From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Daniel O'Herlihy (1 May 1919, Wexford – 17 February 2005, Malibu, California) was an Irish film actor.

Career

O'Herlihy first appeared in Hungry Hill and Carol Reed's Odd Man Out in 1947. His first American film role was as Macduff in Orson Welles' version of Macbeth (1948). In 1952 he starred in the Red Scare movie Invasion U.S.A. and in 1954 in Luis Buñuel's Robinson Crusoe, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor (Marlon Brando won for On the Waterfront instead).

O'Herlihy later starred in Fail-Safe in 1964 (as General Black, or "Blackie"), and in the epic Waterloo playing the part of the brave Marshall of France Michel Ney, The Big Cube in (1969), Halloween III: Season of the Witch in 1982, The Last Starfighter in 1984 as Grig, Alex's copilot, navigator, and sidekick, The Whoopee Boys in 1986 as a conman, John Huston's The Dead in 1987, in RoboCop, and its sequel RoboCop 2.

He also had a fairly extensive career in television, appearing in such shows as CBS's anthology series, The DuPont Show with June Allyson, and ABC's crime drama, Target: The Corruptors!.

In 1963-1964, he appeared as the wandering gold-seeker father in the western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters with co-star Kurt Russell. On NBC's The Long Hot Summer, O'Herlihy became the lead star, having replaced Edmond O'Brien in the part of Will Varner midway through the program's one-season run. In 1966, he appeared in the episode "Have You Seen the Aurora Borealis?" of NBC's western series The Road West, starring Barry Sullivan. In 1978 he guest starred in the 2nd part of the Battlestar Galactica episode "Gun on Ice Planet Zero" as Dr. Ravishol. O'Herlihy also appeared in the cult television program Twin Peaks (1991), and in the episode, "Deep Freeze" of Batman: The Animated Series voicing the Mr. Freeze-obsessed theme park mogul Grant Walker. In 1998, O'Herlihy acted in his last film, The Rat Pack, playing Joseph P. Kennedy.

Private life

O'Herlihy married Elsie Bennett in 1945. He was the brother of director Michael O'Herlihy (1928-1997) and the father of actor Gavan O'Herlihy, visual artist Olwen O'Herlihy, and architect Lorcan O'Herlihy. He was also the grandfather of Cian Dowling, Colin O'Herilhy, Micaela O'Herlihy and Eilis O'Herlihy.

O'Herlihy died of natural causes. His personal papers are held in the University College Dublin Archives.

External links

• Dan O'Herlihy at the Internet Movie Database