Dan O'Herlihy studied architecture at the National University of Ireland, but his heart was in the acting highlands. After racking up stage credits with the Gate Theater and the Abbey Players, O'Herlihy turned to films in 1946, impressing critics and filmgoers alike with his breakthrough role in Odd Man Out. He made his American movie bow in Orson Welles' MacBeth (1948), playing the not inconsiderable role of MacDuff; shortly thereafter, he appeared with his MacBeth co-star Roddy MacDowall in an economically budgeted adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. In 1952, he earned an Academy Award nomination for his near-solo starring turn in Luis Bunuel's The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Maturing into a versatile character player, he could also be seen as FDR in MacArthur (1977), the frothing-at-the-mouth villain in Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1983), a benign lizardlike alien in The Last Starfighter (1984), and the dark-purposed cyborg-firm exec in the RoboCop films. His TV credits include blarney-spouting Doc McPheeters in The Travels of Jamie McPheeters (1963), town boss Will Varner in The Long Hot Summer (1965), "The Director" in A Man Called Sloane (1979), intelligence agent Carson Marsh in Whiz Kids (1984), and Andrew Packard in Twin Peaks (1990). Dan O'Herlihy was the brother of director Michael O'Herlihy.
by Hal Erickson
biography
