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1-50 of 76
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- Actress
Lisa Hogan was born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. She is known for Fierce Creatures (1997), Clarkson's Farm (2021) and Loose Women (1999).- Actress
- Soundtrack
In America, the early performing arts accomplishments of young Maureen FitzSimons (who we know as Maureen O'Hara) would definitely have put her in the child prodigy category. However, for a child of Irish heritage surrounded by gifted parents and family, these were very natural traits. Maureen made her entrance into this caring haven on August 17, 1920, in Ranelagh (a suburb of Dublin), Ireland. Her mother, Marguerita Lilburn FitzSimons, was an accomplished contralto. Her father, Charles FitzSimons, managed a business in Dublin and also owned part of the renowned Irish soccer team "The Shamrock Rovers." Maureen was the second of six FitzSimons children - Peggy, Florrie, Charles B. Fitzsimons, Margot Fitzsimons and James O'Hara completed this beautiful family.
Maureen loved playing rough athletic games as a child and excelled in sports. She combined this interest with an equally natural gift for performing. This was demonstrated by her winning pretty much every Feis award for drama and theatrical performing her country offered. By age 14 she was accepted to the prestigious Abbey Theater and pursued her dream of classical theater and operatic singing. This course was to be altered, however, when Charles Laughton, after seeing a screen test of Maureen, became mesmerized by her hauntingly beautiful eyes. Before casting her to star in Jamaica Inn (1939), Laughton and his partner, Erich Pommer, changed her name from Maureen FitzSimons to "Maureen O'Hara" - a bit shorter last name for the marquee.
Under contract to Laughton, Maureen's next picture was to be filmed in America (The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)) at RKO Pictures. The epic film was an extraordinary success and Maureen's contract was eventually bought from Laughton by RKO. At 19, Maureen had already starred in two major motion pictures with Laughton. Unlike most stars of her era, she started at the top, and remained there - with her skills and talents only getting better and better with the passing years.
Maureen has an enviable string of all-time classics to her credit that include the aforementioned "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," How Green Was My Valley (1941), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Sitting Pretty (1948), The Quiet Man (1952), and The Parent Trap (1961). Add to this the distinction of being voted one of the five most beautiful women in the world and you have a film star who was as gorgeous as she was talented.
Although at times early in her career Hollywood didn't seem to notice, there was much more to Maureen O'Hara than her dynamic beauty. She not only had a wonderful lyric soprano voice, but she could use her inherent athletic ability to perform physical feats that most actresses couldn't begin to attempt, from fencing to fisticuffs. She was a natural athlete.
In her career Maureen starred with some of Hollywood's most dashing leading men, including Tyrone Power, John Payne, Rex Harrison, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Brian Keith, Sir Alec Guinness and, of course, her famed pairings with "The Duke" himself, John Wayne. She starred in five films with Wayne, the most beloved being The Quiet Man (1952).
In addition to famed director John Ford, Maureen was also fortunate to have worked for some other great directors in the business: Alfred Hitchcock, William Dieterle, Henry Hathaway, Henry King, Jean Renoir, John M. Stahl, William A. Wellman, Frank Borzage, Walter Lang, George Seaton, George Sherman, Carol Reed, Delmer Daves, David Swift, Andrew V. McLaglen and Chris Columbus.
In 1968 Maureen found much deserved personal happiness when she married Charles Blair. Gen. Blair was a famous aviator whom she had known as a friend of her family for many years. A new career began for Maureen, that of a full-time wife. Her marriage to Blair, however, was again far from typical. Blair was the real-life version of what John Wayne had been on the screen. He had been a Brigadier General in the Air Force, a Senior Pilot with Pan American, and held many incredible record-breaking aeronautic achievements. Maureen happily retired from films in 1973 after making the TV movie The Red Pony (1973) (which on the prestigious Peabody Award for Excellence) with Henry Fonda. With Blair, Maureen managed Antilles Airboats, a commuter sea plane service in the Caribbean. She not only made trips around the world with her pilot husband, but owned and published a magazine, "The Virgin Islander," writing a monthly column called "Maureen O'Hara Says."
Tragically, Charles Blair died in a plane crash in 1978. Though completely devastated, Maureen pulled herself together and, with memories of ten of the happiest years of her life, continued on. She was elected President and CEO of Antilles Airboats, which brought her the distinction of being the first woman president of a scheduled airline in the United States.
Fortunately, she was coaxed out of retirement several times - once in 1991 to star with John Candy in Only the Lonely (1991) and again, in 1995, in a made-for-TV movie, The Christmas Box (1995) on CBS. In the spring of 1998, Maureen accepted the second of what would be three projects for Polson Productions and CBS: Cab to Canada (1998) - and, in October, 2000, The Last Dance (2000).
On St. Patrick's Day in 2004, she published her New York Times bestselling memoir, 'Tis Herself, co-authored with her longtime biographer and manager Johnny Nicoletti.
On November 4, 2014 Maureen was honored by a long overdue Oscar for "Lifetime Achievement" at the annual Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Governors Awards.
Maureen O'Hara was absolutely stunning, with that trademark red hair, dazzling smile and those huge, expressive eyes. She has fans from all over the world of all ages who are utterly devoted to her legacy of films and her persona as a strong, courageous and intelligent woman.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Bram Stoker was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1847, and gained fame for his novel "Dracula" about an aristocratic vampire in Transylvania. The sequel, "Dracula's Guest," was not published for 17 years after the publication of "Dracula," two years after Stoker's death. Stoker also wrote "The Mystery of the Sea" and "Famous Imposters." He was the stage manager for actor Sir Henry Irving and wrote "Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving," after Irving's death.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Born in Limerick on July 27, 1913, versatile Irish actor Liam Redmond was one of four children (the others were Thomas, Mary and Eileen), born to Thomas, a master carpenter who also taught woodworking, and Eileen Redmond, a homemaker. He received his early education at the Christian Brothers junior and secondary schools in Dublin. Upon completing secondary school, he attended UCD (University College, Dublin -- a constituent college of the National University of Ireland (NUI) -- and originally studied medicine before shifting his career focus to the arts. He met his wife Barbara MacDonagh there while he was the Director of the Dramatic Society and she was the Secretary. They had four children.
It was William Butler Yeats, the renowned Irish poet, dramatist, and literary figure who saw one Liam's productions at the college and saw a bright promise in him, inviting the young hopeful to join the Abbey Theatre in 1935 as a guest producer. This completely ended any serious designs to return to medicine. Yeates went on to write his play "Death of Cuchullain" particularly for Liam. Wife Barbara's brother was Donagh MacDonagh, who was not only a judge, but a playwright, poet and author.
Liam made his Abbey Theatre acting debut that same year in Sean O'Casey's "The Silver Tassie." In 1939, he made his first stage appearance in New York in "The White Steed." He left America at the outbreak of WWII and played regularly on the London stage, returning from time to time to the Abbey for a season or performance. Some of his more sterling performances over time included "The Playboy of the Western World" (in the course of his career he played every male role in "Playboy"), "Juno and the Paycock", "The Square Ring," "The Doctor's Dilemma," "Loot" and "The Island".
The actor joined the Dublin Verse-Speaking Society and occasionally read poetry on radio. Redmond went back to Broadway in the 50s to play Canon McCooey in "The Wayward Saint" and won the George Jean Nathan Award for his performance.
Liam's easygoing nature and erudite presence proved quite suitable for film and TV character parts, and he wound up a regular presence on such popular British TV series fare as "Z Cars" and "The Avengers." Flavorful roles in films include I See a Dark Stranger (1946), Captain Boycott (1947), High Treason (1951), The Cruel Sea (1953), The Playboy of the Western World (1962), one of Elvis Presley's better vehicles Kid Galahad (1962), The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1964), Tobruk (1967) and his last Barry Lyndon (1975). Walt Disney himself personally requested Liam for a couple of Disney projects, including The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967). Over the years he specialized in playing captains, priests, police inspectors and professors.
In later years Liam developed a special interest and talent for cooking. He eventually retired to a quiet life in Dublin and, following a decade of declining health, died at age 76 in his beloved Dublin on October 28, 1989. He was predeceased by wife Barbara.- Dublin-born Sara Allgood started her acting career in her native country with the famed Abbey Theatre. From there she traveled to the English stage, where she played for many years before making her film debut in 1918. Her warm, open Irish face meant that she spent a lot of time playing Irish mothers, landladies, neighborhood gossips and the like, although she is best remembered for playing Mrs. Morgan, the mother of a family of Welsh miners, in How Green Was My Valley (1941), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her sister Maire O'Neill was an actress in Ireland, and famed Irish poet William Butler Yeats was a family friend.
Sara Allgood died of a heart attack shortly after making her last film, Sierra (1950). - Writer
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
A gifted poet, playwright and wit, Oscar Wilde was a phenomenon in 19th-century England. He was illustrious for preaching the importance of style in life and art, and of attacking Victorian narrow-mindedness.
Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1854. He studied at Trinity College in Dublin before leaving the country to study at Oxford University in England when he was in his early 20s. His prodigious literary talent was recognized when he received the Newdegate Prize for his outstanding poem "Ravenna". After leaving college his first volume of poetry, "Patience", was published in 1881, followed by a play, "The Duchess of Padua", two years later. It was around this time that Wilde sparked a sensation.
On his arrival to America he stirred the nation with his flamboyant personality: wearing long silk stockings--an unusual mode of dress--long, flowing hair that gave the impression to many of an effeminate and a general air of wittiness, sophistication and eccentricity. He was an instant celebrity, but his works did not find recognition until the publication of "The Happy Prince and Other Tales" in 1888. His other noted work was his only novel, was "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1890), which caused controversy as the book evidently attacked the hypocrisy of England. It was later used as incriminating evidence at Wilde's trial, on the basis of its obvious homosexual content.
Wilde was a married man with children, but his private life was as a homosexual. He had an affair with a young snobbish aristocrat named Lord Alfred Douglas. Douglas' father, the Marquess of Queensberry, did not approve of his son's relationship with the distinguished writer, and when he accused Wilde of sodomy, Wilde sued the Marquess in court. However, his case was dismissed when his homosexuality--which at the time was outlawed in England--was exposed. He was sentenced to two years hard labor in prison. On his release he was a penniless, dejected man and soon died in Paris. He was 46.
Wilde is immortalized through his works, and the stories he wrote for children, such as "The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant", are still vibrant in the imagination of the public, especially "The Picture of Dorian Gray", the story of a young handsome man who sells his soul to a picture to have eternal youth and beauty, only to face the hideousness of his own portrait as it ages, which entails his evil nature and degradation. The book has been interpreted on stage, films and television.- Emily Dargan is a talented young actress based in Dublin, Ireland, who has studied at the prestigious Gaiety School of Acting.
Her natural acting ability and talent for accents make her a versatile performer, and her identical twin sister, Hannah, is also an actress. Emily's talent has been recently recognized by some of the leading figures in the industry.
She is dedicated to honing her craft, always eager to learn from her courses and from colleagues on set. In June 2023, Emily was cast in her first feature film, showcasing her range and potential to captivate audiences. - Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Samuel Beckett is an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator.
A resident of Paris for most of his life, he wrote in both French and English.
Beckett's work offers a bleak, tragi-comic outlook on human existence, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humor, and became increasingly minimalist in his later career. He is considered one of the last modernist writers, and one of the key figures in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd".
Beckett was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
The Anglo-Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925, acquired a reputation as the greatest dramatist in the English language during the first half of the 20th Century for the plays he had written at the height of his creativity from "Mrs. Warren's Profession" in 1893 to "The Apple Cart" in 1929. His works have been revived on Broadway from 1894 to 2010. His most famous work in the 21st Century is My Fair Lady (1964), the musical adaptation of Pygmalion (1938).
A Shavian drama (his reputation was so great, he had his own adjective ascribed to his works) had a biting social critique leavened by humor. According to his Nobel Prize citation, "His ideas were those of a somewhat abstract logical radicalism; hence they were far from new, but they received from him a new definiteness and brilliance. In him these ideas combined with a ready wit, a complete absence of respect for any kind of convention, and the merriest humor - all gathered together in an extravagance which has scarcely ever before appeared in literature."
He was a major international celebrity and a force in British politics, being a charter member of the Fabian Society. The Fabians were committed to democratic socialism, that is, using parliamentary mechanisms to encourage a gradual adoption of socialist policies through political reform rather than revolution.- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Born in Waterford, Ireland, this successful singer-songwriter came into his own in the early 70s with the hit single "Nothing Rhymed". At his peak, he scored notable international chart-toppers such as "Alone Again (Naturally)", "Clair" and "Get Down". Shared manager with stable mates Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck and Lynsey de Paul (in many ways his female counterpart).
In 1975, his run of successes was interrupted and legal wrangles followed. Briefly resurfaced in 1980 with the U.K. hit "What's in a Kiss?" (#19) and, more recently in 1990, with "So What" (U.K. #70).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Lawrence Doheny was born on 14 April 1924 in Kilmurry, County Limerick, Republic of Ireland. He was a director and writer, known for Teenage Millionaire (1961), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974) and Black Sheep Squadron (1976). He was married to Margaret Mangan. He died on 7 September 1982 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Sheridan Le Fanu was born on 28 August 1814 in Dublin, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland]. Sheridan was a writer, known for Mystery and Imagination (1966), The Judge's House and Vampyr (1932). Sheridan was married to Susanna Bennett. Sheridan died on 7 February 1873 in Dublin, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland].
- Writer
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- Soundtrack
Joyce was born at 41 Brighton Square, Rathgar, Dublin, on 2 February 1882. His father invested unwisely, and the family's fortunes declined steadily. Joyce graduated from University College Dublin (UCD), in 1902. He briefly studied medicine in Paris but his mother's impending death from cancer brought him back to Dublin. In 1904, Joyce began "Stephen Hero", which he later re-worked as "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man". He also met Nora Barnacle, a chambermaid, and on 16 June 1904 they went walking at Ringsend, at the Liffey's mouth; Joyce later chose that date for the events recorded in Ulysses.
Having briefly shared a Martello tower at Sandycove, County Dublin, with Oliver St. John Gogarty, he sailed from Dublin with Nora in October 1904. Joyce found work in a language school in Trieste. In 1909, he made two trips to Dublin, to arrange publication of Dubliners, and to open a short-lived cinema. His last visit was in 1912, when he failed to overcome his publisher's doubts about Dubliners. In 1914 the book was published in England, and "A Portrait" was serialised in a London magazine. With the outbreak of World War I, Joyce moved to Zurich in neutral Switzerland, where, in 1917, he underwent the first of many operations for glaucoma. "Ulysses", his masterpiece, was serialised in New York in 1918-20, but eventually halted by a court action.
Joyce returned to Trieste in 1919, then moved to Paris, where, in 1922, "Ulysses" was published by Sylvia Beach, owner of a celebrated bookshop. Its portrait of Dublin, and of the Jewish advertisement canvasser Leopold Bloom, revolutionised the novel with its 'stream of consciousness' technique; it was not published in Britain until 1936. In 1923, Joyce began the almost impenetrable "Finnegans Wake", which was published in 1939. Joyce and Nora finally married in 1931. In 1940, the couple returned to Zurich, where he died on 13 January 1941, aged 58.- Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 - 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, hence his common sobriquet, "Dean Swift".
Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms-such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M. B. Drapier-or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.
His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian". - Actor
- Additional Crew
Dudley Digges was born on 9 June 1879 in Dublin, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland]. He was an actor, known for The Emperor Jones (1933), The Invisible Man (1933) and Raffles (1939). He was married to Mary Roden Quinn. He died on 24 October 1947 in New York City, New York, USA.- D'Arcy Corrigan was born on 2 January 1870 in County Cork, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland]. He was an actor, known for The Last Warning (1928), A Christmas Carol (1938) and Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927). He died on 25 December 1945 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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- Soundtrack
William Butler Yeats was born on 13 June 1865 in Sandymount, County Dublin, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland]. He was a writer, known for Dancing at Lughnasa (1998), Valentines. A Bouquet of Letters and Poetry of Lovers (1994) and Echoes. He was married to Georgiana Hyde-Lees. He died on 28 January 1939 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France.- Writer
- Music Department
- Actor
Val Doonican was born on 3 February 1927 in Waterford, Co. Waterford, Republic of Ireland. He was a writer and actor, known for Ring of Bright Water (1969), The Val Doonican Music Show (1975) and Christmas Eve with Val Doonican (1986). He was married to Lynette Rae. He died on 1 July 2015 in Knotty Green, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.- James T. Kelley was born on 10 July 1854 in Castlebar, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland]. He was an actor, known for Among Those Present (1921), The Rink (1916) and The Fireman (1916). He died on 12 November 1933 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Producer
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- Director
Pat Powers was born on October 8, 1869 in Waterford, Ireland as Patrick A. Powers. He is known for his work on The Galloping Cowboy (1926), For the Good of All (1912) and A Frozen Ape (1910). He worked on Steamboat Willie (1928), starring Mickey Mouse as the lead role. He died on July 30, 1948 in New York City, New York, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Herbert Brenon was born on 13 January 1880 in Dublin, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland]. He was a director and writer, known for Beau Geste (1926), Ivanhoe (1913) and Sorrell and Son (1927). He was married to Mrs. Herbert Brenon. He died on 21 June 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Luke Cosgrave was born on 6 August 1862 in Ballaghdreen, County Mayo, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland]. He was an actor, known for Hollywood (1923), The Light That Failed (1923) and Merton of the Movies (1924). He died on 28 June 1949 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
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Tom Corbett was born on 12 October 1917 in Limerick, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland]. He was an actor, known for The Legend of Hell House (1973), Separation (1968) and The Stately Ghosts of England (1965). He died on 17 June 1999 in England, UK.- Casting Department
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Grace Barry was born in Dublin, Ireland in July, 1990. She started life as a child actor, playing the role of Mary-Ann Byrne, the youngest daughter of the main family, in the rural Irish soap opera, Glenroe (1983), for 11 years. Since then, Grace focused on her schooling went on to study Drama [Performance Studies] at DIT's Conservatory of Music and Drama, in Dublin, Ireland.
She has been working for MovieExtras.ie as a Casting Assistant/Agent since 2021
She has provided Background Extras, and Featured Roles, for TV shows such as Bad Sisters (2022) (Apple TV) and Fate: The Winx Saga (2021) (Netflix), and Films, like the recently released The Pope's Exorcist (2023) (2023); as well as a long list of Adverts and Online Content.- Producer
- Actor
Michael Breen was born on 8 August 1997 in the Republic of Ireland. He is a producer and actor, known for Run Of The Hitman, Mafia Wars and Chief of Station (2024).