Ronan O'Casey (18 August 1922 – 12 April 2012) was a Canadian actor and producer.

Early life

O'Casey was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, to poet father, Michael Casey, and actress mother, Margaret Sheehy, a

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

er who had co-starred with the young

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

in his first stage role. At the age of eight Ronan O'Casey began acting in his mother's Montreal theatre company and, after tours in theatre and vaudeville, he moved to Dublin and then to London. O'Casey was at one time a leading ice hockey player in his native Montreal, skills which he was able to put to use during the filming of children's adventure serial '' The New Forest Rustlers'', in which he played the leader of a gang planning to steal a priceless Rembrandt.

Career

O'Casey found early success in post-war films such as ''

The Mudlark ''The Mudlark'' is a 1950 film made in United Kingdom, Britain by 20th Century Fox. It is a fictional account of how Queen Victoria was eventually brought out of her mourning for her dead husband, Albert, Prince Consort, Prince Albert. It was di ...

'' (1950), '' Talk of a Million'' (1951) and

Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010), was an English actor, comedian, musician, and singer, best known for his series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966, in which he portrayed the endearingly inept charact ...

's '' Trouble in Store'' (1953), going on to play the prisoner of ''

Room 101 The Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Plenty are the four ministries of the government of Oceania in the 1949 dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', by George Orwell. The use of contradictor ...

'' in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and the sergeant in

Nicholas Ray Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle Jr., August 7, 1911 – June 16, 1979) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. Described by the Harvard Film Archive as "Hollywood's last romantic" and "one of postwar American cinem ...

's war film ''

Bitter Victory ''Bitter Victory'' (French title ''Amère victoire'') is a 1957 Franco- American international co-production film, shot in CinemaScope and directed by Nicholas Ray. Set in World War II, it stars Richard Burton and Curt Jürgens as two British ...

'' (1957). While starring in the West End play

Detective Story Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

he met actress and singer Louie Ramsay, whom he married in 1956. O'Casey's comedy talents brought him his best known role, as Jeff Rogers, Canadian son-in-law of

Peggy Mount Margaret Rose Mount (2 May 1915 – 13 November 2001) was an English actress. As a child, she found acting an escape from an unhappy home life. After playing in amateur productions, she was taken on by a repertory company and spent nine years i ...

, in the TV sitcom '' The Larkins'' (1958–64). He was host of ITV's charades gameshow Don't Say a Word (1963), a panel game with two teams led by

Libby Morris Libby Morris (born 1932, Winnipeg) is a Canadian singer, comedienne and actress. She appeared in several CBC radio shows of the 1950s and moved into TV and film from the 1960s onward after she moved to London, England. She became a very well know ...

and

Kenneth Connor Kenneth Connor (6 June 1918 – 28 November 1993) was a British stage, film and broadcasting actor, who rose to national prominence with his appearances in the ''Carry On'' films. Early life Connor was born in Highbury, Islington, London, t ...

. and co-host of

Rediffusion Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV (TV network ...

's ''Sing A Song of Sixpence'' show. In 1966 he was cast as Vanessa Redgrave's lover, the "blow-up" of Antonioni's ''

Blow-Up ''Blowup'' (also styled ''Blow-Up'') is a 1966 psychological mystery film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, co-written by Antonioni, Tonino Guerra and Edward Bond and produced by Carlo Ponti. It is Antonioni's first entirely English-language ...

'' (1966). O'Casey also appeared on stage, in plays such as ''Forever April'' at the

Nottingham Playhouse Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in 1948 when it operated from a former cinema in Goldsmith Street. Directors during this period included Val May and F ...

, in which he co-starred with

in 1966. and

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

's ''

Desire Under the Elms ''Desire Under the Elms'' is a 1924 play written by Eugene O'Neill. Like ''Mourning Becomes Electra'', ''Desire Under the Elms'' signifies an attempt by O'Neill to adapt plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy to a rural New England settin ...

'' at London's Embassy Theatre in 1955.''The Stage'', 24 March 1955 As literary head of the production company Commonwealth United, O'Casey was an associate producer on

Terry Southern Terry Southern (May 1, 1924 – October 29, 1995) was an American novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style. Part of the Paris postwar literary movement in the 1950s and a companion to ...

's '' The Magic Christian'' (1969) with

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

and a soundtrack by

Badfinger Badfinger were a Welsh rock music, rock band formed in Swansea in 1961. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (musician), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are recognised for th ...

. O'Casey was divorced from Louie Ramsay in 1979, and, after moving to the United States in 1980, he married the writer Carol Tavris. He had roles in many US television shows, including ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. The series cente ...

'', '' Easy Street'', ''

Falcon Crest ''Falcon Crest'' is an American prime time television soap opera created by Earl Hamner Jr. that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17, 1990. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Cha ...

'' and ''

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

'' and '' Santa Barbara''. In later years he wrote and staged a one-man play in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on the poetry of

Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

by O'Casey.

Stage

Filmography

Film

TV

References

External links

Ronan O'Casey at the BFI
{{DEFAULTSORT:OCasey, Ronan 1922 births 2012 deaths Canadian male film actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors Male actors from Montreal Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian expatriates in Ireland Canadian expatriates in England