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Una O'Connor (actress)

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Una O'Connor
Una O'Connor (right) as Mary from Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) with (l. to r.) Henry Stephenson, Freddie Bartholomew and Dolores Costello
Born
Agnes Teresa McGlade

(1880-10-23)23 October 1880
Belfast, Ireland
Died4 February 1959(1959-02-04) (aged 78)
New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1911–1957

Una O'Connor (born Agnes Teresa McGlade, 23 October 1880 – 4 February 1959) was an Irish-American actress who worked extensively in theatre before becoming a character actress in film and in television. She often portrayed comical wives, housekeepers and servants. In 2020, she was listed at number 19 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.[1]

Life and work

O'Connor was born to a Catholic nationalist family in Belfast, Ireland. Her mother died when she was two; her father was a landowner/ farmer, ensuring that the family always had income from family land.[2] He soon left for Australia and McGlade was brought up by an aunt, studying at St Dominic's School, Belfast, convent schools and in Paris. Thinking she would pursue teaching, she enrolled in the South Kensington School of Art.[2]

Before taking up teaching duties, she enrolled in the Abbey School of Acting (affiliated with Dublin's Abbey Theatre).[2] Her career with the Abbey was between 1912 - 1934 where she performed in many productions; these are listed in the Abbey Theatre Archives.[3] She changed her name when she began her acting career with the Abbey Theatre. One of her earliest appearances was in George Bernard Shaw's The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet in which she played the part of a swaggering American ranch girl. The production played in Dublin as well as in New York, opening 20 November 1911 at the Maxine Elliott Theatre, marking O'Connor's American debut.[2][4]

By 1913 she was based in London, where she appeared in The Magic Jug, The Starlight Express (1915-16 at the Kingsway Theatre), and Paddy the Next Best Thing. In the early 1920s she appeared as a cockney maid in Plus Fours followed in 1924 by her portrayal of a cockney waitress in Frederick Lonsdale's The Fake.[5] In a single paragraph review, an unnamed reviewer noted "Una O'Connor's low comedy hotel maid was effectively handled."[6] The latter show also played in New York (with O'Connor in the cast), opening 6 October 1924 at the Hudson Theatre. A review of the New York performances of The Fake recounts details of the plot, but then mentions

... two players of more than ordinary excellence. In the third act of The Fake occurs a scene between Una O'Connor and Godfrey Tearle, with Miss O'Connor as a waitress trying a crude sort of flirtation with Mr. Tearle. He does not respond at all and the longing, the pathos of this servant girl when she has exhausted her charms and receives no encouragement, is the very epitome of what careful character portrayal should be. Miss O'Connor is on the stage for only this single act, but in that short space of time she registers an indelible impression. Rightly, she scored one of the best hits of the performance.[7]

These two plays in which she portrayed servants and waitresses appear to have portended her future career. Returning to London, she played in The Ring o' Bells (November 1925), Autumn Fire (March 1926), Distinguished Villa (May 1926),[2] and Quicksands of Youth (July 1926).[8] When Autumn Fire toured the U.S., opening first in Providence, Rhode Island, a critic wrote: "Una O'Connor, who plays Ellen Keegan, the poor drudge of a daughter, bitter against life and love, does fine work. Her excellence will undoubtedly win her the love of an American public."[9]

She made her first appearance on film in Dark Red Roses (1929), followed by Murder! (1930) directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and an uncredited part in To Oblige a Lady (1931).

Despite her lengthy apprenticeship, she had not attracted much attention. British critic Eric Johns recalled meeting her in 1931 in which she confessed "I don't know what I'm going to do if I don't get work ... The end of my savings is in sight and unless something happens soon, I'll not be able to pay the rent".[10] Her luck changed when she was chosen by Noël Coward to appear in Cavalcade at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1933. Expressing surprise that Coward noticed her, Coward responded that he had watched her for years and wrote the part with her in mind.[10] She portrayed an Edwardian servant who transforms herself into a self-made woman.[10] When the curtain came down after a performance attended by Hollywood executives, they exclaimed to each other "We must have that Irish woman. That is obvious".[10] Her success led her to reprise her role in the film version of Cavalcade, released in 1933, and with its success, O'Connor decided to remain in the United States.

Among O'Connor's most successful and best remembered roles are her comic performances in James Whale's The Invisible Man (1933) as the publican's wife, and in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) as the Baron's housekeeper. She also appeared in The Informer (1935) and The Plough and the Stars (1936) for director John Ford. Feeling homesick, in 1937 she returned to London for twelve months in the hope of finding a good part but found nothing that interested her. While in England she appeared in three live BBC Television productions,[11] including a play by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy called In Search of Valour (1939)[12] in which she played the part of Stasia Claremorris. After her return to America, the storage facility that housed her furniture and car was destroyed in one of The Blitz strikes, which she took as a sign to remain in America.[10]

Her film career continued with roles in Michael Curtiz's The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and The Sea Hawk (1940); and in Leo McCarey's The Bells of St. Mary's (1944). She also appeared in supporting roles in stage productions and achieved an outstanding success in the role of Janet McKenzie, the nearly deaf housemaid, in Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution at Henry Miller's Theatre on Broadway from 1954–56; she also appeared in the film version in 1957, directed by Billy Wilder. As one of the witnesses, in what was essentially a serious drama, O'Connor's character was intended to provide comic relief. It was her final film performance.[10]

After a break from her initial forays in television, she took up the medium again by 1950.[11] In 1952, she was able to state that she had been in 38 productions that year alone.[13] In a rare article that she authored, O'Connor called working in television "the most exacting and nerve-racking experience that has ever come my way. It is an attempt to do two things at once, a combination of stage and screen techniques with the compensations of neither".[13] Noting that many actors dislike television work, O'Connor said that she liked it because it allowed her to play many parts. She lamented that preparation for television work was too short a period for an actor to fully realize the depths of role characterization, but that it showed an actor's mettle by the enormous amount of work needed. "Acting talent alone is not enough for the job. It requires intense concentration, an alert-quickmindedness that can take changes in direction at the last minute".[13] O'Connor concluded presciently: "It sounds fantastic and that is just exactly what it is, but it also an expanding field of employment that has come to stay. As such it is more than welcome here, where the living theatre seems determinedly headed the opposite way".[13]

Reportedly she was "happily resigned" to being typecast as a servant. "There's no such thing as design in an acting career. You just go along with the tide. Nine times out of ten one successful part will set you in a rut from which only a miracle can pry you".[14]

Her weak heart was detected as early as 1932, when her arrival in America began with detention at Ellis Island because of a "congenital heart condition".[15] By the time of her appearance in the stage version of Witness for the Prosecution she had to stay in bed all day, emerging only to get to the theater and then leaving curtain calls early to return to her bed. Her appearance in the film version was intended to be her last.[10]

Critical responses

O'Connor's gravestone

Eric Johns described O'Connor as

... a frail little woman, with enormous eyes that reminded one of a hunted animal. She could move one to tears with the greatest of ease, and just as easily reduce an audience to helpless laughter in comedies of situation. She was mistress of the art of making bricks without straw. She could take a very small part, but out of the paltry lines at her disposal, create a real flesh-and-blood creature, with a complete and credible life of its own.[10]

She admired John Galsworthy and claimed to have read all his works.[10]

She once said "Acting is a gift from God. It is like a singer's voice. I might quite easily wake up one morning to find that it has been taken from me."[10]

Personal life and death

She became a United States citizen on 3 March 1952.[16] She died, having never married nor had children, in New York City from heart disease, aged 78, on 4 February 1959 at the Mary Manning Walsh Home. She had been living at the Windsor House at 100 West 58th Street in Manhattan.[2]

Complete filmography

Stage credits

Dates are of the first performance.

Date (year, month, day) Title Author(s) City Theater Role
1911-11-20 The Playboy of the Western World John Millington Synge New York City Maxine Elliott's Theatre IBDB.[17]
1911-11-20 The Well of the Saints John Millington Synge New York City Maxine Elliott's Theatre IBDB.[18]
1911-12-15 The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet George Bernard Shaw New York City Maxine Elliott's Theatre Jessie[19]
1912-02-12 The Countess Cathleen William Butler Yeats Dublin Abbey Theatre Angel[20]
1912-02-16 An Tincear agus an t-Sidheog Douglas Hyde Dublin Abbey Theatre Bean Og[21]
1912-02-22 The Land of Heart's Desire William Butler Yeats Dublin Abbey Theatre Maire Bruin[22]
1912-02-29 Spreading the News Lady Gregory Dublin Abbey Theatre Mrs. Fallon[23]
1912-10-03 The Country Dressmaker George Fitzmaurice Dublin Abbey Theatre Ellie Clohessy[24]
1913-01-03 The Dean of St. Patrick's G. Sidney Paternoster Dublin Abbey Theatre Mistress Anne Long[25]
1913-02-20 Hannele Gerhart Hauptmann Dublin Abbey Theatre Sister Martha[26]
1913-04-17 The Stronger August Strindberg translated by Edith and Warner Oland Dublin Abbey Theatre Mdlle. Y[27]
1913-04-17 Broken Faith Suzanne R. Day and Geraldine Cummins Dublin Abbey Theatre Mrs. Gara[28]
1913-06-28 The Country Dressmaker George Fitzmaurice London Royal Court Theatre Min[29]
1913-06-28 The Magic Glasses George Fitzmaurice London Royal Court Theatre Aunt Jug[29]
1915-12-29 The Starlight Express Algernon Blackwood London Kingsway Theatre Grannie[30]
1916-01-18 Bauldy Patrick Wilson London Royalty Theatre Martha Doyle[31]
1916-02-25 The Holy Bond Monica Ewer London New Theatre Mary[32]
1917-12-16 Insurrection W. F. Casey London Criterion Theatre Nora O'Connell[33]
1920-04-05 Paddy the Next Best Thing Gayer Mackay and Robert Ord (Edith Ostlere) London Strand Theatre Miss O'Hara[34]
1923-01-17 Plus Fours Horace Annesley Vachell and Harold Simpson London Haymarket Theatre Mrs. Plumbridgea[35]
1923-12-26 Paddy the Next Best Thing Gayer Mackay and Robert Ord (Edith Ostlere) London Savoy Theatre Miss O'Hara[36]
1924-03-13 The Fake Frederick Lonsdale London Apollo Theatre Waitress[37]
1925-05-10 By Right of Conquest Michael Morton London Scala Theatre Annie[38]
1925-07-01 The Show John Galsworthy London St Martin's Theatre Cook[39]
1925-07-01 The Ring o' Bells Neil Lyons London Comedy Theatre Miss Bibby[40]
1926-01-20 The Man Who Was Thursday Ada Elizabeth Chesterton and Ralph Neale London Everyman Theatre Cook[41]
1926-01-31 Beyond the Horizon Eugene O'Neill London Regent Theatre Mrs. Atkins[42]
1926-03-28 The Rescue Party Phyllis Morris London Regent Theatre Maid[43]
1926-04-13 Autumn Fire T. C. Murray London Little Theatre Ellen Keegan[44]
1926-05-02 Distinguished Villa Kate O'Brien London Aldwych Theatre Mabel Hemworth[45]
1926-07-04 Quicksands of Youth Roy Jordan London Scala Theatre Mrs. Redmain[46]
1927-07-18 The Village Vere Sullivan London Globe Theatre Martha Smith[47]
1927-09-11 Chance Acquaintance John Van Druten London Strand Theatre Miss Cathcart[48]
1927-09-24 Master Marjorie Ling London Arts Theatre Mrs. Kerridge[49]
1927-10-23 Mr. Sleeman Hjalmar Bergman London Arts Theatre Mrs. Mina[50]
1927-09-11 Chance Acquaintance John Van Druten London Criterion Theatre Miss Cathcart[51]
1927-11-14 The Big Drum Harold Holland London Adelphi Theatre Mrs. Jowett[52]
1927-12-11 Tamaresque Clive Currie London Strand Theatre Mrs. Bonnett[53]
1927-12-13 The Soul of Nicholas Snyders Jerome K. Jerome London Everyman Theatre Dame Toelast[54]
1928-02-06 Macbeth William Shakespeare London Royal Court Theatre Third Witch[55]
1928-03-11 Nicholas Nickleby H. Sims, adapted from Charles Dickens London Arts Theatre Fanny Squeers[56]
1928-03-25 The Way Lady Constance Malleson London Arts Theatre Greta[57]
1928-03-25 Love in a Village Isaac Bickerstaffe and Thomas Arne London Lyric Theatre Mrs. Deborah Woodcock[58]
1928-07-01 The Tragic Muse Hubert Griffith London Arts Theatre Mme. Carré[59]
1928-10-25 Birthright T. C. Murray London Arts Theatre Maura Morrissey[60]
1928-11-05 The Silver Box John Galsworthy London Everyman Theatre Mrs. Jones[61]
1928-12-09 Wrongs and Rights Gordon Whitehead London Strand Theatre Fanny Hunt[62]
1928-12-22 The Passing of the Third Floor Back Jerome K. Jerome London Everyman Theatre Miss Kite[63]
1929-03-08 The Pleasure Garden Beatrice Mayor London Everyman Theatre Clergyman's wife[64]
1929-05-05 After All John Van Druten London Apollo Theatre Miss Minnister[65]
1929-05-15 Wrongs and Rights Gordon Whitehead London Strand Theatre Fanny Hunt[66]
1929-06-19 Exiled John Galsworthy London Wyndham's Theatre Woman[67]
1929-10-11 The Silver Tassie Sean O'Casey London Apollo Theatre Mrs. Foran[68]
1929-12-23 The Passing of the Third Floor Back Jerome K. Jerome London Everyman Theatre Miss Kite[69]
1930-06-18 Long Shadows Philip Johnson London Everyman Theatre Mrs. Dodd[70]
1930-09-01 The Far-Off Hills Lennox Robinson London Everyman Theatre Ellen Nolan[71]
1930-10-26 Chassis Aubrey Ensor London Apollo Theatre Bridget Maloney[72]
1931-02-17 Etienne Gilbert Wakefield London St James's Theatre Cousin Valérie[73]
1931-02-22 Something Strange Frank Vosper London Phoenix Theatre Mrs. Highley[73]
1931-03-15 The Accomplice Frank Popham-Young London Arts Theatre Mercy[74]
1931-03-15 The Gaol Gate Lady Gregory London Arts Theatre Mary Cushin[75]
1931-03-15 Love at First Sight[75] - London Arts Theatre
1931-03-15 The Perfect Plot Aubrey Ensor London Arts Theatre Sara Allgood[75]
1931-03-15 Strange Adventure of a Maiden Lady Rosalind Wade London Arts Theatre Maiden Lady[75]
1931-10-13 Cavalcade Noël Coward London Drury Lane Theatre Ellen Bridges[76]
1931-10-25 The Nag's Head Ernest George London Arts Theatre Barmaid[77]
1939-02-12 The Appointment Reginald Purdell London Vaudeville Theatre Woman[78]
1945-09-24 The Ryan Girl Edmund Goulding New York City Plymouth Theatre Weavy Hicks[79]
1948-03-02 The Linden Tree J. B. Priestley New York City Music Box Theatre Mrs. Cotton[80]
1949-01-18 The Shop at Sly Corner Edward Percy New York City Booth Theatre Mrs. Catt[81]
1950-01-18 The Enchanted (English adaptation by Maurice Valency) Jean Giraudoux New York City Lyceum Theatre Leonide Mangebois[82]
1954-01-13 The Starcross Story Diana Morgan New York City Royale Theatre Ellen[83]
1954-12-16 Witness for the Prosecution Agatha Christie New York City Henry Miller's Theatre Janet Mackenzie[84]

Television

  • The Moon in the Yellow River (BBC 1938) as Aunt Columba
  • Death at Newtown-Stewart (BBC 1939)
  • In Search of Valour (BBC 1939) as Stasia Claremorris

References

  1. ^ https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/the-50-greatest-irish-film-actors-of-all-time-in-order-1.4271988
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Notes on a Cockney Accent," New York Times (1 September 1940).
  3. ^ "The Abbey Theatre Archives". Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  4. ^ "The Irish Players," Billboard (2 December 1911), pp. 8, 49.
  5. ^ "Production of The Fake - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  6. ^ "London Sees 'The Fake'," Billboard (22 March 1924), p. 21.
  7. ^ Gordon Whyte, "New Plays on Broadway: 'The Fake'," Billboard (18 October 1924), p. 36.
  8. ^ "The Playmates," The Stage (8 July 1926), p. 20.
  9. ^ "Plays Out Of Town: Autumn Fire," Variety (27 October 1926), p.98.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Eric Johns, "Fame Came at Fifty to Una O'Connor," The Stage (12 February 1959).
  11. ^ a b "Una O'Connor". IMDb.
  12. ^ "The Teresa Deevy Archive".
  13. ^ a b c d Una O'Connor, "Television in America," The Stage (20 November 1952), p. 7.
  14. ^ "Una O'Connor Dies; Played Servant Roles," New York Herald Tribune (6 February 1959).
  15. ^ "U.S. Admits Una O'Connor; British Actress's Heart Ailment Causes Special Inquiry," New York Herald Tribune (20 September 1932).
  16. ^ Naturalization paperwork for Una O'Connor; ancestry.com; accessed 11 November 2015.
  17. ^ IBDB.com
  18. ^ IBDB.com
  19. ^ Abbey Theatre Archives
  20. ^ Abbey Theatre Archives
  21. ^ Abbey Theatre Archives
  22. ^ Abbey Theatre Archives
  23. ^ Abbey Theatre Archives
  24. ^ Abbey Theatre Archives
  25. ^ Abbey Theatre Archives
  26. ^ Abbey Theatre Archives
  27. ^ Abbey Theatre Archives
  28. ^ Abbey Theatre Archives
  29. ^ a b Wearing 1982, p. 365.
  30. ^ Wearing 1982, p. 607.
  31. ^ Wearing 1982, p. 612.
  32. ^ Wearing 1982, p. 618.
  33. ^ Wearing 1982, p. 763.
  34. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 30.
  35. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 346.
  36. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 436-437.
  37. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 467.
  38. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 604.
  39. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 627.
  40. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 672.
  41. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 694.
  42. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 697.
  43. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 716.
  44. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 721.
  45. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 729.
  46. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 758.
  47. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 891.
  48. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 902.
  49. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 904.
  50. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 914.
  51. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 917.
  52. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 923.
  53. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 931.
  54. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 933.
  55. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 953.
  56. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 968.
  57. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 974.
  58. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 985.
  59. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 1021.
  60. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 1053.
  61. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 1058.
  62. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 1070.
  63. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 1076.
  64. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 1105.
  65. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 1132.
  66. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 1137.
  67. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 1148.
  68. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 1189.
  69. ^ Wearing 1984, p. 1219.
  70. ^ Wearing 1990, p. 62.
  71. ^ Wearing 1990, p. 78.
  72. ^ Wearing 1990, p. 99.
  73. ^ a b Wearing 1990, p. 150.
  74. ^ Wearing 1990, p. 159.
  75. ^ a b c d Wearing 1990, p. 160.
  76. ^ Wearing 1990, p. 250-251.
  77. ^ Wearing 1990, p. 256.
  78. ^ Wearing 1990, p. 1216.
  79. ^ https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-ryan-girl-1724#OpeningNightCast IBDB.com
  80. ^ https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-linden-tree-1810#OpeningNightCast IBDB.com
  81. ^ https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-shop-at-sly-corner-2102#OpeningNightCast IBDB.com
  82. ^ https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-enchanted-1853#OpeningNightCast IBDB.com
  83. ^ https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-starcross-story-2433#OpeningNightCast IBDB.com
  84. ^ https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/witness-for-the-prosecution-2485#OpeningNightCast IBDB.com

Sources

  • Wearing, J. P. (1982). The London Stage, 1910-1919: a Calendar of Plays and Players. Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810815964.
  • Wearing, J. P. (1984). The London Stage, 1920-1929: a Calendar of Plays and Players. Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810817159.
  • Wearing, J. P. (1990). The London Stage, 1930-1939: a Calendar of Plays and Players. Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810823495.

Further reading

  • Alistair, Rupert (2018). "Una O'Connor". The Name Below the Title : 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age (softcover) (First ed.). Great Britain: Independently published. pp. 192–195. ISBN 978-1-7200-3837-5.
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