J.M. Kerrigan
Born
December 16, 1884
Died
April 29, 1964 (79 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Dublin, Ireland
Joseph Michael Kerrigan (16 December 1884 – 29 April 1964), better known as J.M. Kerrigan, was an Irish character actor. Kerrigan was born in Dublin, Ireland. He worked as a newspaper reporter until 1907 when he joined the famous Abbey Players. There he became a stalwart, appearing in plays by Lady Gregory, William Butler Yeats and John Millington Synge (for whom he played the role of Shawn Keogh in The Playboy of the Western World. His first screen appearance was in the silent film Food of Love in 1916. By the 1920s he was appearing on Broadway, often in plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Sheridan. He settled permanently in Hollywood in 1935, having been recruited along with several other Abbey performers, to appear in John Ford's The Informer. In that film and in Ford's The Long Voyage Home, he plays similar roles, that of a leech who attaches himself to men until they run out of money. Perhaps his best known role was in The General Died at Dawn, where he plays a character actually named Leach, in which he steals scenes from Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll and William Frawley. In it he plays a sinister little petty thief who, holding a gun on Cooper, says, "I may be fat, but I'm agile." He had little screen time in films which he starred as minor roles, such as the "First Drayman" in Merely Mary Ann (1931) with Janet Gaynor. One of his most recognizable minor roles was in Gone with the Wind (1939), in which he played John Gallegher, the seemly jovial mill owner who whips his convict labour in to "co-operation". He appeared in Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), the famous film version of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in a minor role at the beginning of the film. In 1946, he tried breaking into Broadway shows, playing the discombobulated leprechaun Jackeen J. O'Malley in the show "Barnaby and Mr. O'Malley", based on the Crockett Johnson comic strip. J. M. Kerrigan died in Hollywood on 29 April 1964, aged 79. Kerrigan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6621 Hollywood Blvd.
Known For
Shirley Temple's Storybook
Mr Pickles · (1 episode)
1958
The Fastest Gun Alive
Kevin McGovern
1956
It's a Dog's Life
Paddy Corbin
1955
Matinee Theater
(1 episode)
1955
Frontier
(1 episode)
1955
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Billy
1954
Letter to Loretta
Mr. Thomas J. Flaherty · (1 episode)
1953
The Silver Whip
Riley
1953
General Electric Theater
Jimmy · (1 episode)
1953
General Electric Theater
Dennis Malloy · (1 episode)
1953
My Cousin Rachel
Reverend Pascoe
1952
Park Row
Dan O'Rourke
1952
The Wild North
Callahan
1952
Two of a Kind
1951
Sealed Cargo
Skipper Ben
1951
Lux Video Theatre
Dr. Makery · (1 episode)
1950
Mrs. Mike
Uncle John
1949
The Fighting O'Flynn
Timothy
1949
Studio One
Pether Flynn · (1 episode)
1948
The Luck of the Irish
Tatie the Innkeeper
1948
Call Northside 777
Sullivan - Court Bailiff (uncredited)
1948
Abie's Irish Rose
Patrick Murphy
1946
Black Beauty
John
1946
She Went to the Races
Jeff Habbard
1945
The Spanish Main
Pillery Gow
1945
The Crime Doctor's Warning
Robert MacPherson (uncredited)
1945
The Great John L.
Father O'Malley
1945
Tarzan and the Amazons
Splivens
1945
The Big Bonanza
'Judge' Jasper Kincaid
1944
Wilson
Edward Sullivan
1944
The Fighting Seabees
Sawyer Collins
1944
Mr. Lucky
Mr. McDougal (uncredited)
1943
Action in the North Atlantic
Caviar Jinks (uncredited)
1943
Captains of the Clouds
Foster (storekeeper / Emily's father)
1942
The Vanishing Virginian
John Phelps
1942
The Wolf Man
Charles Conliffe
1941
Appointment for Love
Timothy
1941
The Long Voyage Home
Crimp
1940
No Time for Comedy
Jim
1940
The Sea Hawk
Eli Matson
1940
One Crowded Night
Brother 'Doc' Joseph
1940
Untamed
Mr. Angus McGavity
1940
Curtain Call
Mr. Middleton
1940
Young Tom Edison
Mr. McCarney
1940
Congo Maisie
Captain Finch
1940
Gone with the Wind
Johnny Gallagher
1939
Two Thoroughbreds
Jack Lenihan
1939
Sabotage
Mel
1939
The Witness Vanishes
Flinters
1939
Two Bright Boys
Mike Casey
1939
6,000 Enemies
Dan Barrett
1939
The Zero Hour
Timothy
1939
Sorority House
Lew Fisher
1939
Union Pacific
Monahan
1939
Undercover Agent
Tom 'Pop' Madison
1939
The Kid From Texas
Farr
1939
The Flying Irishman
Mr. Clyde Corrigan Sr.
1939
The Great Man Votes
Hot Shot Gillings
1939
Ride a Crooked Mile
Sgt. Flynn
1938
Little Orphan Annie
Tom Jennings
1938
Spring Madness
Mr. Maloney (uncredited)
1938
Vacation from Love
Danny Dolan, Hansom Cabbie
1938
London by Night
Tims
1937
The Plough and the Stars
Uncle Peter
1936
Lloyd's of London
Brook Watson
1936
The General Died at Dawn
Leach
1936
Let's Make a Million
Sam Smith
1936
Spendthrift
Pop O'Connell
1936
Special Investigator
Judge Plumgate
1936
Colleen
Pop Reilly
1936
Laughing Irish Eyes
Tim
1936
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Judge Maiben
1936
Timothy's Quest
Dr. Cudd
1936
A Feather in Her Hat
Pobjoy
1935
Barbary Coast
Judge Harper
1935
Hot Tip
Matt
1935
Werewolf of London
Hawkins
1935
The Informer
Terry
1935
Vanessa: Her Love Story
Perkins (uncredited)
1935
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Chief Verger Tope
1935
The Fountain
Shordley
1934
The Key
O'Duffy
1934
A Modern Hero
Mr. Ryan
1934
The Lost Patrol
Quincannon
1934
Lone Cowboy
Mr. Curran
1933
Paddy the Next Best Thing
Collins
1933
A Study in Scarlet
Jabez Wilson
1933
Air Hostess
Pop Kearny
1933
Rockabye
Fagin
1932
Vanity Street
Dan - Irish Cop (uncredited)
1932
Careless Lady
Trowbridge
1932
The Rainbow Trail
Paddy Harrigan
1932
Merely Mary Ann
First Drayman
1931
The Black Camel
Thomas MacMasters
1931
Don't Bet on Women
Chipley Duff
1931
Under Suspicion
Doyle
1930
Lightnin'
Judge Lemuel Townsend
1930
New Movietone Follies of 1930
Gateman in Show
1930
Song o' My Heart
Peter
1930
Lucky In Love
1929
Little Old New York
John O'Day
1923