieres of ‘The Last Hero’ and ‘A Better Place’. O’Herlihy turned to films in 1946, impressing critics and filmgoers alike with his breakthrough role in Carol Reed’s ‘Odd Man Out’.

US theatre credits included Orson Welles’ ‘Macbeth’ at the Mercury Theatre, John Houseman’s ‘Measure for Measure’ in Los Angeles, ‘King Lear’ at the Houston Shakespeare Festival and ‘Mass Appeal’ at the Drury Lane Theatre.

He made his American movie debut in Orson Welles’ ‘Macbeth’ in 1948, playing the role of Macduff; shortly afterwards, he appeared with his ‘Macbeth’ co-star Roddy McDowall in a low-budget adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Kidnapped’.

In 1952, he received an Academy Award Best Actor nomination for his title role in Luis Bunuel’s ‘The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe’.

He also starred in John Huston’s ‘The Dead’ in 1987.

As a versatile character player, he was seen in ‘MacArthur’, ‘Halloween 3: Season of the Witch’, ‘The Last Starfighter’, ‘RoboCop’ and its sequel.

His TV credits included Doc McPheeters in ‘The Travels of Jamie McPheeters’ (1963), town boss Will Varner in ‘The Long Hot Summer’ (1965), “The Director” in ‘A Man Called Sloane’ (1979), intelligence agent Carson Marsh in ‘Whiz Kids’ (1984) and Alexander Packard in ‘Twin Peaks’ (1990).