Stephen McNally
Encyclopedia
Stephen McNally was an American
actor
remembered mostly for his appearances in many westerns and action films. He was an attorney
in the late 1930s before pursuing a career in acting.
He played menacing roles in such films as Johnny Belinda (1948) and the James Stewart
western Winchester '73
(1950). He co-starred in the Burt Lancaster
film noir Criss Cross (1949). Other notable 1950s films included No Way Out
(1950), Split Second
(1953), and Johnny Rocco (1958).
McNally appeared in three episodes of the ABC
religious anthology series Crossroads
. He was thereafter cast as Jim in the 1960 episode "Moment of Fear" of the CBS and Four Star Television
Production, The DuPont Show with June Allyson
, with episode co-stars Edgar Bergen
and Darryl Hickman
. Thereafter, he appeared in the NBC
anthology series, The Barbara Stanwyck Show
. In the 1961-1962 season, McNally and Robert Harland
had their own crime drama on ABC, another Four Star series called Target: The Corruptors!
. This program aired on Friday in a good time slot after the popular 77 Sunset Strip
, but it failed to gain renewal for a second season. McNally played a crusading newspaper
reporter in the series, and Harland was his undercover agent.
During the 1970s, McNally guest starred in television programs such as Fantasy Island
and James Garner
's The Rockford Files
.
He died of heart failure at the age of eighty.
The Harvey Girls (1949?) with Judy Garland and Angela Lansbury
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
remembered mostly for his appearances in many westerns and action films. He was an attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in the late 1930s before pursuing a career in acting.
Career
He started his stage career using his real name Horace McNally and began appearing uncredited in many World War II-era films. In 1946, he changed his stage name to Stephen McNally and began appearing credited as both movie villains and heroes.He played menacing roles in such films as Johnny Belinda (1948) and the James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
western Winchester '73
Winchester '73 (1950 film)
Winchester '73 is an American Western film starring James Stewart and Shelley Winters, and released by Universal Pictures in 1950. This is the first of eight collaborations between Stewart and director Anthony Mann. The movie features early roles for Rock Hudson , Tony Curtis, and James Best, and...
(1950). He co-starred in the Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
film noir Criss Cross (1949). Other notable 1950s films included No Way Out
No Way Out (1950 film)
No Way Out is a black-and-white film noir directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and starring Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally, and Sidney Poitier...
(1950), Split Second
Split Second (1953 film)
Split Second is a 1953 thriller film about escaped convicts and their hostages holed up in a ghost town, unaware of the grave danger they are in. It starred Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, and Keith Andes.-Plot:...
(1953), and Johnny Rocco (1958).
McNally appeared in three episodes of the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
religious anthology series Crossroads
Crossroads (1955 TV series)
Crossroads is the title of a 30-minute American television religion drama series which aired from 1955–1957, the first season on ABC and the second via syndication....
. He was thereafter cast as Jim in the 1960 episode "Moment of Fear" of the CBS and Four Star Television
Four Star Television
Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Charles Boyer, the company produced many well-known shows of the early days of...
Production, The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The DuPont Show with June Allyson is an American anthology drama series which aired on CBS from September 21, 1959 to April 3, 1961 with rebroadcasts continuing until June 12, 1961...
, with episode co-stars Edgar Bergen
Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...
and Darryl Hickman
Darryl Hickman
Darryl Gerard Hickman is an American film and television actor, former television executive, and child star of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...
. Thereafter, he appeared in the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
anthology series, The Barbara Stanwyck Show
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
The Barbara Stanwyck Show is an American anthology drama television series which ran on NBC from September 1960 to September 1961. Barbara Stanwyck served as hostess, and starred in all but four of the half-hour productions. The four she did not star in were actually pilot episodes of potential...
. In the 1961-1962 season, McNally and Robert Harland
Robert Harland
Robert "Bob" Harland is a retired American actor whose principal work was done on television in the late 1950s and 1960s...
had their own crime drama on ABC, another Four Star series called Target: The Corruptors!
Target: The Corruptors!
Target: The Corruptors! is a 35-episode crime drama starring Stephen McNally as newspaper reporter Paul Marino, which aired on ABC from September 29, 1961 to June 8, 1962. The character Jack Flood, Marino's undercover agent, was portrayed by Robert Harland...
. This program aired on Friday in a good time slot after the popular 77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
, but it failed to gain renewal for a second season. McNally played a crusading newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
reporter in the series, and Harland was his undercover agent.
During the 1970s, McNally guest starred in television programs such as Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...
and James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
's The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...
.
He died of heart failure at the age of eighty.
Partial filmography
- For Me and My GalFor Me and My Gal (film)For Me and My Gal is a 1942 American musical film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring Judy Garland, Gene Kelly – in his screen debut – and George Murphy, and featuring Martha Eggerth and Ben Blue. The film was written by Richard Sherman, Fred F...
(1942) - Grand Central MurderGrand Central MurderGrand Central Murder is a comedy/mystery film released in 1942. It was based on Sue MacVeigh's 1939 novel of the same name, and stars Van Heflin as a private investigator who is one of the suspects in a murder on a private train car in Grand Central Terminal. The film was directed by S...
(1942) - Keeper of the FlameKeeper of the Flame (film)Keeper of the Flame is a dramatic film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . It stars Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Hepburn plays the widow of a famous civic leader who has suddenly died in an accident. Tracy plays a former war correspondent who intends to write a flattering biography of the dead man,...
(1942) - Air Raid WardensAir Raid WardensAir Raid Wardens is a 1943 Laurel and Hardy comedy film. This was the first of their films made at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.-Synopsis:Set during World War II, Stan and Ollie try their hand at various business ventures...
(1943) - The Man from Down UnderThe Man from Down UnderThe Man from Down Under is a 1943 drama film starring Charles Laughton as a man who raises two war orphans.-Plot:After the end of World War I, Australian soldier Jocko Wilson admires the spirit of a destitute Belgian orphan who fights a larger boy. He feeds the child, whom he names "Nipper", and...
(1943) - Thirty Seconds over TokyoThirty Seconds over TokyoThirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 MGM war film. It is based on the true story of America's first retaliatory air strike against Japan four months after the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist. The screenplay by...
(1944) - Johnny BelindaJohnny Belinda (1948 film)Johnny Belinda is a 1948 American drama film based on the play of the same name by Elmer Blaney Harris. The movie was adapted to the screen by Allen Vincent and Irma von Cube, and directed by Jean Negulesco....
(1948) - The Lady GamblesThe Lady GamblesThe Lady Gambles is a 1949 drama film starring Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Preston. A woman accompanies her husband to Las Vegas and becomes addicted to gambling.-Cast:*Barbara Stanwyck as Joan Phillips Boothe*Robert Preston as David Boothe...
(1949) - Criss Cross (1949)
- Sword in the DesertSword in the DesertSword in the Desert is a 1949 American war film directed by George Sherman.-Overview:The film presents the moral struggle of an American Captain, played by Dana Andrews, who ferries illegal Jewish immigrants into Palestine to fight against the British authorities there.The Evening Standard claimed...
(1949) - Winchester '73Winchester '73 (1950 film)Winchester '73 is an American Western film starring James Stewart and Shelley Winters, and released by Universal Pictures in 1950. This is the first of eight collaborations between Stewart and director Anthony Mann. The movie features early roles for Rock Hudson , Tony Curtis, and James Best, and...
(1950) - Wyoming Mail (1950)
- No Way OutNo Way Out (1950 film)No Way Out is a black-and-white film noir directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and starring Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally, and Sidney Poitier...
(1950) - Air CadetAir Cadet (1951 film)Air Cadet is a 1951 American drama film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Stephen McNally and Gail Russell. The movie had a small early role for Rock Hudson.-Plot:...
(1951) - The Raging TideThe Raging TideThe Raging Tide is an American crime film noir directed by George Sherman and written by Ernest K. Gann, based on his novel Fiddler's Green. The drama features Shelley Winters, Richard Conte, among others.-Plot:...
(1951) - Diplomatic Courier (1952)
- The Black CastleThe Black CastleThe Black Castle is a mystery film, released by Universal Pictures in 1952. It was produced by William Alland, who would have better success two years later with Creature from the Black Lagoon...
(1952) - Split SecondSplit Second (1953 film)Split Second is a 1953 thriller film about escaped convicts and their hostages holed up in a ghost town, unaware of the grave danger they are in. It starred Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, and Keith Andes.-Plot:...
(1953) - Make Haste to LiveMake Haste to LiveMake Haste to Live is an American suspense film released by Republic Pictures.- Plot :'Chris' Crystal Benson is a single mother living in a small town in New Mexico. One night she feels a man is stalking. She grabs a gun and makes a series of arrangements anticipating his own death...
(1954) - Violent SaturdayViolent SaturdayViolent Saturday is a 1955 American crime drama directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Victor Mature, Lee Marvin, Richard Egan and Stephen McNally. The film, set in a mining town, depicts the planning of a bank robbery as the nexus in the personal lives of several townspeople.Prominent actors...
(1955) - Tribute to a Bad ManTribute to a Bad ManTribute to a Bad Man is a 1956 western film starring James Cagney about a rancher whose harsh enforcement of frontier justice alienates the woman he loves. It was directed by Robert Wise and based on the short story "Hanging's for the Lucky" by Jack Schaefer.-Plot:Rustlers rob horses belonging to...
(1956) - The Fiend Who Walked the WestThe Fiend Who Walked the WestThe Fiend Who Walked the West is a Western based on the 1947 film noir Kiss of Death. The film stars Robert Evans, Hugh O'Brian, Linda Cristal, and Stephen McNally.-External links:*...
(1958) - Johnny Rocco (1958)
The Harvey Girls (1949?) with Judy Garland and Angela Lansbury