5
J.M. Kerrigan
Born · December 16, 1884
Died · April 29, 1964 (79 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Dublin, Ireland
Bio
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.
Shirley Temple's Storybook
Mr Pickles · (1 episode)
5.8
1958
The Fastest Gun Alive
Kevin McGovern
6.8
1956
It's a Dog's Life
Paddy Corbin
3.0
1955
Matinee Theater
(1 episode)
4.6
1955
Frontier
(1 episode)
5.0
1955
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Billy
7.0
1954
Letter to Loretta
Mr. Thomas J. Flaherty · (1 episode)
6.2
1953
The Silver Whip
Riley
6.4
1953
General Electric Theater
Jimmy · (1 episode)
6.0
1953
General Electric Theater
Dennis Malloy · (1 episode)
6.0
1953
My Cousin Rachel
Reverend Pascoe
6.7
1952
Park Row
Dan O'Rourke
6.7
1952
The Wild North
Callahan
6.9
1952
Two of a Kind
6.7
1951
Sealed Cargo
Skipper Ben
6.4
1951
Lux Video Theatre
Dr. Makery · (1 episode)
6.0
1950
Mrs. Mike
Uncle John
2.0
1949
The Fighting O'Flynn
Timothy
6.0
1949
Studio One
Pether Flynn · (1 episode)
4.7
1948
The Luck of the Irish
Tatie the Innkeeper
5.7
1948
Call Northside 777
Sullivan - Court Bailiff (uncredited)
6.6
1948
Abie's Irish Rose
Patrick Murphy
0.0
1946
Black Beauty
John
5.9
1946
She Went to the Races
Jeff Habbard
5.5
1945
The Spanish Main
Pillery Gow
6.2
1945
The Crime Doctor's Warning
Robert MacPherson (uncredited)
5.5
1945
The Great John L.
Father O'Malley
5.0
1945
Tarzan and the Amazons
Splivens
6.3
1945
The Big Bonanza
'Judge' Jasper Kincaid
5.5
1944
Wilson
Edward Sullivan
5.5
1944
The Fighting Seabees
Sawyer Collins
6.2
1944
Mr. Lucky
Mr. McDougal (uncredited)
6.9
1943
Action in the North Atlantic
Caviar Jinks (uncredited)
7.0
1943
Captains of the Clouds
Foster (storekeeper / Emily's father)
6.5
1942
The Vanishing Virginian
John Phelps
6.0
1942
The Wolf Man
Charles Conliffe
7.0
1941
Appointment for Love
Timothy
5.2
1941
The Long Voyage Home
Crimp
6.5
1940
No Time for Comedy
Jim
5.5
1940
The Sea Hawk
Eli Matson
7.1
1940
One Crowded Night
Brother 'Doc' Joseph
4.0
1940
Untamed
Mr. Angus McGavity
4.3
1940
Curtain Call
Mr. Middleton
7.3
1940
Young Tom Edison
Mr. McCarney
5.6
1940
Congo Maisie
Captain Finch
4.2
1940
Gone with the Wind
Johnny Gallagher
7.9
1939
Two Thoroughbreds
Jack Lenihan
2.0
1939
Sabotage
Mel
7.0
1939
The Witness Vanishes
Flinters
6.7
1939
Two Bright Boys
Mike Casey
0.0
1939
6,000 Enemies
Dan Barrett
6.0
1939
The Zero Hour
Timothy
4.5
1939
Union Pacific
Monahan
6.5
1939
Sorority House
Lew Fisher
6.8
1939
Undercover Agent
Tom 'Pop' Madison
4.8
1939
The Kid From Texas
Farr
6.5
1939
The Flying Irishman
Mr. Clyde Corrigan Sr.
4.6
1939
The Great Man Votes
Hot Shot Gillings
6.1
1939
Ride a Crooked Mile
Sgt. Flynn
0.0
1938
Little Orphan Annie
Tom Jennings
0.0
1938
Spring Madness
Mr. Maloney (uncredited)
3.9
1938
Vacation from Love
Danny Dolan, Hansom Cabbie
0.0
1938
London by Night
Tims
6.0
1937
The Plough and the Stars
Uncle Peter
5.6
1936
Lloyd's of London
Brook Watson
7.2
1936
The General Died at Dawn
Leach
6.2
1936
Let's Make a Million
Sam Smith
0.0
1936
Spendthrift
Pop O'Connell
5.0
1936
Special Investigator
Judge Plumgate
5.8
1936
Colleen
Pop Reilly
5.3
1936
Laughing Irish Eyes
Tim
0.0
1936
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Judge Maiben
6.9
1936
Timothy's Quest
Dr. Cudd
3.0
1936
A Feather in Her Hat
Pobjoy
6.8
1935
Barbary Coast
Judge Harper
6.5
1935
Hot Tip
Matt
5.0
1935
Werewolf of London
Hawkins
6.0
1935
The Informer
Terry
6.7
1935
Vanessa: Her Love Story
Perkins (uncredited)
6.0
1935
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Chief Verger Tope
5.5
1935
The Fountain
Shordley
9.5
1934
The Key
O'Duffy
4.9
1934
A Modern Hero
Mr. Ryan
7.0
1934
The Lost Patrol
Quincannon
6.5
1934
Lone Cowboy
Mr. Curran
3.5
1933
Paddy the Next Best Thing
Collins
1.0
1933
A Study in Scarlet
Jabez Wilson
5.5
1933
Air Hostess
Pop Kearny
5.8
1933
Rockabye
Fagin
6.2
1932
Vanity Street
Dan - Irish Cop (uncredited)
6.8
1932
Careless Lady
Trowbridge
5.3
1932
The Rainbow Trail
Paddy Harrigan
0.0
1932
Merely Mary Ann
First Drayman
0.0
1931
The Black Camel
Thomas MacMasters
6.0
1931
Don't Bet on Women
Chipley Duff
4.2
1931
Under Suspicion
Doyle
0.0
1930
Lightnin'
Judge Lemuel Townsend
3.7
1930
New Movietone Follies of 1930
0.0
1930
Song o' My Heart
Peter
3.7
1930
Lucky In Love
0.0
1929
Little Old New York
John O'Day
6.4
1923