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Irish and Irish American Resources Online
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Lesson
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Performing Arts
James
Cagney
(1904-1986)
Actor whose Oscar-winning role in 1942 was in Yankee Doodle Dandy, the life
of Irish-American composer George M. Cohan. Born in New York City, he was raised
solely by his mother after 1918 when his father died. Cagney finished high school
and a semester of college at Columbia University. His break was in 1930 with
the lead role in the play "Penny Arcade." He quickly got a contract
with Warner Brothers, and by 1931 he was starring in the big films. Cagney retired
from acting in 1961 after the box-office smash "One, Two, Three."
James Cagney, American Movie Classics.
George
M. Cohan (1872-1942)
The father of American musical comedy, Cohan was born into theater. He gradually
worked his way from his family's vaudeville troupe to Broadway, where by the
1920s he was doing ten productions in a single year. In his long career as author,
composer, director and performer, this powerhouse of the popular stage had a
favorite theme: star-spangled patriotism. His World War I composition, Over
There, won him a Congressional Medal, while I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy brought
the honor of defining what it meant to be an American.
George M. Cohan, 1933, portrait by Carl Van Vechten, Library of Congress, American Memeory. Click here for details.
Harry
L. "Bing" Crosby (1903-1977)
This entertainer made over 850 recordings, some 2000 titles, appeared in over
50 films, and won an Oscar in 1944 for Going My Way. The actual date
of his birth is a continuous debate. His official biography and tomb stone say
2nd May 1903. Bing got his nickname as a child from the comic "The Bingville
Bugle." During his 51 year career, Bing sang every imaginable kind of song
(jazz, opera, Irish and Hawaiian, patriotic, religious, country, and romantic
ballads. He first appeared on radio in 1929 with Paul Whiteman and others. Bing
continued to star on radio for more than 30 years. In addition, he was one of
the most successful screen stars. In 1944, he won the Academy Award for Best
Actor for his part as Father Chuck in the film "Going My Way." Even
after his death, he remains ever so popular.
Bing Crosby, Foley Center Library.
Jackie
Gleason (1916-1987)
Actor Herbert John Gleason was best known for his role as Ralph Kramden in The
Honeymooners. Gleason was born in Brooklyn, New York and abandoned by his father
when he was eight. Gleason began to enjoy a career in acting at the early age
of 15. He won amateur-night at a Brooklyn theater and soon became one of the
city's comedians in the Vaudeville houses. This fame and excitement was not
enough for Gleason; he went on to work as a radio DJ, daredevil driver, and
stund diver for the water follies. His big break came when Jack Warner, Warner
Brothers studio director, saw him at the Club 18 in New York. Gleason was signed
to a contract and moved to Hollywood for some time. He returned to New York
to perform live in Broadway musicals. Gleason's great fame derives from a single
season of television with "The Honeymooners."
Helen
Hayes (1900-1993)
Hayes was deemed the "first lady of American theater." Born in Washington, D.C.,
Hayes was forced into a career of acting by her mother at the age of 5. In her
time, she won three Tonys, two Oscars, an Emmy, and was a Kennedy Center Honoree
in 1981. Some of her works include roles in "The Sin of Madelon Claudet,"
"Herbie Rides Again," and "The Snoop Sisters."
Helen Hayes, Women's International Center. Click here for details.
Buster
Keaton (1895-1966)
Born Joseph Frank Keaton to medicine show performners, he was destined to be
a part in show business. It was after a series of accidents to Keaton, while
his parents performed, that his parents decided he would be safer on stage than
off. His professional debut took place in 1900 at Dockstader's Theater in Wilmington,
Delaware. Keaton toured the United States with his parents for 17 years. His
formal education did not even last one day because of his distracting gags.
Keaton's coworkers were also his teachers: Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
and Harry Houdini. Keaton carried a career as a vaudevillian, flim maker, and
early film star.
Buster Keaton.
Gene
Kelly (1912-1996)
Entertainer who danced his way into American hearts in the musicals On the
Town, An American in Paris and Singin' in the Rain. Eugene
Curran Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania into a modest family living
introduced to the arts. At the age of eight, Kelly was performing with his sibblings
at amateur vaudeville nights. Ironically, Gene Kelly prefered sports over dancing
and someday hoped to play professional baseball. In highschool, Kelly began
to enjoy dancing because of the attention it brought him with the girls. The
Gene Kelly Studio of the Dance was founded in 1932 and established in Pittsburgh
and Johnstown. Kelly taught part time while attending school and choreographing
and directing shows at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and the University of Pittsburgh.
After graduating in 1933, the Kelly family was hit by the Depression. Gene Kelly
worked as a ditch-digger and other things to pay his way through school. By
1938, Kelly joined Broadway. His big break was Harry the Hoofer in William Saroyan's
The Time Of Your Life, followed by his Hollywood debut in For Me and
My Gal with Judy Garland. MGM noticed Kelly's talent and cast him in the
musical Anchors Aweigh. From this point, his career boomed. In light
of a dream, and agaist MGM's protests, Kelly enlisted in the naval airforce
to serve in World War II. After the war, Gene Kelly returned to his successful
career as an actor, singer, director, choreographer and dancer.
Gene Kelly, photograph from 's wonderful, Rhino Records. Click here for details.
Grace
Kelly (1928-1982)
Film and stage actress, Kelly won an Oscar for The Country Girl. She
was born in Philadelphia to a rich family. Kelly attended school in Pensylvania
until 1947 when she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York
City. It was in New York that Kelly began her work as an actress and model.
Kelly made her Broadway stage debut in 1949 in The Father. she was also
Princess Grace of Monaco. She won an Oscar in 1945 for The Countrry Girl.
Grace Kelly. Click here for details.
Gregory
Peck (1916- )
Peck was born in La Jolla, California to a drug adict father and housewife mother.
He entered the University of California at Berkeley as a pre-med student until
he was recruited in drama due to a shortage of tall males. Peck really enjoyed
acting so he changed his major to English to graduate and move on to New York.
Peck participated in ten plays with the Virginia Theater receiving a bed and
food as compensation. His first film was "Days of Glory." He played
all sorts of roles. Peck never planned to become an actor, but wound up one
of the most admired entertainers of his day. Peck is an Ocsar-winning actor
whose roles included those in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Mobby Dick.
John
Ford (1895-1974)
Film director who won Oscars for The Informer, The Grapes of
Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, The Battle of Midway and December Seventh.
John Ford was born the youngest
child to his Irish immigrant parents in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The name given
to him at birth was Sean Aloysius Feeney, but he took on the stage name John
Ford. His career as a direcor took off in 1935 when he filmed Liam O'Flaherty's
novel The Informer. The film succeeded to be the first great American art film,
and went on to win Oscars. Ford went on to score hits with Stagecoach, The Grapes
of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, and The Battle of Midway. Even his unappreciated
films later became masterpieces. Ford directed on through the '60s and won four
Oscars. He was the first film maker honored with the American Film Institue's
Life Achievement Award.
Picture of John Ford. Click here for details.
Eugene
O'Neill (1888-1953)
This playwright had a late start in his career after briefly attending Princeton
and living in waterfront bars for six years. In 1912, tuberculosis put O'Neill
in the hospital. This is when he first started to write plays. Eventually, his
high art works won him a Pulitzer and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1936).
Among his Irish masterpieces is The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey Into
Night, and Moon for the Misbegotten. He quit writing in 1944.
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