
Sean McClory
Sean McClory was born in Dublin, Ireland, but spent his early life in Galway. He was the son of Hugh Patrick, an architect and civil engineer, and Mary Margaret Ball, who had been a model.
Sean decided to become an actor and joined Dublin's renowned Abbey Theater (also known as the National Theater of Ireland, opened in 1904). He rose through the ranks playing in productions of the works of such authors as William Butler Yeats and George Bernard Shaw, and soon began to play leads mostly in comedies (popular through most of the 1940s and into the 1950s).
When comedies began to fade from the theater after World War II, McClory turned an eye toward film. In early 1947 he decided to make the jump to America and break into Hollywood. His first roles were that of a staple in American films: the Irish cop, which he played in two of the Dick Tracy series in 1947. In 1949 he signed a short contract with 20th Century-Fox. By 1950 he was showing up in more notable films - though uncredited, particularly in The Glass Menagerie (1950).
Within a year McClory's talents were being showcased in various small feature roles. John Ford finally began casting - a painstaking process for the finicky director - for his long conceived The Quiet Man (1952) and chose McClory for a small but showy part, in which he was seen throughout the film feature with Charles B. Fitzsimons, the younger brother of the film's star, Maureen O'Hara, playing an Irish villager. Although some of the cast were familiar members of the "John Ford Stock Company", many roles were filled by actual Irish villagers (the film was shot on location) and included a generous helping of Abbey Theater alumni: the Shields brothers (Barry Fitzgerald and Arthur Shields) and Jack MacGowran, in addition to O'Hara McClory. Ford wanted him for roles in several of his subsequent films, however McClory's busy film and TV schedule only allowed him to accept roles in two other Ford films, The Long Gray Line and Cheyenne Autumn.
McClory had a cultured, neutral Irish brogue that fit well in small- or big-screen performances, unlike such Irish actors as Barry Fitzgerald who, though very effective and beloved, had a thick brogue that kept him forever cast as an Irishman. As a result, McClory was much more at home in American TV and had many memorable roles from 1953 onward, appearing in a gamut of episodic TV in addition to his feature film work. However, it was his frequent appearances on the small screen that enabled McClory to stand out in viewers' memories, especially in a range of western and adventure series (in which he played a good sprinkling of Irish characters) well into the 1970s.
Though not as busy in the 1980s as he was in the '70s, one role in which he truly stood out was in an adaptation by John Huston of Irish writer James Joyce's famous 1907 short story "The Dead" made in 1987 (The Dead (1987)), his final film appearance. McClory's role as Mr. Grace was not a character in the original story but was created by Huston and his son Tony Huston to provide McClory with a reading of the medieval Irish poem "Young Donal", which was very effective to the mood of this look at Irish family remembrance.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 0.148 |
Birthday | 1924-03-08 |
Place of Birth | Dublin, Ireland |
Also Known As | Séan Joseph McClory, Seán McClory, Sean McGlory, Shawn McGlory, |

1952

The Quiet Man
7.296/541
An American man returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love and conflict.
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The Quiet Man

1954

Them!
6.8/421
As a result of nuclear testing, gigantic, ferocious mutant ants appear in the American desert southwest, and a father-daughter team of entomologists...
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Them!

1993

Body Bags
6.145/337
A woman working the late shift at a gas station while a killer is on the loose; a man who can't stand the thought of losing his hair; a baseball playe...
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Body Bags

1967

The Gnome-Mobile
6.1/61
An eccentric millionaire and his grandchildren are embroiled in the plights of some forest gnomes who are searching for the rest of their tribe. While...
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The Gnome-Mobile

1967

The Happiest Millionaire
6.8/36
A happy and unbelievably lucky young Irish immigrant, John Lawless, lands a job as the butler of an unconventional millionaire, Biddle. His daughter,...
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The Happiest Millionaire

1953

Charade
5.5/4
This is an anthology film with three stories. In "Portrait of a Murderer", a female artist draws sketches of a mysterious neighbor. She is unaware tha...
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Charade

1966

Follow Me, Boys!
6.6/27
Lem Siddons is part of a traveling band who has a dream of becoming a lawyer. Deciding to settle down, he finds a job as a stockboy in the general sto...
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Follow Me, Boys!

1953

Island in the Sky
6.169/62
A C-47 transport plane, named the Corsair, makes a forced landing in the frozen wastelands of Labrador, and the plane's pilot, Captain Dooley, must ke...
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Island in the Sky

1953

Man in the Attic
5.5/47
London, 1888: on the night of the third Jack the Ripper killing, soft-spoken Mr. Slade, a research pathologist, takes lodgings with the Harleys, inclu...
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Man in the Attic

1964

Cheyenne Autumn
6.7/134
A reluctant cavalry Captain must track a defiant tribe of migrating Cheyenne.
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Cheyenne Autumn

1955

Moonfleet
6.4/107
Set in the eighteenth century, Moonfleet is about John Mohune, a young orphan who is sent to the Dorset village of Moonfleet to stay with an old frien...
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Moonfleet

1955

The Long Gray Line
6.9/49
The life story of a salt-of-the-earth Irish immigrant, who becomes an Army Noncommissioned Officer and spends his 50 year career at the United States...
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The Long Gray Line

1986

My Chauffeur
5.9/31
A feisty young woman accepts a mysterious offer to become a chauffeur for a Beverly Hills limousine business, much to the chagrin of her older male co...
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My Chauffeur

1979

Roller Boogie
5.6/42
Teen lovers Bobby and Terry band together with other roller skaters to try and prevent a powerful mobster taking over the land their favourite skating...
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Roller Boogie

1953

Plunder of the Sun
6.1/15
An American insurance adjuster, stranded in Havana, becomes involved with an archaeologist and a collector of antiquities in a hunt for treasure in th...
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Plunder of the Sun

1961

Valley of the Dragons
5.5/15
In 1881 Algeria, an American soldier and a French aristocrat are about to have a duel over a woman when a comet hurtling past the Earth draws them int...
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Valley of the Dragons

1952

Les Miserables
5.4/15
In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both me...
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Les Miserables

1955

The King's Thief
6.2/8
An ex-soldier turned highwayman uncovers a plot to take control of England from King Charles II.
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The King's Thief

1950

The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
5/1
An Irish horsecar driver's daughter meets New York showman Tony Pastor and goes into vaudeville.
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The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady

1954

Ring of Fear
5/6
Mystery writer Mickey Spillane tries to help Clyde Beatty deal with a plot to sabotage his circus.
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Ring of Fear

1951

Lorna Doone
4.6/6
An English farmer leads a village uprising against their corrupt landlords.
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Lorna Doone

1968

Bandolero!
6.5/115
Posing as a hangman, Mace Bishop arrives in town with the intention of freeing a gang of outlaws, including his brother, from the gallows. Mace urges...
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Bandolero!

1967

The King's Pirate
7/2
Handsome British officer, Lt. Brian Fleming is sent undercover to infiltrate a lively band of pirates.
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The King's Pirate

1975

Kate McShane
0/0
A flamboyant Denver lady lawyer, with the help of her father, a retired cop who does the legwork for her investigations, and her brother, a Jesuit pri...
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Kate McShane

1951

The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
6.7/107
The life and career of Erwin Rommel and his involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler.
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The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel

1955

I Cover the Underworld
6/1
Gunner O'Hara is about to be released from prison after serving a five-year sentence, and receives a visit from his twin brother John, a divinity stud...
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I Cover the Underworld

1947

Dick Tracy's Dilemma
5.4/24
Dick Tracy investigates the theft of a fortune of fur coats, a possible insurance swindle and several murders, all linked to a huge thug who wears a h...
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Dick Tracy's Dilemma

1948

Beyond Glory
7.3/3
Thinking he may have caused the death of his commanding officer Captain Daniels in Tunisia, Rocky visits Daniels' widow. She falls for him, he falls f...
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Beyond Glory

1964

Mary Poppins
7.6/4736
Mr Banks is looking for a nanny for his two mischievous children and comes across Mary Poppins, an angelic nanny. She not only brings a change in thei...
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Mary Poppins

1957

The Guns of Fort Petticoat
6.3/34
Opposing his commanding officer's decision to attack a group of innocent Indians and wipe them out, Lt. Frank Hewitt leaves his post and heads home to...
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The Guns of Fort Petticoat

1953

Niagara
6.8/390
Rose Loomis and her older, gloomier husband, George, are vacationing at a cabin in Niagara Falls, N.Y. The couple befriend Polly and Ray Cutler, who a...
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Niagara

1951

Storm Warning
6.6/40
A fashion model witnesses the brutal assassination of an investigative journalist by the Ku Klux Klan while traveling to a small town to visit her sis...
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Storm Warning

1956

Diane
5.7/9
Asked by Francis I to tutor his son, Diane de Poitiers becomes the future King Henry II's mistress in 1500s France.
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Diane

1971

The Day of the Wolves
6.7/7
A group of six thieves selected from different areas are sent a letter that promises them a minimum of $50,000 and includes a plane ticket. The letter...
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The Day of the Wolves

1951

Anne of the Indies
6.4/41
After buccaneer captain Anne Providence spares Pierre LaRochelle and recruits him into her pirate crew, their growing attraction is tested when Captai...
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Anne of the Indies

1987

The Dead
6.9/160
After a convivial holiday dinner party, things begin to unravel when a husband and wife address some prickly issues concerning their marriage.
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The Dead

1954

The Child
0/0
In 1908, lonely middle-aged spinster Janet reluctantly bids farewell to a young relative, a schoolboy, who has spent a brief holiday with her. Janet,...
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The Child

1949

Roughshod
5.3/11
Rancher Clay and his brother, Steve, head out across the Sonora mountain pass, followed by Lednov, an ex-con seeking revenge on Clay for putting him b...
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Roughshod

1976

The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
0/0
Three young women who posed as the daughters of an elderly homesteader find out that he has been falsely accused of murder, convicted, and sentenced t...
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The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe

1947

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
5.4/29
A gang of criminals, which includes a piano player and an imposing former convict known as 'Gruesome', has found out about a scientist's secret formul...
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