Liam Redmond

Liam Redmond (27 July 1913 – 28 October 1989) was an Irish character actor known for his stage, film and television roles.
Early life
Redmond was one of four children born to cabinet-maker Thomas and Eileen Redmond. Educated at the Christian Brothers schools in Dublin, he later attended University College, Dublin and initially read medicine before moving into drama.
Acting career
While Director of the Dramatic Society he met and married the society's secretary Barbara MacDonagh (sister of Donagh MacDonagh and daughter of 1916 Rising leader Thomas MacDonagh and Muriel Gifford). They had four children.
Redmond was invited to join the Abbey Theatre in 1935 as a producer by William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet. Yeats wrote his play Death of Cuchullain for Redmond to star as Cúchullain, hero of one of Ireland's foundational myths.
Redmond made his acting debut at the Abbey Theatre in 1935 in Seán O'Casey's The Silver Tassie. His first stage appearance was in 1939 in New York City in The White Steed. After returning to Britain at the outbreak of the Second World War he was a regular on the London stage. He was one of the founders of WAAMA, the Writers', Artists', Actors' and Musicians' Association, a precursor of Irish Actors' Equity. His insistence that "part-time professionals" – usually civil servants who acted on the side – should be paid a higher rate than professional actors for both rehearsal time and performance, effectively wiped out this class, raising the wages and fees of working actors.
He starred in Broadway, among other plays starring in Paul Vincent Carroll's 1939 The White Steed; in 1955 playing Canon McCooey in The Wayward Saint winning the George Jean Nathan Award for his performance, and in 1968 starring in Joe Orton's Loot and Brian Friel's The Loves of Cass Maguire.
Redmond worked in TV and film throughout the 1950s to the 1980s and was regularly seen in TV series such as The Avengers, Daniel Boone, The Saint and Z-Cars. He was often called upon as a character actor in various military, religious and judicial roles in films such as I See a Dark Stranger (1946), Captain Boycott (1947), High Treason (1951), The Cruel Sea (1953), Playboy of the Western World (1962), Kid Galahad (1962), The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1964), Tobruk (1967), The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) and Barry Lyndon (1975). His performance as the kindly occult expert in the cult horror film Night of the Demon (1957) is a favourite of fans of the film.
Redmond retired to Dublin and died, aged 76, after a long period of ill health, in 1989. His wife Barbara predeceased him in 1987.
Selected filmography
I See a Dark Stranger (1946) – Uncle Timothy
Captain Boycott (1947) – Martin Egan
Daughter of Darkness (1948) – Father Cocoran
Saints and Sinners (1949) – O'Driscoll
Sword in the Desert (1949) – Jerry McCarthy
The Twenty Questions Murder Mystery (1950) – Echo News editor
High Treason (1951) – Cmdr. Robert Brennan
The Gentle Gunman (1952) – Connolly
The Cruel Sea (1953) – Watts
Devil on Horseback (1954) – Scarlett O'Hara
Happy Ever After (1954) – Regan
Final Appointment (1954) – Inspector Corcoran
The Passing Stranger (1954) – Barnes
The Divided Heart (1954) – First Justice
The Glass Cage (1955) – Inspector Lindley
23 Paces to Baker Street (1956) – Joe
Jacqueline (1956) – Mr. Lord
Yield to the Night (1956) – Prison Doctor
Safari (1956) – Roy Shaw
The Long Haul (1957) – Casey
Night of the Demon (1957) – Mark O'Brien
Rooney (1958) – Mr. Doolan
The Diplomatic Corpse (1958) – Inspector Corcoran
She Didn't Say No! (1958) – Dr. Cassidy
Ice-Cold in Alex (1958) – Brigadier (D.D.M.S.)
No Trees in the Street (1959) – Bill
Alive and Kicking (1959) – Old Man
The Boy and the Bridge (1959) – Pat Doyle
Scent of Mystery (1960) – Johnny Gin
Under Ten Flags (1960) – Windsor
The Valiant (1962) – Surgeon Commander Reilly
The Phantom of the Opera (1962) – Police Insp. Ward (uncredited)
Kid Galahad (1962) – Father Higgins
Playboy of the Western World (1963) – Michael James
The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1964) – MacGregor
The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965) – Convict Ship Captain
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) – Kelsey
Tobruk (1967) – Henry Portman
The 25th Hour (1967) – Father Koruga
The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967) – Capt. Swain
The Last Safari (1967) – Alec Beaumont
Till Death Us Do Part (1968) – Mike's Father
David Copperfield (1970, TV Movie) – Mr. Quinion
Barry Lyndon (1975) – Mr. Brady – Nora's Father
Philadelphia, Here I Come (1975) – Senator Doogan (final film role)
References
External links
1913 births
1989 deaths
Abbey Theatre
Irish male stage actors
Irish male film actors
Irish male television actors
20th-century Irish male actors
Irish expatriate male actors in the United States
Male actors from County Dublin
Alumni of University College Dublin