Barry Fitzgerald is interesting because he became a professional actor at a fairly late age - after forty years. However, this did not prevent him in the end from winning the Oscar - the most prestigious American film award. The coveted figurine Fitzgerald was awarded for his role in the film "Going Your Own Way" (1944).
Early biography and first theatrical roles
Barry Fitzgerald (real name - William Joseph Shields) was born on March 10, 1888 in Dublin. His father was Irish and his mother was German.
Barry was educated at Skerry College Dublin.
Since 1911, the future famous actor worked as a junior clerk at the Dublin Board of Trade, and then became an official at the local office of unemployed.
For a long time, the performing arts were just a hobby for Fitzgerald, and at first he showed his talent only in amateur dramatic societies. However, he soon joined the Abbey Theater, famous throughout Ireland (this happened, according to available data, not earlier than 1915). At the same time, he took a pseudonym for himself, thus trying to protect himself from possible troubles with his superiors in the civil service.
His first roles at the Abbey Theater were very short. However, already in 1919, Barry was noted for a very noticeable performance in the production of "Dragon", created by the work of the Irish writer Isabella Augusta Gregory.
In 1924, Barry starred in the play Juno and the Peacock based on the play of the same name by Sean O'Casey. And here Barry played one of the key characters - Jack Boyle, a slacker and alcoholic, unable to take care of his family.
It is worth noting that the actor was already entrusted with the main roles at that time, but his salary in the theater was still not very high - just over £ 2 a week.
In 1926, Barry took part in the premiere of O'Casey's new play The Plow and the Stars. Here he played Flater Goode, a carpenter and trade unionist. The screening of the play turned into a scandal and even provoked protests. Irish nationalists were especially active against this stage work. And Barry Fitzgerald himself was once even tried to kidnap, apparently trying to disrupt the spectrum in this way.
Surprisingly, even after that, he continued to be listed in the civil service. He left there only in 1929. The reason for this was O'Casey's next drama, The Silver Bowl. One of the characters here was specially written for Barry. However, the director of the Abbey Theater, William Yates, rejected the work, deciding that it did not fit the production. But they agreed to show the play in London. After a little thought, Fitzgerald decided to quit his boring job and move to England to join the Silver Bowl rehearsals. Actually, only at this moment acting became the main occupation of his life.
Further work of the actor
In 1930, director Alfred Hitchcock (at that time he was working in England and did not yet know that he would become a classic thriller in the future) decided to shoot the film Juno and the Peacock based on the already mentioned play. And for one of the roles, he took Barry Fitzgerald. In fact, this was his first film role.
And in Hollywood, he made his debut six years later - in 1936. And here he was again taken to play in the film adaptation of one of the works of Sean O'Casey. This time it was the drama The Plow and the Stars, and the film was directed by Hollywood filmmaker John Ford.
After that, Fitzgerald's career took off. Over the next few years, he played in a number of Hollywood films, including Ebb (1937), Raising a Baby (1938), The Long Way Home (1940), Sea Wolf (1941), How Green my valley (1941).
But Barry's biggest success came after the 1944 Paramount film Going My Own Way. Here he played Fitzgibbon, an elderly Catholic parish rector who is very conservative and cannot find a common language with the younger priest, Father O'Malley.
This film eventually won as many as seven Academy Awards. And one of the "Oscars" received just Fitzgerald in the nomination "Best Supporting Actor".
In addition, for his performance in the film "Going Your Own Way" he was also nominated in the category "Best Actor". In fact, Barry was the only actor to receive this honor. The fact is that shortly thereafter, the Academy changed its rules, and since then it has become impossible to get two Oscar nominations for the same role.
Then Barry Fitzgerald starred in such films as And There Was No One Left (1945), California (1947), The Naked City (1948), Millions of Miss Tatlock (1948), Union Station (1950). And in general, the second half of the forties was quite fruitful for him - at this time he had a chance to collaborate with almost all the largest Hollywood film studios.
Last years and death
In the fifties, the actor continued to act, but not as much as before. In 1952, he appeared in the romantic comedy The Quiet Man, another of John Ford's films. Interestingly, according to the plot, the action in this tape takes place in the west of Ireland, and the character played here by Barry Fitzgerald is called Mikalin Og Flynn.
In addition, in 1952, Fitzgerald traveled to Italy, where he starred in the film "Ha da veni … don Calogero".
In the mid-1950s, the actor played several roles on television, in particular, appeared in the series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "General Electric Theater".
In 1956, Barry Fitzgerald took part in the production of the painting The Wedding Breakfast. Here he played Jack Conlon's uncle. And if you look at it, "Wedding Breakfast" is the last major Hollywood movie in which Barry starred.
Three years later, in 1959, Fitzgerald returned to Ireland, to his native Dublin.
He already had serious health problems, and in October 1959 he underwent a rather complex operation on the brain. After that, Barry seemingly began to recover, but in late 1960 he was again admitted to Dublin's St. Patrick's Hospital. He died in a hospital bed - it happened on January 14, 1961. The cause of death is a heart attack.
Interesting facts about Barry Fitzgerald
In March 1944, Fitzgerald became involved in an accident that killed a woman and injured her daughter. He was charged with manslaughter, but in January 1945 he was acquitted.
The actor was a big fan of golf. Once, unsuccessfully waving his club, he damaged his Oscar - the head of the statuette fell off. This incident might not have happened if the award had been made of durable britain, as it is today (britain, by the way, is called an alloy, the main components of which are tin and antimony). But during the Second World War, due to a shortage of metal, the Oscars were made of plaster. In any case, the Academy Award ultimately provided Fitzgerald with a new statuette.
Barry Fitzgerald has a younger brother, Arthur Fields (1896-1970). Moreover, Arthur was also a fairly well-known actor in his time.
During his life, Barry Fitzgerald was never married. And he never had children either.
Fitzgerald has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for achievement in film and one for achievement on TV.
