American actor
Mickey Shaughnessy
|
|---|
 |
| Born
| Joseph C. Shaughnessy
(
1920-08-05
)
August 5, 1920
New York City, U.S.
|
|---|
| Died
| July 23, 1985
(1985-07-23)
(aged 64)
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|---|
| Occupation(s)
| Actor, comedian
|
|---|
| Years active
| 1952?1985
|
|---|
| Spouse(s)
| Sarah Shaughnessy (19???1985; his death); 7 children
|
|---|
Joseph C. Shaughnessy
(August 5, 1920 ? July 23, 1985), better known as
Mickey Shaughnessy
, was an American actor and comedian.
Early life
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]
Joseph C. Shaughnessy was born in New York City. He began in show business working as a singer at resorts, and became a comedian when he saw that the pay was better. He also was a
Golden Gloves
boxer.
[1]
[2]
He served in
World War II
and appeared in a
U.S. Army
revue called "Stars and Gripes". After the war, a Columbia Pictures producer saw him performing on stage and offered him a
screen test
.
[2]
His screen debut was in the 1952 film
The Marrying Kind
.
[1]
Career
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Shaughnessy, who was six feet tall and weighed 210 pounds, played "tough, colorful characters" in films like
From Here to Eternity
, where he played the amiable Sergeant Leva.
[1]
He also appeared in
Jailhouse Rock
as
Elvis Presley
's character's prison mentor, and in
Designing Woman
(1957) as a punch-drunk ex-boxer who could only sleep with his eyes open.
[2]
As a performer, he won critical praise for roles that might have otherwise been overlooked. Writing in
The New York Times
, film critic
Bosley Crowther
said that Shaughnessy's role in
The Sheepman
(1958) was the "item to be most grateful for", and called him ''a slag heap of pot-belly, wounded dignity and scowls.''
[1]
His final roles included a part in Walt Disney's
The Boatniks
.
He also appeared in the 1971 series
Chicago Teddy Bears
, a comedy about a speakeasy in the 1920s.
[1]
According to the
Los Angeles Times
, Shaughnessy once said that he always kept in mind "the old Irishman--the guy who refuses the dentist's novocain. He sits there and takes out his rosary and offers up the pain for his sins."
[1]
He also worked in radio and television and had a nightclub act.
[1]
Later years
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In his later years, Shaughnessy lived in
Wildwood, New Jersey
. He continued his nightclub act until nearly the end of his life. He died July 23, 1985, aged 64, in
Cape May Court House, New Jersey
of
lung cancer
. He was survived by his wife Sarah, his sister Alice Shaughnessy, four daughters and three sons.
[1]
[2]
Credits
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Feature films
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]
Television
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]
References
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]
External links
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]