In Remembrance: Dan O’Herlihy

     Irish actor Dan O’Herlihy, nominated for Best Actor in Luis Bunuel's The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, died February 18, 2005 at his home in Malibu, California. He was 85.

     Born May 1, 1919 in Wexford, Ireland, O’Herlihy studied architecture at the National University of Ireland, but his real attraction was to acting. He worked with the Gate Theatre and the Abbey Players, learning his skills and earning money for college. Appearing in more than 70 plays on the Dublin stage, O’Herlihy is best remembered for playing the lead in the original production of Sean O’Casey’s Red Roses for Me.

     O’Herlihy was given his first motion picture work by British director Carol Reed in the dramatic thriller Odd Man Out (1947) and soon made his American screen debut opposite Orson Welles in the brooding, Welles-directed adaptation of Macbeth (1948).

     Work was scarce, so O’Herlihy spent his time playing small parts in low budget films such as Kidnapped (1948), The Highwayman (1951), and Operation Secret (1952).

     The Oscar nomination for his stunning performance in Luis Buñuel's spectacular film, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1954), was a career high point. O’Herlihy eventually lost the Academy Award to Marlon Brando for his role in On the Waterfront. 

     Despite his Oscar nomination, he had few other lead roles and became a familiar supporting actor in film. O’Herlihy appeared opposite Bette Davis in the historical drama, The Virgin Queen (1955) and he also gave an exceptional supporting performance in director Douglas Sirk’s melodrama Imitation of Life (1959). In 1964, in the serious Cold War thriller Fail-Safe, he portrayed Brig. Gen. Warren A. Black. 

     Famed director John Huston gave O’Herlihy a lead role in The Dead (1987), Huston’s film version of the James Joyce story. However most modern movie fans may remember his roles in the senseless horror film, Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982), as the demonic CEO, the friendly alien in 1984’s Last Starfighter, and the Old Man in RoboCop (1987) and RoboCop 2 (1990).

     O’Herlihy also added some memorable TV credits to his resume including President Franklin Roosevelt in MacArthur, starring Gregory Peck, intelligence agent Carson Marsh in the cult show Whiz Kids and sawmill owner Alexander Packard in several episodes of David Lynch’s intellectual TV series masterpiece, Twin Peaks.

-John L. Gibbons