Known For
Acting
Born
Mar 09, 1888
Died
Jan 14, 1961
Place of Birth
Dublin, Ireland
Credits
53 titles
Barry Fitzgerald
Biography
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.
Known For
Filmography
Bing Crosby: Rediscovered
Self (archive footage)
Cradle of Genius
Self
Play of the Week
Broth of a Boy
Patrick Farrell
Rooney
Grandfather
The Catered Affair
Jack Conlon
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Harold 'Stretch' Sears
Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid
Harold "Stretch" Sears
Happy Ever After
Thady O'Heggarty
General Electric Theater
The Quiet Man
Michaleen Oge Flynn
Ha da venì... don Calogero!
Don Calogero
Silver City
R.R. Jarboe
Union Station
Inspector Donnelly
Lux Video Theatre
Barry Flynn
What's My Line?
Self
The Story of Seabiscuit
Shawn O'Hara
Top o' the Morning
Sergeant Briany McNaughton
Miss Tatlock's Millions
Denno Noonan
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
The Sainted Sisters
Robbie McCleary
The Naked City
Lt. Dan Muldoon
Variety Girl
Barry Fitzgerald
Welcome Stranger
Dr. Joseph McRory
Easy Come, Easy Go
Martin L. Donovan
California
Michael Fabian
Two Years Before the Mast
Terence O'Feenaghty
The Stork Club
Jerry B. 'J.B.' / 'Pop' Bates
And Then There Were None
Francis Quinncannon
Duffy's Tavern
Bing Crosby's Father
Incendiary Blonde
Michael 'Mike' Guinan
None But the Lonely Heart
Henry Twite
I Love a Soldier
Murphy
Going My Way
Father Fitzgibbon
Corvette K-225
Stooky
Two Tickets to London
Capt. McCardle
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
Timothy Blake
Tarzan's Secret Treasure
Dennis O'Doul
How Green Was My Valley
Cyfartha
The Sea Wolf
Cooky
San Francisco Docks
The Icky
The Long Voyage Home
Cocky
Full Confession
Michael O'Keefe
The Saint Strikes Back
Zipper Dyson
Pacific Liner
Britches
The Dawn Patrol
Bott
Marie Antoinette
Peddler (uncredited)
Four Men and a Prayer
Mulcahay
Bringing Up Baby
Mr. Gogarty
Ebb Tide
Huish