( b. Jun 02, 1926 Dublin, IRELAND - d. Apr 02, 2013 New York, New York, USA ) Male
Milo O’Shea was an Irish character actor — recognizable by his black bushy eyebrows, tumble of white hair and impish smile — whose films included “Ulysses,” “Barbarella” and “The Verdict.”
In addition to his scores of film roles, Mr. O’Shea appeared on American sitcoms like “The Golden Girls,” “Cheers” and “Frasier” and played the chief justice of the Supreme Court on “The West Wing.” He was twice nominated for Tony Awards.
The first time was for his debut performance on Broadway, in the 1968 production of Staircase, in which he and Eli Wallach played gay, middle-aged hairdressers in a relationship not much different from many troubled heterosexual marriages. The play, while not commercially successful, came to be regarded as one of the first serious depictions of homosexuality on Broadway.
In 1981, on Broadway, he played a duplicitous, charming, Mercedes-driving priest in Mass Appeal, receiving his second Tony nomination.
His father was in a professional singing duo, and his mother was a harpist and ballet dancer. They both encouraged him to pursue his dream of acting.
At 10 he starred in a radio adaptation of “Oliver Twist.” By 17 he was a full-time actor in a touring company. Two years later he joined one of Ireland’s major theatrical troupes and performed in plays by Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen and Molière.
He then came to the United States and found work in regional theater. But after strained finances forced him to work as an elevator operator at the Waldorf-Astoria, he returned to Ireland. He had success there and in England, and rode the wave of his “Ulysses” success to return to Manhattan, where he lived for many years.
