Oscar O'Shea

Oscar O'Shea (8 October 1881 – 6 April 1960) was a Canadian-American character actor with over 100 film appearances from 1937 to 1953.

Oscar O'Shea
O'Shea in The Bashful Bachelor (1942)
Born	(1881-10-08)October 8, 1881 Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Died	April 6, 1960(1960-04-06) (aged 78) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1937–1953

Early years

O'Shea was born in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.^[1]

Acting

O'Shea was a comic actor who earned a million dollars but lost it all in the Great Depression. His first straight role came in a Federal Theatre Project production of It Can't Happen Here, a play based on the novel of the same name.^[2]

O'Shea's first film was Captains Courageous (1937).^[1]

Management

Beginning in 1929, O'Shea operated the Oscar O'Shea Players repertory theater company in the Embassy Theatre in Ottawa, Canada.^[3] He eventually ended the enterprise "to seek a field where his art would be more widely appreciated."^[4] He then set up an operation in Chicago, "where he managed his own theatre and stock company during good and bad years."^[4]

Death

O'Shea died in Hollywood, California, in 1960 at age 78.^[1]

Selected filmography

• The Good Old Soak (1937) as Jake (uncredited)
• Captains Courageous (1937) as Captain Walt Cushman
• Big City (1937) as John C. Andrews
• Double Wedding (1937) as Turnkey (uncredited)
• Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937) as Man Seated Next to Wilkins (uncredited)
• You're Only Young Once (1937) as Sheriff (uncredited)
• Mannequin (1937) as 'Pa' Cassidy
• Rosalie (1937) as Mr. Callahan
• Man-Proof (1938) as Gus
• Love Is a Headache (1938) as Pop Sheeman, Stage Doorman (uncredited)
• Border Wolves (1938) as Judge Coleman
• King of the Newsboys (1938) as Mr. Stephens
• International Crime (1938) as Heath
• Hold That Kiss (1938) as Pop, Man Bringing Usher's Clothes (uncredited)
• Numbered Woman (1938)
• The Main Event (1938) as Captain Rorty
• Rebellious Daughters (1938) as Dad Elliott
• Racket Busters (1938) as Pop Wilson
• Youth Takes a Fling (1938) as Captain Walters
• Stablemates (1938) as Pete Whalen
• The Shining Hour (1938) as Charlie Collins
• Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) as Kennedy (uncredited)
• King of the Turf (1939) as Bartender
• Love Affair (1939) as Priest (uncredited)
• Undercover Agent (1939) as Pat Murphy
• Big Town Czar (1939) as Pa Daley
• Lucky Night (1939) as Police Lieutenant
• Tell No Tales (1939) as Sam O'Neil
• S.O.S. Tidal Wave (1939) as Mike Halloran
• Invitation to Happiness (1939) as Divorce Judge
• She Married a Cop (1939) as Pa Duffy
• The Star Maker (1939) as Mr. Flannigan
• Those High Grey Walls (1939) as Warden
• The Roaring Twenties (1939) as Customer (uncredited)
• Missing Evidence (1939) as John C. 'Pop' Andrews
• The Night of Nights (1939) as Mr. Conway (uncredited)
• Of Mice and Men (1939) as Jackson
• I Take This Woman (1940) as Dowling (scenes deleted)
• Zanzibar (1940) as Captain Craig
• Forty Little Mothers (1940) as Janitor at Train Station (uncredited)
• 20 Mule Team (1940) as Train Conductor
• You Can't Fool Your Wife (1940) as Dr. Emery, Colony College Chaplain
• Susan and God (1940) as Samr (uncredited)
• Pier 13 (1940) as Skipper Kelly
• Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) as The Judge
• Wildcat Bus (1940) as Charles Dawson
• The Bride Wore Crutches (1940) as Pop (uncredited)
• Always a Bride (1940) as Uncle Dan Jarvis
• The Phantom Submarine (1940) as Captain Velsar
• Four Mothers (1941) as George Edwards (uncredited)
• Sleepers West (1941) as Engineer McGowan
• Mutiny in the Arctic (1941) as Capt. Bob Morrissey
• Blossoms in the Dust (1941) as Dr. West (uncredited)
• Accent on Love (1941) as Magistrate
• Ringside Maisie (1941) as Conductor
• Harmon of Michigan (1941) as 'Pop' Branch
• Lydia (1941) as Doctor Richards (uncredited)
• Riders of the Purple Sage (1941) as Noah Judkins
• The Officer and the Lady (1941) as Dan Regan
• Fly-by-Night (1942) as Pa Prescott
• Torpedo Boat (1942) as Captain Mike
• The Bashful Bachelor (1942) as Squire Skimp
• I Was Framed (1942) as Cal Beamish
• The Postman Didn't Ring (1942) as Judge Barrington
• Just Off Broadway (1942) as Pop
• Halfway to Shanghai (1942) as Doctor McIntyre
• Sin Town (1942) as Train Conductor (uncredited)
• Henry Aldrich, Editor (1942) as Judge Sanders
• Lady Bodyguard (1943) as Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
• City Without Men (1943) as Joseph Barton
• Two Weeks to Live (1943) as Squire Skimp (uncredited)
• Good Morning, Judge (1943) as Magistrate
• Three Hearts for Julia (1943) as Stage Doorman (uncredited)
• Two Tickets to London (1943) as Mr. Tinkle
• Gals, Incorporated (1943) as Justice (uncredited)
• The Good Fellows (1943) as Great Grand Caesar (uncredited)
• Corvette K-225 (1943) as Capt. Smith (uncredited)
• Happy Land (1943) as Father Case (uncredited)
• Her Primitive Man (1944) as Jonathan
• South of Dixie (1944) as Col. Hatcher
• The Mummy's Ghost (1944) as Watchman
• Haunted Harbor (1944, Serial) as John Galbraith [Chs. 1, 7, 15]
• Mystery of the River Boat (1944, Serial) as Capt. Ethan Perrin
• Here Come the Waves (1944) as Commodore (uncredited)
• Bewitched (1945) as Capt. O'Malley
• Senorita from the West (1945) as Dusty
• Without Reservations (1946) as Conductor (uncredited)
• Personality Kid (1946) as Officer O'Brien
• The Brute Man (1946) as Mr. Haskins, Grocer (uncredited)
• Abie's Irish Rose (1946) as Bishop (uncredited)
• Stallion Road (1947) as Doc Brady, DVM (uncredited)
• Sport of Kings (1947) as Judge Sellers
• Where There's Life (1947) as Uncle Philip (uncredited)
• It Had to Be You (1947) as Irish Neighborhood Watchman (scenes deleted)
• My Wild Irish Rose (1947) as Pat Daly
• Fury at Furnace Creek (1948) as Jailer (uncredited)
• One Sunday Afternoon (1948) as Toby
• The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950) as Mr. Flannigan (uncredited)
• Thy Neighbor's Wife (1953) (final film role)