Biography
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.
Acted in 100
1950s
- 1958
- 1956
The Fastest Gun Alive
Kevin McGovern
- 1955
It's a Dog's Life
Paddy Corbin
- 1954
- 1953
The Silver Whip
Riley
General Electric Theater
Jimmy, Dennis Malloy · 1 episode
- 1952
Park Row
Dan O'Rourke
- 1951
Two of a Kind
Movie
Sealed Cargo
Skipper Ben
- 1950
1940s
- 1949
Mrs. Mike
Uncle John
The Fighting O'Flynn
Timothy
- 1948
The Luck of the Irish
Tatie the Innkeeper
- 1946
Abie's Irish Rose
Patrick Murphy
- 1945
She Went to the Races
Jeff Habbard
The Crime Doctor's Warning
Robert MacPherson (uncredited)
The Great John L.
Father O'Malley
- 1944
The Big Bonanza
'Judge' Jasper Kincaid
Wilson
Edward Sullivan
The Fighting Seabees
Sawyer Collins
- 1943
Action in the North Atlantic
Caviar Jinks (uncredited)
- 1942
Captains of the Clouds
Foster
The Vanishing Virginian
John Phelps
- 1941
Appointment for Love
Timothy
- 1940
No Time for Comedy
Jim
One Crowded Night
Brother 'Doc' Joseph
Untamed
Mr. Angus McGavity
Curtain Call
Mr. Middleton
Young Tom Edison
Mr. McCarney
Congo Maisie
Captain Finch
1930s
- 1939
Two Thoroughbreds
Jack Lenihan
Sabotage
Mel
The Witness Vanishes
Flinters
Two Bright Boys
Mike Casey
6,000 Enemies
Dan Barrett
The Zero Hour
Timothy
Sorority House
Lew Fisher
The Kid From Texas
Farr
The Great Man Votes
Hot Shot Gillings
- 1938
Ride a Crooked Mile
Sgt. Flynn
Spring Madness
Mr. Maloney (uncredited)
Vacation from Love
Danny Dolan, Hansom Cabbie
- 1937
London by Night
Tims
- 1936
The Plough and the Stars
Uncle Peter
Lloyd's of London
Brook Watson
The General Died at Dawn
Leach
Let's Make a Million
Sam Smith
Spendthrift
Pop O'Connell
Special Investigator
Judge Plumgate
Colleen
Pop Reilly
Laughing Irish Eyes
Tim
Timothy's Quest
Dr. Cudd
- 1935
A Feather in Her Hat
Pobjoy
Hot Tip
Matt
Vanessa: Her Love Story
Perkins (uncredited)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Chief Verger Tope
- 1934
The Fountain
Shordley
The Key
O'Duffy
A Modern Hero
Mr. Ryan
- 1933
Lone Cowboy
Mr. Curran
Paddy the Next Best Thing
Collins
- 1932
Rockabye
Fagin
Vanity Street
Dan - Irish Cop (uncredited)
Careless Lady
Trowbridge
The Rainbow Trail
Paddy Harrigan
- 1931
Merely Mary Ann
First Drayman
Don't Bet on Women
Chipley Duff
- 1930
Under Suspicion
Doyle
Lightnin'
Judge Lemuel Townsend
New Movietone Follies of 1930
Gateman in Show
Song o' My Heart
Peter
1920s
- 1923
