Oscar O'Shea (8 October 1881 – 6 April 1960) was a Canadian-American character actor with over 100 film appearances from 1937 to 1953.
Oscar O'Shea | |
|---|---|
 O'Shea in The Bashful Bachelor (1942) | |
| Born | October 8, 1881 Peterborough, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | April 6, 1960 (aged 78) Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1937-1953 |
Early years
editO'Shea was born in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.[1]
Acting
editO'Shea was a comic actor who earned a million dollars but lost it all in the Great Depression. His first straight role came in a Federal Theatre Project production of It Can't Happen Here, a play based on the novel of the same name.[2]
O'Shea's first film was Captains Courageous (1937).[1]
Management
editBeginning in 1929, O'Shea operated the Oscar O'Shea Players repertory theater company in the Embassy Theatre in Ottawa, Canada.[3] He eventually ended the enterprise "to seek a field where his art would be more widely appreciated."[4] He then set up an operation in Chicago, "where he managed his own theatre and stock company during good and bad years."[4]
Death
editO'Shea died in Hollywood, California, in 1960 at age 78.[1]
Selected filmography
edit- The Good Old Soak (1937) as Jake (uncredited)
- Captains Courageous (1937) as Captain Walt Cushman
- Big City (1937) as John C. Andrews
- Double Wedding (1937) as Turnkey (uncredited)
- Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937) as Man Seated Next to Wilkins (uncredited)
- You're Only Young Once (1937) as Sheriff (uncredited)
- Mannequin (1937) as 'Pa' Cassidy
- Rosalie (1937) as Mr. Callahan
- Man-Proof (1938) as Gus
- Love Is a Headache (1938) as Pop Sheeman, Stage Doorman (uncredited)
- Border Wolves (1938) as Judge Coleman
- King of the Newsboys (1938) as Mr. Stephens
- International Crime (1938) as Heath
- Hold That Kiss (1938) as Pop, Man Bringing Usher's Clothes (uncredited)
- Numbered Woman (1938)
- The Main Event (1938) as Captain Rorty
- Rebellious Daughters (1938) as Dad Elliott
- Racket Busters (1938) as Pop Wilson
- Youth Takes a Fling (1938) as Captain Walters
- Stablemates (1938) as Pete Whalen
- The Shining Hour (1938) as Charlie Collins
- Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) as Kennedy (uncredited)
- King of the Turf (1939) as Bartender
- Love Affair (1939) as Priest (uncredited)
- Undercover Agent (1939) as Pat Murphy
- Big Town Czar (1939) as Pa Daley
- Lucky Night (1939) as Police Lieutenant
- Tell No Tales (1939) as Sam O'Neil
- S.O.S. Tidal Wave (1939) as Mike Halloran
- Invitation to Happiness (1939) as Divorce Judge
- She Married a Cop (1939) as Pa Duffy
- The Star Maker (1939) as Mr. Flannigan
- Those High Grey Walls (1939) as Warden
- The Roaring Twenties (1939) as Customer (uncredited)
- Missing Evidence (1939) as John C. 'Pop' Andrews
- The Night of Nights (1939) as Mr. Conway (uncredited)
- Of Mice and Men (1939) as Jackson
- I Take This Woman (1940) as Dowling (scenes deleted)
- Zanzibar (1940) as Captain Craig
- Forty Little Mothers (1940) as Janitor at Train Station (uncredited)
- 20 Mule Team (1940) as Train Conductor
- You Can't Fool Your Wife (1940) as Dr. Emery, Colony College Chaplain
- Susan and God (1940) as Samr (uncredited)
- Pier 13 (1940) as Skipper Kelly
- Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) as The Judge
- Wildcat Bus (1940) as Charles Dawson
- The Bride Wore Crutches (1940) as Pop (uncredited)
- Always a Bride (1940) as Uncle Dan Jarvis
- The Phantom Submarine (1940) as Captain Velsar
- Four Mothers (1941) as George Edwards (uncredited)
- Sleepers West (1941) as Engineer McGowan
- Mutiny in the Arctic (1941) as Capt. Bob Morrissey
- Blossoms in the Dust (1941) as Dr. West (uncredited)
- Accent on Love (1941) as Magistrate
- Ringside Maisie (1941) as Conductor
- Harmon of Michigan (1941) as 'Pop' Branch
- Lydia (1941) as Doctor Richards (uncredited)
- Riders of the Purple Sage (1941) as Noah Judkins
- The Officer and the Lady (1941) as Dan Regan
- Fly-by-Night (1942) as Pa Prescott
- Torpedo Boat (1942) as Captain Mike
- The Bashful Bachelor (1942) as Squire Skimp
- I Was Framed (1942) as Cal Beamish
- The Postman Didn't Ring (1942) as Judge Barrington
- Just Off Broadway (1942) as Pop
- Halfway to Shanghai (1942) as Doctor McIntyre
- Sin Town (1942) as Train Conductor (uncredited)
- Henry Aldrich, Editor (1942) as Judge Sanders
- Lady Bodyguard (1943) as Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
- City Without Men (1943) as Joseph Barton
- Two Weeks to Live (1943) as Squire Skimp (uncredited)
- Good Morning, Judge (1943) as Magistrate
- Three Hearts for Julia (1943) as Stage Doorman (uncredited)
- Two Tickets to London (1943) as Mr. Tinkle
- Gals, Incorporated (1943) as Justice (uncredited)
- The Good Fellows (1943) as Great Grand Caesar (uncredited)
- Corvette K-225 (1943) as Capt. Smith (uncredited)
- Happy Land (1943) as Father Case (uncredited)
- Her Primitive Man (1944) as Jonathan
- South of Dixie (1944) as Col. Hatcher
- The Mummy's Ghost (1944) as Watchman
- Haunted Harbor (1944, Serial) as John Galbraith [Chs. 1, 7, 15]
- Mystery of the River Boat (1944, Serial) as Capt. Ethan Perrin
- Here Come the Waves (1944) as Commodore (uncredited)
- Bewitched (1945) as Capt. O'Malley
- Senorita from the West (1945) as Dusty
- Without Reservations (1946) as Conductor (uncredited)
- Personality Kid (1946) as Officer O'Brien
- The Brute Man (1946) as Mr. Haskins, Grocer (uncredited)
- Abie's Irish Rose (1946) as Bishop (uncredited)
- Stallion Road (1947) as Doc Brady, DVM (uncredited)
- Sport of Kings (1947) as Judge Sellers
- Where There's Life (1947) as Uncle Philip (uncredited)
- It Had to Be You (1947) as Irish Neighborhood Watchman (scenes deleted)
- My Wild Irish Rose (1947) as Pat Daly
- Fury at Furnace Creek (1948) as Jailer (uncredited)
- One Sunday Afternoon (1948) as Toby
- The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950) as Mr. Flannigan (uncredited)
- Thy Neighbor's Wife (1953) (final film role)
References
edit- ^ a b c Feramisco, Thomas M. (2007). The Mummy Unwrapped: Scenes Left on Universal's Cutting Room Floor. McFarland. pp. 189–190. ISBN 9781476607924. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ Quinn, Susan (2011). Furious Improvisation: How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands Made High Art out of Desperate Times. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9780802779717. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ "Oscar O'Shea Players to Open Season of Repertoire Next Week". The Ottawa Journal. No. The Ottawa Journal. Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. December 21, 1929. p. 13. Retrieved July 6, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Oscar O'Shea Comes Back". The Ottawa Journal. Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. July 3, 1937. p. 20. Retrieved July 6, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
editWikimedia Commons has media related to Oscar O'Shea.