Sean McClory obituary in “The Los Angeles Times”
This great Irish actor is from the Claddagh in Galway and started his career in the the Abbey Theatre but was in Hollywood by the late 1940’s.
He came back to Galway in 1951 to make John Ford’s “The Quiet Man” and continued his career in the U.S. in movies and television. He was seen to great effect in “The Ring of Fire” and as Mr Grace in “The Dead”.
“Los Angeles Times” obituary:
Sean McClory, 79, an Irish-born actor who appeared in dozens of films and innumerable television shows, died Wednesday at his home in the Hollywood Hills, said his wife, Peggy Webber McClory.
The actor, who had a heart condition, died at home after being hospitalized for several months, she said. McClory began his acting career in Galway, Ireland, and was a member of the famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin. He was brought to the United States by RKO studios.
Among his many roles were those of Owen Glynn in director John Ford’s “The Quiet Man” (1952), which starred Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne; and homicidal maniac Dublin O’Malley in “Ring of Fear” (1954).
In the late 1950s, he played storekeeper Jack McGivern in the television series “The Californians.”
The above “Los Angeles Times” obituary can also be accessed online here.
A website on Sean McClory can be accessed here.
Directory of Irish biography
McClory, Sean (1924–2003), actor, was born 8 March 1924 in a nursing home at 18 Goldsmith Street, Dublin, son of Hugh Patrick McClory, farmer, of Kilmore, Ballygar, Co. Roscommon, and his wife, Mary Anne Margaret (née Ball), a former model. Reared in Galway city, where his father practised as an architect and civil engineer, he began acting while a schoolboy at An Taibhdhearc, the city’s Irish‐language theatre, and became a member of the theatre’s resident company. He studied medicine for three years at UCG, but determined upon acting as a career. Joining the Abbey theatre company in Dublin (mid 1940s), he performed mainly in Irish‐language productions (as Sean Mac Labhraidh), often with Siobhán McKenna (qv), including the Abbey’s first‐ever Irish‐language Christmas pantomime (1945), and a translation of ‘Cathleen ni Houlihan’ by W. B. Yeats (qv). In 1946 he moved to Hollywood aspiring to break into film acting. His first, uncredited movie roles were as Irish cops in two Dick Tracy films for RKO (1947). Soon he was securing small roles in feature films, including The glass menagerie (1950), Lorna Doone (1951), and The Desert Fox(1951). He also obtained stage work in Los Angeles, other California locations, and elsewhere on the Pacific coast, and appeared in the first Broadway production (February 1951) of ‘The king of Friday’s men’ by M. J. Molloy (qv).
His break came when he was cast by John Ford (qv) in The quiet man (1952), in the small but conspicuous part of Owen Glynn, a pipe‐smoking, leisurely loquacious, tweed‐bedecked country gentleman. His character appears throughout the film in tandem with Hugh Forbes (played by Charles FitzSimons (1924–2001), younger brother of the film’s co-star Maureen O’Hara (qv)). As McClory did not travel to Ireland for location shooting, he only appears in scenes, or segments of scenes, that were shot in Hollywood. Thus, his presence in any shot is a technical marker, indicating that the footage was a Hollywood studio shot; this includes the climactic fight scene between John Wayne and Victor McLaglen, which was edited from footage shot in both Ireland and Hollywood. McClory’s character is also central to a game played by devotees of the film, in which participants must take a drink whenever Glynn himself either has a drink or utters a line.
A member of Ford’s stock company, McClory appeared in three of the director’s other films: the war movie What price glory? (1952); The long grey line (1955), set at West Point; and the elegiac, revisionist western Cheyenne autumn (1964). Ford wanted him for other movies, but McClory was too busy with film and television work. He gave an impressive performance, opposite Glenn Ford, as a sinister archaeologist, sporting white‐tinted crewcut and dark glasses, in Plunder of the sun (1953), directed by John Farrow, and shot on location in Mexico. He was John Wayne’s co‐pilot in Island in the sky (1953), about a transport plane that crash lands on the remote wintry tundra of Labrador. In the Mickey Spillane thriller Ring of fear (1954) he played Dublin O’Malley, a homicidal villain escaped from a psychiatric institution and terrorising the Clyde Beatty Circus.
From the mid 1950s McClory concentrated increasingly on television, working regularly in the medium into the 1980s. He appeared in instalments of several 1950s anthology drama series, including ‘Fireside theater’, ‘Cavalcade of America’ (as President Andrew Johnson), ‘General Electric theater’, ‘Four star playhouse’, and ‘Alfred Hitchcock presents’; on ‘Matinee theater’ he played Hindley in an adaptation of ‘Wuthering Heights’ (1955). He had a starring role in the first season (1957–8) of ‘The Californians’, playing a vigilante storekeeper in lawless, gold‐rush‐era San Francisco. Throughout the 1960s he was a ubiquitous presence on American television screens. With his face more familiar to viewers than his name (for he never attained star status), he appeared in episodes of numerous series, often as the featured guest actor, especially in westerns (a particularly popular genre of the decade). These included ‘The adventures of Jim Bowie’, ‘Have gun–will travel’, ‘Wanted: dead or alive’, ‘Overland trail’ (as The O’Mara), ‘Stagecoach west’ (as Finn McColl), ‘The rifleman’, ‘Bonanza’, and ‘Death Valley days’. He had smaller parts in the long‐running westerns ‘Wagon train’, ‘Rawhide’, ‘The Virginian’, and ‘Gunsmoke’. In other genres he appeared in series as diverse as ‘One step beyond’, ‘The untouchables’, ‘Lassie’, ‘Perry Mason’, ‘My favorite Martian’, and ‘Lost in space’; the 1970s saw him in ‘Mannix’ and ‘Little house on the prairie’. He played recurring characters in two short‐lived series: as a retired policeman who is father and assistant of the eponymous lawyer in ‘Kate McShane’ (1975), and as a hotelier in the Far East adventure series ‘Bring ’em back alive’ (1982–3).
In his last film McClory returned to an Irish setting as part of the ensemble cast of The dead (1987), directed by John Huston (qv) from the story by James Joyce (qv). His character, Mr Grace, a university lecturer, does not appear in Joyce’s text, but was created by screenwriter Tony Huston (the director’s son), and was given one of the film’s most poignant and memorable moments, when he recites to the hushed, rapt assemblage an English translation by Lady Gregory (qv) of the Irish lyric ‘Donal Óg’ (‘The grief of a girl’s heart’).
A reliable Hollywood supporting actor for some forty years, McClory performed in over forty feature films and nearly a hundred television series. Usually cast as an Irishman, often of boisterous or menacing mien, he was not limited to such roles. Over six feet in height, and heavy set, he had a round face and rugged good looks. His first two marriages ended in divorce. His third wife, Sue Alexander, died in 1979. He married fourthly (1983) Peggy Webber, an actress and producer, who survived him. He had two sons and one daughter. Suffering from a heart condition, he died 10 December 2003 in Hollywood Hills, California
While Alma Cogan and Teresa Brewer were masters of the vocal performance, Sean McClory (1924–2003) was a master of the “character presence.” A quintessential member of the John Ford Stock Company, McClory was the definitive Irish-American screen presence: a rugged, often boisterous actor who could pivot from menacing villainy to soulful, poetic stillness.
Career Overview: From the Abbey to the West
McClory’s career began in the rigorous world of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, a foundation that gave him a technical discipline many Hollywood-trained actors lacked.
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The RKO Discovery: After moving to Hollywood in 1947, he was signed by RKO. He spent his early years playing “Irish cops” (most notably in the Dick Tracy series), a role that would become a recurring motif in his career.
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The Ford Connection: His life changed when legendary director John Ford cast him in The Quiet Man(1952). He became a key member of Ford’s inner circle, appearing in epics like The Long Gray Line(1955) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964).
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The Television Workhorse: As film roles shifted toward younger leads in the 60s, McClory became one of the most recognizable faces on American television. He appeared in virtually every major Western series, including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and a starring role in The Californians.
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The Final Act: His career concluded with a hauntingly beautiful performance in John Huston’s The Dead(1987), an adaptation of James Joyce’s story, which serves as a poignant “Irish goodbye” to his screen legacy.
Detailed Critical Analysis: The Versatile “Commoner”
1. The Cultured Brogue
Unlike many Irish actors of his generation who leaned into “Stage Irish” caricatures (like the high-pitched whimsicality of Barry Fitzgerald), McClory possessed what critics called a “cultured, neutral brogue.”
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Analysis: This allowed him to play more than just the village drunk or the comic relief. He could play doctors, military officers, and intellectuals. His voice had a resonant, “stentorian” quality that commanded authority even when his character was socially subordinate.
2. The Menacing “Heavy”
In the 1950s, McClory was frequently cast as a villain, most notably in the circus-thriller Ring of Fear (1954), where he played the homicidal Dublin O’Malley.
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Critical Insight: McClory didn’t play “evil” with mustache-twirling theatrics. He used his physical stature—over 6 feet tall and heavy-set—to create a sense of unpredictable volatility. He was particularly adept at playing men who were charming one moment and explosively violent the next.
3. The Fordian “Community Member”
In John Ford’s films, the “community” is the main character. McClory was essential to this because he represented the dependable laborer.
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Analysis: In The Quiet Man, he isn’t a protagonist, but he is part of the “connective tissue” of Inisfree. He brought an authenticity to the ensemble that made Ford’s idealized Ireland feel lived-in. Critics noted that McClory didn’t “act” so much as “exist” within the frame, a trait Ford prized above all else.
4. The Poetic Coda in The Dead
His role as Mr. Grace in The Dead is a critical masterpiece. The character didn’t exist in Joyce’s original story; John Huston created it specifically to give McClory a moment to recite the poem “Young Donal.”
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Analysis: In this scene, McClory strips away all his previous “tough guy” or “boisterous” personas. He delivers the poem with a hushed, gravelly reverence that captures the film’s themes of memory and loss. It is a performance of pure interiority, proving that even after decades of playing “frontier types,” he remained a classically trained stage actor at heart.
Notable Filmography & Impact
| Film/Show | Role | Significance |
| The Quiet Man(1952) | Owen Glynn | Cemented his place in the “John Ford Stock Company.” |
| Them! (1954) | Major Kibbee | Provided a grounded performance in a sci-fi classic. |
| The Californians(1957) | Jack McGivern | A rare starring role on prime-time TV. |
| Columbo (1978) | Various | His “The Conspirators” episode is a fan favorite for his chemistry with Peter Falk. |
| The Dead (1987) | Mr. Grace | His final and arguably most critically acclaimed role. |