Michael O'Shea (actor)

Michael O'Shea (born Edward Francis Michael Patrick Joseph O'Shea; March 17, 1906 – December 4, 1973) was known as an American actor who appeared in feature films and later in television and whose career spanned the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

O'Shea was born in Hartford, Connecticut on March 17, 1906, on St. Patrick's Day.

He held jobs as a newspaper copy boy, a Western Union messenger, and a tobacco farmer before making his debut in show business.

O'Shea played drums and the banjo.

O'Shea received acclaim for his performance in the 1942 play The Eve of St. Mark on Broadway.

The play was a hit and film producers began approaching O'Shea to do screen tests.

Much like his character from Lady of Burlesque (1943), Biff Brannigan, O'Shea was a comedian and emcee at speakeasies.

He put together his own dance band, "Michael O'Shea and His Stationary Gypsies", and later broke into radio and the "legitimate" stage, where he was billed for a time as "Eddie O'Shea".

He worked on radio shows such as Superman, Mr District Attorney, The March of Time and Gangbuster.

O'Shea's work in Eve led to an offer to play Barbara Stanwyck's leading man in the film Lady of Burlesque (1943) for producer Hunt Stromberg, released through United Artists.

It was a sizeable hit.

Samuel Bronston offered him the title role in the biopic Jack London (1943), also released through United Artists.

The cast included Virginia Mayo who would become O'Shea's second wife.

O'Shea was asked to reprise his stage role in the film version of The Eve of St. Mark (1944), produced by 20th Century Fox.

That studio contracted him to make two more films.

Fox announced they would make Where Do We Go From Here? with him and Stanley Prager, also in Eve, but it appears not to have been made.

He had the lead role in Man from Frisco (1944), a fictional account of the career of Henry Kaiser for Republic Pictures, directed by Robert Florey.

At Fox he made a musical, Something for the Boys (1944), with Carmen Miranda.

O'Shea then went into It's a Pleasure! (1945), playing a hockey star who marries figure skater Sonja Henie, done for International Pictures.

Back at Fox he had the lead in a B, Circumstantial Evidence (1945).

O'Shea returned to Broadway with a role in the revival of The Red Mill (1945–47), produced by Hunt Stromberg Jr.. which ran for 531 performances.

When the show finished he returned to films.

He had a support part with Mr. District Attorney (1947) at Columbia.

He was Nancy Coleman's leading man in Violence (1947) at Monogram Pictures and played Natty Bumppo in Sam Katzman's version of Last of the Mohicans, Last of the Redmen (1947), with Jon Hall at Columbia.

The marriage ended in divorce in 1947.

He had a supporting role in Smart Woman (1948), at Allied Artists, and the lead in Parole, Inc. (1949), for Eagle-Lion Films.

He supported Mickey Rooney in The Big Wheel (1949) at United Artists, but had the lead in The Threat (1949) a "B" for RKO.

O'Shea supported John Payne in Captain China (1950) and Dan Duryea in The Underworld Story (1950).

He had a support role in Disc Jockey (1951), then did three films at Fox: Fixed Bayonets (1951) for Sam Fuller, The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951) for George Cukor, and Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952).

After his career in film waned — he was largely out of films by 1952 — he took many roles in television.

He acted in TV programs such as The Revlon Mirror Theater, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Damon Runyon Theater, and Schlitz Playhouse of Stars.

He had a supporting part in It Should Happen to You (1954).

He also starred in the NBC sitcom It's a Great Life from 1954 to 1956 as Denny Davis, a former GI trying to find a civilian job.

Frances Bavier played his landlady.

He was nominated for an Emmy in 1955.

He worked as a panelist on TV shows and filmed a pilot for a TV sitcom with his wife Virginia Mayo, McGarry and His Mouse (1960) but it was not picked up for a series.

He guest starred on episodes of Adventures in Paradise, Daktari and Adam-12.

In 1964 he returned briefly to New York stage in a production I Was Dancing.

He was married twice.

His first wife was Grace Watts, by whom he had two children.