Denis O'Dea

Biography

Denis O'Dea (26 April 1905 – 5 November 1978) was an Irish stage and film actor.

He was born in Dublin and attended Synge Street CBS. When very young he and his mother Kathleen (from County Kerry) moved in with her sister, who kept a boarding house at 54 South Richmond Street. He worked in insurance until taking up acting. O'Dea was a leading member of Dublin's Abbey Theatre where he had a great acting career from 1929 to 1953; a list of his performances can be found in the Abbey archives. He also appeared in numerous plays by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy, some of which toured New York and England. His work led to a number of notable film roles, including two mid-1930s John Ford films, The Informer and The Plough and the Stars (1936), and the part of the police inspector in pursuit of IRA man James Mason in Carol Reed's Odd Man Out (1947).

Known For

Esther and the King 1960 ★ 5.5
Darby O'Gill and the Little People 1959 ★ 6.7
I Captured the King of the Leprechauns 1959 ★ 9.0
The Rising of the Moon 1957 ★ 6.8
The Story of Esther Costello 1957 ★ 7.0
Captain Lightfoot 1955 ★ 6.4
Niagara 1953 ★ 6.8
Mogambo 1953 ★ 6.4
Sea Devils 1953 ★ 5.8
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. 1951 ★ 7.0
The Long Dark Hall 1951 ★ 6.7
Never Take No for an Answer 1951 ★ 6.3
Treasure Island 1950 ★ 6.6
Under Capricorn 1949 ★ 6.0
Marry Me 1949 ★ 5.8
Landfall 1949 ★ 7.6
The Fallen Idol 1948 ★ 7.2
Odd Man Out 1947 ★ 7.3
The Mark of Cain 1947 ★ 6.2
The Plough and the Stars 1936 ★ 5.7
Beloved Enemy 1936 ★ 6.3
The Informer 1935 ★ 6.9
Guests of The Nation 1935 ★ 5.0