Donal McCann

Donal McCann (7 May 1943 – 17 July 1999) was an Irish stage, film, and television actor best known for his roles in the works of Brian Friel and for his lead role in John Huston's last film, The Dead.

Biography

Early life

McCann was born in Terenure in Dublin. His father was John J. McCann, a playwright and politician who served twice as Dublin's Lord Mayor. Although Donal had acted in a production of his father's Give Me a Bed of Roses at Terenure College in 1962, he briefly studied architecture before taking a job as a sub-editor at the Evening Press which allowed him pursue part-time acting classes at the Abbey School of Actors at the same time. He joined the Abbey Players in the late 1960s.

Career

Among his most important early roles were Cuchulainn in W. B. Yeats's On Baile Strand (1966), and as Estragon in a seminal production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, partnering with Peter O'Toole as Vladimir (1969).

His career included parts in many plays from the Irish literary canon, including Tarry Flynn, The Shaughran, and the Gate Theatre's highly acclaimed production of Sean O'Casey's classic Juno and the Paycock in the 1980s (McCann played the Paycock (Captain Boyle) opposite Geraldine Plunkett as Juno and John Kavanagh as Joxer Daly) as well as a subsequent production of O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars.