Ray McAnally

Infobox Actor
name = Ray McAnally
birthdate = birth date|1926|3|30|mf=y
birthplace = Buncrana, Donegal, Republic of Ireland
deathdate = death date and age|1989|6|15|1926|3|30|mf=y
deathplace = County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland
yearsactive = 1957 - 1989
spouse = Ronnie Masterson (1951-1989)
baftaawards = Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1986 "The Mission"
1989 "My Left Foot"
Best Television Actor
1988 "A Very British Coup"

Ray McAnally (March 30 1926 – June 15 1989) was an Irish actor famous for his performances in films such as "The Mission", "My Left Foot", and "A Very British Coup".

Ray McAnally was born in Buncrana, a seaside town located on the scenic Inishowen Peninsula of County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. The son of a bank manager, he was educated at St. Eunan's College in Letterkenny, after which he entered a seminary at the age of 18. However, he left the seminary after a short time having decided that the priesthood was not his vocation. He joined the Abbey Theatre in 1947 where he met and married actress Ronnie Masterson.

The couple would later form Old Quay Productions and present an assortment of classic plays in the 1960s and 1970s. He made his theatre debut in 1962 with "A Nice Bunch of Cheap Flowers" and gave a well-received performance as George in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", opposite Constance Cummings, at the Piccadilly Theatre.

On television he was a familiar face, often in glossy thriller series like "The Avengers","Man in a Suitcase" and "Strange Report". In 1968 he took the title role in "Spindoe", a series charting the return to power of a London gangster, Alec Spindoe, after a five-year prison term. This was a spin-off from another series, "The Fellows" (1967) in which McAnally had appeared in several episode as the Spindoe character.

He regularly acted in the Abbey Theatre and Irish festivals, but then, in the last decade of life, achieved award-winning notice on TV and films. His impressive performance as Cardinal Altamirano in the film "The Mission" (1986) earned him Evening Standard and BAFTA awards. His role in the BBC's "A Perfect Spy" (1987) also earned him a a second BAFTA award. In 1988 he won the the BAFTA for Best Actor for his performance in "A Very British Coup", a role that also brought him a Jacob's Award. In the last year of his life, he portrayed Christy Brown (played by Daniel Day-Lewis)'s father in the Academy Award-winning film, "My Left Foot" (1989).

McAnally died suddenly of a heart attack on June 15 1989, aged 63, at the home he shared with Irish actress Britta Smith (he and his wife were long separated) and received a posthumous BAFTA award for this last movie in 1990.

At the time of his death, he was due to play "Bull McCabe" in Jim Sheridan's film "The Field", the part eventually going to Richard Harris (who would receive an Oscar nomination for his performance). He had also been cast in the lead role of "First and Last", a drama about a man who walked from Land's End to John O'Groats. Filming of this was almost complete when he died, but the whole play had to be filmed again with Joss Ackland taking the role instead.

McAnally had four children, Conor, Aongus, Maire and Niamh. Aongus went on to become a television presenter, well known in Ireland, while Maire became a nun, joining the Dominican Sisters.

Filmography

* "My Left Foot" (1989)
* "Venus Peter" (1989)
* "We're No Angels" (1989)
* "Jack the Ripper" (1988) - TV movie
* "A Very British Coup" (1988) - British TV movie
* "Empire State" (1987)
* "The Fourth Protocol" (1987)
* "The Sicilian" (1987)
* "Taffin" (1987)
* "White Mischief" (1987)
* "The Mission" (1986)
* "No Surrender" (1985)
* "Cal" (1984)
* "The Outsider" (1979)
* "Fear Is the Key" (1972)
* "Quest for Love" (1971)
* "The Looking Glass War" (1969)
* "Sea of Sand" (1958)

External links

*