Barry Fitzgerald

This article is about the actor. For the Australian rules footballer, see Barry Fitzgerald (footballer). For the ghost investigator, see Barry Fitzgerald (investigator).

Barry Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald in 1945
Born
William Joseph Shields

(1888-03-10)10 March 1888
Dublin, Ireland
Died4 January 1961(1961-01-04) (aged 72)
Dublin, Ireland
OccupationActor
Years active1924–1961
RelativesArthur Shields (brother)

William Joseph Shields (10 March 1888 – 4 January 1961), known professionally as Barry Fitzgerald, was an Irish stage, film and television actor.[1] In a career spanning almost forty years, he appeared in such notable films as Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Long Voyage Home (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Sea Wolf (1941), Going My Way (1944), None but the Lonely Heart (1944) and The Quiet Man (1952). For Going My Way, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and was simultaneously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the same performance. He was the older brother of Irish actor Arthur Shields. In 2020, he was listed at number 11 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.[2]

  1. ^ Obituary Variety, 18 January 1961, page 70.
  2. ^ Clarke, Donald; Brady, Tara. "The 50 greatest Irish film actors of all time – in order". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 June 2021.