Siobhán McKenna
| Siobhán McKenna | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Siobhán Giollamhuire Nic Cionnaith 24 May 1923 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 16 November 1986 (aged 63) Dublin, Ireland |
| Spouse | Denis O'Dea (1956–1978) |
Siobhán McKenna (May 24, 1923 – November 16, 1986) was an Irish stage and screen actress.
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[edit] Background
Born Siobhán Giollamhuire Nic Cionnaith in Belfast, Northern Ireland into a Catholic and nationalist family, she grew up in Galway City and in County Monaghan, Ireland speaking fluent Irish.[citation needed] She was still in her teens when she became a member of an amateur Gaelic theatre group and made her stage debut at Galway's Gaelic Theatre, the Taibhdhearc, in 1940.[citation needed]
[edit] Career
She is remembered for her English-language performances at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin where she would eventually star in what many consider her finest role in the George Bernard Shaw play, Saint Joan.[citation needed]
While performing at the Abbey Theatre in the 1940s, she met actor Denis O'Dea, whom she eventually married in 1956.[citation needed] They had one child, a son: Donnacha O'Dea, who swam for Ireland at the 1968 Summer Olympics and later won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 1998.[citation needed]
In 1947, she made her debut on the London stage and on Broadway in 1955 in The Chalk Garden for which she would receive a Tony Award nomination for "Best Actress in a Leading Role, Drama."[citation needed] In 1956, she appeared in the Cambridge Drama Festival production of Saint Joan at the Off-Broadway Phoenix Theatre.[citation needed] Theatre critic Elliot Norton called her performance the finest portrayal of Joan in memory.[citation needed] Siobhán McKenna's popularity earned her the cover of Life magazine.[citation needed] She received a second Tony Best Actress nomination for her role in the 1958 play, The Rope Dancers in which she starred with Art Carney and Joan Blondell.[citation needed]
Although primarily a stage actress, McKenna appeared in a number of made-for-television films and dramas.[citation needed] She also acted in several motion pictures including 1961's King of Kings, starring in the role of the Virgin Mary. In 1964, she performed in Of Human Bondage and the following year in Doctor Zhivago.
McKenna was awarded the Gold Medal of the Éire Society of Boston, for having "significantly fulfilled the ideals of the Éire Society, in particular, spreading awareness of the cultural achievements of the Irish people."
Her last appearance was with Kevin Hough in 1985 at the National Concert Hall.[citation needed]
[edit] Death
Siobhán McKenna's final stage appearance came in the 1985 play Bailegangaire for the Druid Theatre Company.[citation needed] Suffering from lung cancer, despite surgery, she died the following year in Dublin, Ireland, at age 63, and was interred in the Rahoon Cemetery in County Galway.[citation needed] The inscription on her tomb is written in Irish.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Abbey Theatre
- Irish stage actors
- Irish film actors
- Irish television actors
- Deaths from lung cancer
- Northern Ireland stage actors
- Film actors from Northern Ireland
- Television actors from Northern Ireland
- People from Belfast
- People from Galway (city)
- People from County Galway
- Cancer deaths in the Republic of Ireland
- 1923 births
- 1986 deaths
- Presidential appointees to the Council of State of Ireland
