Daniel Peter O'Herlihy (May 1, 1919 â€" February 17, 2005) was an
Irish film actor, known for such roles as Brigadier General Warren A.
"Blackie" Black in Fail Safe, Marshal Ney in Waterloo, Conal Cochran
in Halloween III: Season of the Witch, "The Old Man" in RoboCop, and
Andrew Packard in Twin Peaks. He was nominated for the Academy Award
for Best Actor for the 1954 film Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe.O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland, in
1919. His family moved to Dublin when he was at a young age. He was
educated at Christian Brothers College in Dún Laoghaire and later
studied at University College Dublin, graduating in 1944 with a degree
in Architecture.His first acting role came in 1944, when he played the
lead in the play, Red Roses For Me, written and directed by Sean
O'Casey. O'Herlihy first appeared in film in Carol Reed's Odd Man Out
in 1947. His first American film role was as Macduff in Orson Welles'
version of Macbeth (1948). In 1952, he starred in the Red Scare film
Invasion U.S.A. and, in 1954 in Luis Buñuel's Robinson Crusoe, which
earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. O'Herlihy
recalled that the producers of the film wanted Buñuel to use Orson
Welles for the role, with Buñuel refusing saying he was too big and
too fat. They arranged a screening of Welles' Macbeth to show how a
bearded Welles would look but Buñuel demanded O'Herlihy who appeared
in the film.O'Herlihy was later featured in The Young Land in 1959 as
Judge Millard Isham. In 1960, he played Sir Harry Ivers, an
upper-class English drifter who joins Alan Ladd in a plot to ruin an
Arizona cattle town by robbing its bank in the western One Foot in
Hell. In 1964, he starred in Fail Safe in the role of General Black,
or "Blackie". In 1969, he was cast in The Big Cube and 100 Rifles. In
1970, he starred in the epic Waterloo, playing the part of Michel Ney,
the Marshal of France. In 1982, he starred in Halloween III: Season of
the Witch as Conal Cochran and in 1984, he appeared in The Last
Starfighter as Grig, Alex Rogan's reptilian copilot, navigator, and
sidekick. In 1986's The Whoopee Boys he played a judge and in 1987, he
appeared in RoboCop as "The Old Man". That same year, he was cast in
John Huston's The Dead. In 1990, he appeared in RoboCop 2, the sequel
to the 1987 film.
Irish film actor, known for such roles as Brigadier General Warren A.
"Blackie" Black in Fail Safe, Marshal Ney in Waterloo, Conal Cochran
in Halloween III: Season of the Witch, "The Old Man" in RoboCop, and
Andrew Packard in Twin Peaks. He was nominated for the Academy Award
for Best Actor for the 1954 film Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe.O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland, in
1919. His family moved to Dublin when he was at a young age. He was
educated at Christian Brothers College in Dún Laoghaire and later
studied at University College Dublin, graduating in 1944 with a degree
in Architecture.His first acting role came in 1944, when he played the
lead in the play, Red Roses For Me, written and directed by Sean
O'Casey. O'Herlihy first appeared in film in Carol Reed's Odd Man Out
in 1947. His first American film role was as Macduff in Orson Welles'
version of Macbeth (1948). In 1952, he starred in the Red Scare film
Invasion U.S.A. and, in 1954 in Luis Buñuel's Robinson Crusoe, which
earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. O'Herlihy
recalled that the producers of the film wanted Buñuel to use Orson
Welles for the role, with Buñuel refusing saying he was too big and
too fat. They arranged a screening of Welles' Macbeth to show how a
bearded Welles would look but Buñuel demanded O'Herlihy who appeared
in the film.O'Herlihy was later featured in The Young Land in 1959 as
Judge Millard Isham. In 1960, he played Sir Harry Ivers, an
upper-class English drifter who joins Alan Ladd in a plot to ruin an
Arizona cattle town by robbing its bank in the western One Foot in
Hell. In 1964, he starred in Fail Safe in the role of General Black,
or "Blackie". In 1969, he was cast in The Big Cube and 100 Rifles. In
1970, he starred in the epic Waterloo, playing the part of Michel Ney,
the Marshal of France. In 1982, he starred in Halloween III: Season of
the Witch as Conal Cochran and in 1984, he appeared in The Last
Starfighter as Grig, Alex Rogan's reptilian copilot, navigator, and
sidekick. In 1986's The Whoopee Boys he played a judge and in 1987, he
appeared in RoboCop as "The Old Man". That same year, he was cast in
John Huston's The Dead. In 1990, he appeared in RoboCop 2, the sequel
to the 1987 film.
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