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