Donal McCann
Encyclopedia
Donal McCann was an Irish
stage
, film
, and television
actor
best known for his roles in the works of Brian Friel
and for his lead role in John Huston
's last film, The Dead.
in Dublin. His father was John J. McCann, a playwright
and politician
who served twice as Dublin's Lord Mayor
. Although Donal had acted in a production of his father's Give Me a Bed of Roses at Terenure College (see Terenure College) in 1962, he briefly studied architecture
before taking a job as a sub-editor at the Evening Press
which allowed him pursue part-time acting classes at the Abbey School of Actors
at the same time. He joined the Abbey Players
in the late 1960s.
in W.B. Yeats's On Baile Strand (1966), and as Estragon
in a seminal production of Samuel Beckett
's Waiting for Godot
, partnering with Peter O'Toole
as Vladimir
(1969).
His career included parts in many plays from the Irish literary canon, including Tarry Flynn, The Shaughran, and the Gate Theatre's
highly acclaimed production of Sean O'Casey
's classic Juno and the Paycock
in the 1980s (McCann played the Paycock (Captain Boyle) opposite Geraldine Plunkett as Juno and John Kavanagh as Joxer Daly) as well as a subsequent production of O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars.
McCann developed a particularly fruitful relationship with the playwright Brian Friel
. He played dual roles in Philadelphia, Here I Come in 1970 and gave a landmark performance as Frank Hardy, the title character, in Faith Healer
in 1980 (a role he reprised in 1994), continuing his relationship with Friel through productions of Translations
(1988) and Wonderful Tennessee (1993).
Friel has said that McCann's work "contains extraordinary characteristics that go beyond acting ... it is deeply spiritual". Perhaps McCann's most renowned role was as Thomas Dunne in Sebastian Barry
's The Steward of Christendom
. He won the London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre) as best actor for this role in 1995. He reprised this role in a 1996 production at The Gate Theatre
, Dublin and, following a twelve-week run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
in 1997, his "performance of unarguable greatness" (New York Observer
) had Newsweek
hailing him as "a world-class star", and the New York Times referring to this "astonishing Irish actor...widely regarded as the finest of them all".
On the London stage, McCann played in Prayer for My Daughter opposite Sir Anthony Sher (1978), and was Jean to Dame Helen Mirren
's Julie in Miss Julie
(1971). This was filmed for the BBC, and McCann would much later play Judge Brack with Fiona Shaw
in the title role of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler
, a production filmed for the BBC in 1993.
McCann began his film career early, in 1966, in Disney's
The Fighting Prince of Donegal
(this later became a TV series). More significant roles include the title character's father in Cal
and one of the feuding brothers in Thaddeus O'Sullivan
's December Bride (1990–1994). He has worked a number of times with Neil Jordan
(in Angel
, The Miracle
and High Spirits
).
His best-known film role was as Gabriel Conroy in The Dead (1987), starring opposite Anjelica Huston
and directed by her father, John Huston
. Significant late roles include Bernardo Bertolucci's
Stealing Beauty
(1996) and in John Turturro's
Illuminata
(released in 1999, after McCann's death).
McCann's television work includes the featured role of Phineas Finn in the BBC's serialized adaptatation of Anthony Trollope's
The Pallisers
, and Barney Mulhall in RTE's
well-regarded Strumpet City
(1980), as well as many one-off parts.
McCann played in Bob Quinn
's Irish language
film Poitín (1979) and in Quinn's somewhat experimental The Bishop's Story (1995). After hearing that McCann was ill, Tom Collins asked Bob Quinn to make a TV documentary about McCann for RTÉ (in 1998) called It Must Be Done Right (after a remark by McCann on his craft). The film aired on RTÉ a week before McCann's death.
and alcoholism
all his life. He had many friends in Irish theatre and artistic circles but also across all strata of life. His hobbies included sketching
and he was passionate about horse racing
.
He died at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer
.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
best known for his roles in the works of Brian Friel
Brian Friel
Brian Friel is an Irish dramatist, author and director of the Field Day Theatre Company. He is considered to be the greatest living English-language dramatist, hailed by the English-speaking world as an "Irish Chekhov" and "the universally accented voice of Ireland"...
and for his lead role in John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
's last film, The Dead.
Early life
McCann was born in TerenureTerenure
Terenure is a mainly residential suburb of Dublin, Ireland, largely in the administrative area of Dublin City Council but with parts in the administrative county of South Dublin County .-Location and transport:...
in Dublin. His father was John J. McCann, a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who served twice as Dublin's Lord Mayor
Lord Mayor
The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...
. Although Donal had acted in a production of his father's Give Me a Bed of Roses at Terenure College (see Terenure College) in 1962, he briefly studied architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
before taking a job as a sub-editor at the Evening Press
Evening Press
The Evening Press was an Irish newspaper which was printed from 1954 until 1995. It was set up by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group, and was originally edited by Douglas Gageby...
which allowed him pursue part-time acting classes at the Abbey School of Actors
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
at the same time. He joined the Abbey Players
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
in the late 1960s.
Career
Among his most important early roles were CuchulainnCúchulainn
Cú Chulainn or Cúchulainn , and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin , is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...
in W.B. Yeats's On Baile Strand (1966), and as Estragon
Estragon
Estragon is one of the two main characters from Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. His name is the French word for tarragon.- The impulsive misanthrope :...
in a seminal production of Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
's Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
, partnering with Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
as Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...
(1969).
His career included parts in many plays from the Irish literary canon, including Tarry Flynn, The Shaughran, and the Gate Theatre's
Gate Theatre
The Gate Theatre, in Dublin, was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir, initially using the Abbey Theatre's Peacock studio theatre space to stage important works by European and American dramatists...
highly acclaimed production of Sean O'Casey
Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes.- Early life:...
's classic Juno and the Paycock
Juno and the Paycock
Juno and the Paycock is a play by Sean O'Casey, and one of the most highly regarded and oft-performed plays in Ireland. It was first staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1924...
in the 1980s (McCann played the Paycock (Captain Boyle) opposite Geraldine Plunkett as Juno and John Kavanagh as Joxer Daly) as well as a subsequent production of O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars.
McCann developed a particularly fruitful relationship with the playwright Brian Friel
Brian Friel
Brian Friel is an Irish dramatist, author and director of the Field Day Theatre Company. He is considered to be the greatest living English-language dramatist, hailed by the English-speaking world as an "Irish Chekhov" and "the universally accented voice of Ireland"...
. He played dual roles in Philadelphia, Here I Come in 1970 and gave a landmark performance as Frank Hardy, the title character, in Faith Healer
Faith Healer
Faith Healer is a play by Brian Friel about the life of faith healer Francis Hardy as monologued through the shifting memories of Hardy, his wife, Grace, and stage manager, Teddy.-Synopsis:...
in 1980 (a role he reprised in 1994), continuing his relationship with Friel through productions of Translations
Translations
Translations is a three-act play by Irish playwright Brian Friel written in 1980. It is set in Baile Beag , a small village at the heart of 19th century agricultural Ireland...
(1988) and Wonderful Tennessee (1993).
Friel has said that McCann's work "contains extraordinary characteristics that go beyond acting ... it is deeply spiritual". Perhaps McCann's most renowned role was as Thomas Dunne in Sebastian Barry
Sebastian Barry
Sebastian Barry is an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet. He has been shortlisted twice for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction and has won the 2008 Costa Book of the Year....
's The Steward of Christendom
The Steward of Christendom
The Steward of Christendom is a 1995 play written by Irish playwright Sebastian Barry. Its story is about one Thomas Dunne, which was the name of Barry's great-grandfather, who is loyal to the British Crown during the Irish War of Independence and suffers accordingly.-Plot summary:The play opens...
. He won the London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre) as best actor for this role in 1995. He reprised this role in a 1996 production at The Gate Theatre
Gate Theatre
The Gate Theatre, in Dublin, was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir, initially using the Abbey Theatre's Peacock studio theatre space to stage important works by European and American dramatists...
, Dublin and, following a twelve-week run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
in 1997, his "performance of unarguable greatness" (New York Observer
New York Observer
The New York Observer is a weekly newspaper first published in New York City on September 22, 1987, by Arthur L. Carter, a very successful former investment banker with publishing interests. The Observer focuses on the city's culture, real estate, the media, politics and the entertainment and...
) had Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
hailing him as "a world-class star", and the New York Times referring to this "astonishing Irish actor...widely regarded as the finest of them all".
On the London stage, McCann played in Prayer for My Daughter opposite Sir Anthony Sher (1978), and was Jean to Dame Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
's Julie in Miss Julie
Miss Julie
Miss Julie is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg dealing with class, love, lust, the battle of the sexes, and the interaction among them...
(1971). This was filmed for the BBC, and McCann would much later play Judge Brack with Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw, CBE is an Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is an accomplished classical actress...
in the title role of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
, a production filmed for the BBC in 1993.
McCann began his film career early, in 1966, in Disney's
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
The Fighting Prince of Donegal
The Fighting Prince of Donegal
The Fighting Prince of Donegal is a 1966 Disney adventure film starring Peter McEnery and Susan Hampshire, based on the novel Red Hugh: Prince of Donegal by Robert T. Reilly. It was released through Buena Vista Distribution Company.-Plot:...
(this later became a TV series). More significant roles include the title character's father in Cal
Cal (film)
Cal is a 1984 British drama film directed by Pat O'Connor, and starring John Lynch and Helen Mirren. Based on the novella Cal written by Bernard MacLaverty who also wrote the script, the film was entered into the 1984 Cannes Film Festival, where Helen Mirren won the award for Best Actress.-Plot:Cal...
and one of the feuding brothers in Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Thaddeus O'Sullivan is an Irish director, cinematographer, writer.-Filmography:-Awards:*1990 won the Silver Rosa Camuna at the Bergamo Film Meeting for December Bride...
's December Bride (1990–1994). He has worked a number of times with Neil Jordan
Neil Jordan
Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and novelist. He won an Academy Award for The Crying Game.- Early life :...
(in Angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
, The Miracle
The Miracle (1991 film)
The Miracle is a 1991 drama film written and directed by Neil Jordan. It stars Beverly D'Angelo, Donal McCann, and Niall Byrne. It was entered into the 41st Berlin International Film Festival.-Plot:...
and High Spirits
High Spirits (film)
High Spirits is a 1988 "comedy" film directed by Neil Jordan and starring Steve Guttenberg, Daryl Hannah, Beverly D'Angelo and Peter O'Toole.Set in a remote Irish castle called Dromore Castle, Co...
).
His best-known film role was as Gabriel Conroy in The Dead (1987), starring opposite Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
and directed by her father, John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
. Significant late roles include Bernardo Bertolucci's
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
Stealing Beauty
Stealing Beauty
Stealing Beauty is a 1996 drama film directed by Academy Award-winning Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci and written by Bertolucci and Susan Minot. It stars Liv Tyler, D.W. Moffett, Jeremy Irons, and Rachel Weisz...
(1996) and in John Turturro's
John Turturro
John Michael Turturro is an American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Quiz Show , The Big Lebowski , O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Transformers film series...
Illuminata
Illuminata (film)
Illuminata is a 1998 romantic comedy film directed by John Turturro and written by Brandon Cole and John Turturro, based on Cole's play. The cinematographer was Harris Savides...
(released in 1999, after McCann's death).
McCann's television work includes the featured role of Phineas Finn in the BBC's serialized adaptatation of Anthony Trollope's
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
The Pallisers
The Pallisers
The Pallisers is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels.-Cast :*Anthony Ainley: Rev. Emilius*Terence Alexander: Lord George*Anthony Andrews: Lord Silverbridge*Sarah Badel: Lizzie Eustace...
, and Barney Mulhall in RTE's
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
well-regarded Strumpet City
Strumpet City
Strumpet City is a historical novel by James Plunkett set in Dublin, Ireland, at the time of the Dublin Lock-out. In 1980, it was adapted into a successful TV drama by Radio Telefís Éireann, Ireland's national broadcaster...
(1980), as well as many one-off parts.
McCann played in Bob Quinn
Bob Quinn
Bob, Rob, or Robert Quinn may refer to:* Bob Quinn * Bob Quinn , American baseball executive* Bob Quinn , his grandson, American baseball executive...
's Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
film Poitín (1979) and in Quinn's somewhat experimental The Bishop's Story (1995). After hearing that McCann was ill, Tom Collins asked Bob Quinn to make a TV documentary about McCann for RTÉ (in 1998) called It Must Be Done Right (after a remark by McCann on his craft). The film aired on RTÉ a week before McCann's death.
Personal life
In his private life, McCann was a quiet and unassuming man, but he battled both depressionClinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
and alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
all his life. He had many friends in Irish theatre and artistic circles but also across all strata of life. His hobbies included sketching
Sketch (drawing)
A sketch is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work...
and he was passionate about horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
.
He died at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
.
Books
- Faith O'Grady, Pat Laffan, eds. 2000. Donal McCann Remembered. (New Island Books)
- The Fleadh Papers. 1998. Donal McCann: In Conversation with Gerry Stembridge at the Galway Film Fleadh, Sunday July 12th, 1998. (Film West)