Oscar O'Shea
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Oscar O'Shea (8 October 1881 – 6 April 1960) was a Canadian-American character actor with over 100 film appearances from 1937 to 1953.


Early years

O'Shea was born in
Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...
, Canada.


Acting

O'Shea was a comic actor who earned a million dollars but lost it all in the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. His first straight role came in a
Federal Theatre Project The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States. It was one of five Federal ...
production of ''It Can't Happen Here'', a play based on the novel of the same name. O'Shea's first film was ''
Captains Courageous ''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...
'' (1937).


Management

Beginning in 1929, O'Shea operated the Oscar O'Shea Players repertory theater company in the Embassy Theatre in Ottawa, Canada. He eventually ended the enterprise "to seek a field where his art would be more widely appreciated." He then set up an operation in Chicago, "where he managed his own theatre and stock company during good and bad years."


Death

O'Shea died in Hollywood, California, in 1960 at age 78.


Selected filmography

* '' The Good Old Soak'' (1937) as Jake (uncredited) * ''
Captains Courageous ''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...
'' (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 A mannequin (sometimes spelled as manikin and also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off dif ...
'' (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 ''King of the Newsboys'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by Bernard Vorhaus. Plot Jerry Flynn's girlfriend leaves him for a gangster with power and money, in order to show her that she made a mistake, Jerry starts his newspaper distrib ...
'' (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 ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' is a 1938 American crime drama film directed by Michael Curtiz for Warner Brothers. It stars James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, The Dead End Kids, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, and George Bancroft. The screenplay was wr ...
'' (1938) as Kennedy (uncredited) * '' King of the Turf'' (1939) as Bartender * '' Love Affair'' (1939) as Priest (uncredited) * ''
Undercover Agent A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. US law Under US law, the Central Intelligence Ag ...
'' (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 ''Invitation to Happiness'' is a 1939 American drama film directed by Wesley Ruggles and written by Claude Binyon. The film stars Irene Dunne, Fred MacMurray, Charlie Ruggles, Billy Cook, William Collier, Sr. and Marion Martin. The film was relea ...
'' (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 ''Of Mice and Men'' is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck. It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant worker, migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California ...
'' (1939) as Jackson * '' I Take This Woman'' (1940) as Dowling (scenes deleted) * ''
Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
'' (1940) as Captain Craig * ''
Forty Little Mothers ''Forty Little Mothers'' is a 1940 American comedy-drama film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring Eddie Cantor. Plot Out-of-work professor Gilbert Jordan Thompson stops a suicidal stranger named Marian Edwards from jumping off a pier and h ...
'' (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 ''Susan and God'' is a 1940 American comedy-drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer directed by George Cukor and starring Joan Crawford and Fredric March. The screenplay was written by Anita Loos and was based upon a 1937 play by Rachel Cr ...
'' (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 ''Blossoms in the Dust'' is a 1941 American biographical drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart, Marsha Hunt, Fay Holden and Samuel S. Hinds. It tells the story of Edna Gladney, who help ...
'' (1941) as Dr. West (uncredited) * ''
Accent on Love ''Accent on Love'' is a 1941 American drama film directed and filmed by Ray McCarey and written by John Larkin (screenwriter), John Larkin. The film stars George Montgomery (actor), George Montgomery, Osa Massen, J. Carrol Naish, Cobina Wright, ...
'' (1941) as Magistrate * '' Ringside Maisie'' (1941) as Conductor * '' Harmon of Michigan'' (1941) as 'Pop' Branch * ''
Lydia Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, ...
'' (1941) as Doctor Richards (uncredited) * ''
Riders of the Purple Sage ''Riders of the Purple Sage'' is a Western novel by Zane Grey, first published by Harper & Brothers in 1912. Considered by scholars to have played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre, the novel has been calle ...
'' (1941) as Noah Judkins * '' The Officer and the Lady'' (1941) as Dan Regan * '' Fly-by-Night'' (1942) as Pa Prescott * ''
Torpedo Boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
'' (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 ''Two Tickets to London'' is a 1943 American drama film made by Universal Pictures, and directed by Edwin L. Marin. The screenplay was written by Tom Reed, based on story by Roy William Neill. The film stars Michèle Morgan and Alan Curtis. ...
'' (1943) as Mr. Tinkle * ''
Gals, Incorporated ''Gals, Incorporated'' is a 1943 American comedy film directed by Leslie Goodwins and written by Edward Dein. The film stars Leon Errol, Harriet Nelson, Grace McDonald, David Bacon, Betty Kean, Maureen Cannon and Lillian Cornell. The film wa ...
'' (1943) as Justice (uncredited) * '' The Good Fellows'' (1943) as Great Grand Caesar (uncredited) * ''
Corvette K-225 ''Corvette K-225'' is a 1943 American war film starring Randolph Scott and James Brown, with Ella Raines making her feature film debut. Directed by Richard Rosson, the film was released in the UK as ''The Nelson Touch''. Robert Mitchum, credi ...
'' (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 ''The Mummy's Ghost'' is a 1944 American horror film directed by Reginald Le Borg for Universal. It is the second of three sequels to '' The Mummy's Hand'' (1940), following '' The Mummy's Tomb'' (1942) and preceding '' The Mummy's Curse'' (194 ...
'' (1944) as Watchman * '' Haunted Harbor'' (1944, Serial) as John Galbraith hs. 1, 7, 15* '' Mystery of the River Boat'' (1944, Serial) as Capt. Ethan Perrin * '' Here Come the Waves'' (1944) as Commodore (uncredited) * ''
Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typi ...
'' (1945) as Capt. O'Malley * '' Senorita from the West'' (1945) as Dusty * ''
Without Reservations ''Without Reservations'' is a 1946 RKO Radio Pictures American comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Claudette Colbert, John Wayne and Don DeFore. The film was adapted by Andrew P. Solt, Andrew Solt from the novel ''Thanks, God! I'l ...
'' (1946) as Conductor (uncredited) * '' Personality Kid'' (1946) as Officer O'Brien * '' The Brute Man'' (1946) as Mr. Haskins, Grocer (uncredited) * ''
Abie's Irish Rose ''Abie's Irish Rose'' is a popular comedy by Anne Nichols, which premiered in 1922. Initially a Broadway theatre, Broadway Play (theatre), play, it has become familiar through repeated stage productions, films and radio programs. The basic premi ...
'' (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


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oshea, Oscar 1881 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Canadian male actors Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian male film actors Male actors from Ontario People from Peterborough, Ontario